Research · Living Cities Action Research Ecosystem

Our Research Approach

At the heart of the LCARE Institute’s work is the recognition that cities are not simply infrastructures or administrative units, but living, storied ecosystems shaped by memory, meaning, culture, relationships and their connection with the natural world.

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Our Research Approach

Where Our Research Begins

Core Action Research Focus

Our research focus is the reimagining of urban citizenship, where a new citizen identity and personal agency are cultivated — rooted in deep connections to the Soul of the City & Place. This concept encompasses the emotional, cultural, historical and spiritual bonds that inspire residents to innovate, flourish and take collective responsibility for the wellbeing of each person, all people and non-human beings, their places of living and the whole living planet across space and time.

Research from the Inside Out

Rather than beginning only with policies, infrastructure or external indicators, we begin by listening to people and places — to lived experience, stories, cultural memory, values and relationships.

Storytelling and narrative inquiry allow us to access dimensions of urban life that conventional datasets may not reveal: what people value, what creates belonging, where trust has been damaged, what capacities already exist, and what futures people consider meaningful.

These insights are then connected with broader social, institutional and ecological systems.

Our Research Approach

Target Audience

LCARE Institute’s primary focus is on small and mid-sized cities, urban districts and boroughs, and those who wish to help them thrive, recognising that work in this area sits at the frontline of societal tensions and environmental challenges. These cities are uniquely positioned to integrate diverse perspectives and innovative solutions, making them fertile ground for transformative urban development.

Our Research Approach

Strategic Goals

5Goals

LCARE Institute pursues five interlocking strategic goals that together advance a new logic of urban development.

01 Reimagine Urban Citizenship

Cultivating deep connections to the Soul of the City & Place — a living essence and unique character of an urban space, emerging from a relational field of coherence between people, place, time and the more-than-human world.

02 Generate Knowledge for Urban Transformation

Exploring local experience, land-based and ancestral wisdoms, collecting best practice and developing actionable frameworks through storytelling, holistic methodologies and transdisciplinary research.

03 Empower Small and Mid-Sized Cities

Supporting cities to address societal tensions and environmental challenges through innovative, inclusive and regenerative approaches, using models and frameworks prototyped at LCARE Institute.

04 Strengthen Participation and Collaboration

Fostering citizen engagement, ecological stewardship, participatory governance and cross-sectoral, intercultural collaboration through participatory action research.

05 Help Cities Understand How They Come Alive

Raising awareness of how cities come alive through human interaction and helping people understand how urban life shapes them — and how they shape urban life in turn.

Our Research Approach

Focus of Inquiry

5Themes

Soul of the City & Place

The emotional, cultural, historical and spiritual bonds that connect residents to their urban and natural environments and inspire collaborative action.

Participatory Governance

Frameworks for inclusive, citizen-driven decision-making that empower communities to shape their own futures.

Cross-Sectoral & Intercultural Collaboration

Partnerships across sectors, cultures, generations and disciplines that address complex urban challenges and forge new collective identities.

Ecological Stewardship

Regenerative practices that restore and enhance natural systems, sustaining the long-term health of urban ecosystems, bioregions and planetary health.

Citizen Engagement

Urban environments that foster agency and belonging, build resilience and ownership, and ensure subjective wellbeing and eco-systemic flourishing.

Methodology

Methodological Approach

7Approaches

LCARE Institute’s approach is rooted in holistic, transdisciplinary research and participatory, action-oriented collaboration.

Methodology

Research Architecture

LCARE combines several complementary research orientations:

  • Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the core framework for inquiry, learning and action;
  • Narrative inquiry and lived experience to examine meaning, identity, cultural memory and place-based realities;
  • Systems and ecological analysis to identify patterns, interdependencies, feedback loops, leverage points and bioregional dynamics;
  • Intercultural and relational practice to support dialogue, trust and collaboration across differences;
  • Intergenerational and more-than-human perspectives to extend ethical consideration beyond present-day human stakeholders.

