Kate Marks, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Durham University’s Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and member of the Moving Bodies Lab, writes:
Co-Production and Physical Activity, held at Durham University on 24 March 2026, brought together researchers, practitioners, and community partners, to critically examine the priorities, tensions, and possibilities of co-produced research in physical activity and health. Hosted by Dr Kate Marks, IMH fellow, in a collaboration between the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities, Moving Social Work, the Moving Bodies Lab, and Durham University’s Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, the event created a space for critical reflection on co-production.
Across the day, a central thread was explored by all the speakers: co-production is not inherently “good”, nor is it a straightforward route to more equitable inclusion or research impact. Co-production requires ongoing attention to power, processes, and contexts of the collaboration.
Opening Perspectives on Co-Production
The event opened with Professor Brett Smith, who offered an invitation to think expansively about co-production – including what it is, what it does, and what it might yet become. He proposed the need for more critical engagement amongst those doing co-produced research, particularly in relation to how the research is evaluated and whose perspectives are used to define success.
Rethinking Power and Mutuality
Professor Louise Mansfield followed with a critical interrogation of co-production in community sport for health research, drawing on her research from University of Brunel. Challenging the dominant optimistic narrative around co-production, she drew attention to what she described as the “darker” and “lighter” shades of co-production, including the challenges around distribution of power and responsibility. Mansfield particularly highlighted the persistence of the “myth of mutuality”.
Methods and Approaches in Practice
Shifting to a methodological focus, Dr Anna Pettican presented her work which has used go-along interviews as part of co-production processes to explore marginalised experiences of physical activity. By moving through community leisure spaces with participants, her approach generated spatial insights into how physical activity environments, social interactions and organisational practices, can shape inclusion and exclusion.
Dr Katey Warran and Dr Olivia Turner further explored questions of ethics and meaningful engagement when presenting their work on co-production in participatory dance for those living with dementia. They introduced the term “faux-production”, and challenged the superficial application of co-production, raising critical questions of when it is – and when it is not- appropriate to use co-production in research.
Dr Oli Williams drew on the work of Elinor Ostrom to explore how collaborative group working can be structured more equitably. He shared an actionable tool he has been developing, offering concrete ways for researchers to think about designing and sustaining collaborations.
Finally, Crystal Voyle and Dr Kate Marks, explored co-produced approaches to analysing research data with examples from the Moving Intersectionality project. This use of “Data Glow” challenged reductive analytical practices and demonstrated how intersectional difference could be more meaningfully engaged.
Collective Reflection and Future Directions
The afternoon discussion, facilitated by Mary Robson, provided an open and generative space to draw together these presentations. Through discussion participants reflected collectively on the challenges and possibilities of co-production and considered how these conversations might extend beyond the event.
Across the presentations and discussions, the event highlighted the need to move beyond celebratory accounts of co-production toward more critical, reflexive, and ethically attuned practices. It also demonstrated the value of interdisciplinary dialogue across researchers and practitioners in shaping more nuanced understandings of collaboration in physical activity and health research.
The event was wonderfully supported by colleagues across the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities and beyond, including Durham University’s Institute for Medical Humanities Events team.