This approach draws on expertise in systems science, urban governance, intercultural collaboration, narrative research and ecological stewardship.

LCARE also applies its human–AI Distributed Functioning in Iterative Dialogue (DFID) protocol to support analysis and synthesis. AI extends analytical capacity, while interpretation and final research conclusions are evaluated and validated by human researchers.

“By linking qualitative inquiry, systems analysis, practical prototyping and iterative reflection, LCARE connects research with action and supports regenerative, resilient and socially coherent urban development.

LCARE Institute · Research Architecture

Bioregional Action Research Clusters

Bioregional Action Research Clusters — BARCs

BARCs are the primary place-based research and learning infrastructure of LCARE.

A BARC is a participatory learning and action ecosystem through which a city or place can deepen its self-understanding, strengthen collective capacity and translate insight into action. It is not a one-off project or consultancy intervention, but an iterative, locally led process of inquiry, reflection and learning.

Local teams bring together researchers, civic and community leaders, social connectors, innovators and other relevant actors. Each BARC retains local ownership and authority, while LCARE provides methodological, ethical and sense-making support where needed.

BARCs connect local learning with the wider LCARE network, enabling comparative research and knowledge exchange while preserving the cultural and ecological specificity of each place.

Bioregional Action Research Clusters

Research Process

4Stages

The BARC methodology is structured in stages but remains iterative and adaptive.

  1. 1

    Form the Local Development Team

    A place-based team is convened to steward the research process, mobilise participation and support local inquiry.

  2. 2

    Conduct the Core Inquiry

    Interviews, facilitated workshops and culturally appropriate participatory formats are used to gather lived experience, stories, knowledge and aspirations.

    The process combines Participatory Action Research with Appreciative Inquiry, treating participants as co-inquirers rather than research subjects.

  3. 3

    Reflect, Sense-Make and Refine

    Narratives and other research materials are analysed collectively to identify patterns, tensions, blind spots and emerging questions. Findings inform the next cycle of inquiry.

  4. 4

    Translate Learning into Action

    Insights are translated into locally appropriate strategies, policy proposals, pilot initiatives, prototypes or other forms of practical action, and shared across the wider BARCs network.

The process develops through repeated cycles of inquiry, reflection, sense-making, action and renewed inquiry. InquiryReflectionSense-makingActionRenewed inquiry
Bioregional Action Research Clusters

Whose Voices Are Included

BARCs are designed as polyphonic and locally grounded inquiry processes.

Voices in the inquiry

BARCs may include:

  • Citizens and community groups
  • Government and public institutions
  • Businesses and entrepreneurs
  • Civil society / third sector
  • Researchers and educators
  • Cultural and creative communities
  • Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders
  • Young people and elders

Often absent perspectives

BARCs also consider perspectives often absent from conventional urban processes:

  • the more-than-human world — land, water, ecosystems and other forms of life;
  • past and future generations;
  • wider planetary and ecological dynamics.

This broadens the research beyond conventional stakeholder consultation and recognises that urban development affects — and is affected by — multiple interconnected systems.

Bioregional Action Research Clusters

Research Methods

Methods are selected according to the research question, local context and stage of inquiry. They may include:

AI

Where appropriate, AI may support transcription, synthesis and pattern recognition. It does not replace human interpretation, judgement or accountability.

  • semi-structured and one-to-one interviews
  • facilitated workshops and dialogue
  • storytelling, thematic and narrative analysis
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Participatory Action Research
  • walking dialogues, Elder circles and youth councils
  • cultural and creative forms of inquiry
  • collective reflection and sense-making
  • surveys and diagnostic tools
  • mapping of voices, patterns and absences
  • comparative cross-city analysis
  • iterative action-learning cycles
Bioregional Action Research Clusters

Research Outputs

LCARE research generates:

“The purpose is to generate usable and cumulative knowledge that strengthens a city’s capacity to understand itself, learn, adapt and act coherently over time.

LCARE Institute · Research Outputs

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