Hilary Bradbury and Sonia Bussu talk about how youth who suffer mental health problems (anxiety, ADHD etc) successfully got on the radar of policy makers. Using legislative theatre their action research resulted in policy recommendations. It is an example of social innovation that is transformative in that it helps reconfigure relationships between policy makers and youth – and, as importantly, it transforms how they relate.

The big action research idea in Sonia Bussu’s and colleagues work is to work at the intersection of policy making and action research. Inviting policy makers to join young people in theatre in the round draws a lot from Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Sonia and her team then follow how, which and whether the various recommendations are implemented. In the meantime the youth involved get to use new skills in shaping their own future.

The enduring benefit to all concerned is having direct experience of democratic practice in action. In effect the use of theatre and reflection together on the insights makes democracy more participative and continues to expand the pool of people our democracy serves.

We also speak about the difficulty of doing action research as an associate professor who must take responsibility for all the “logistical ethics” of the work. This means the important “behind the scenes” work of crafting the relational space so policy makers and youth can meet, build trust and be productive together. Given that so much falls on the shoulders of the action researcher, it is simply true to admit how exhausting this work is. Moreover it continues to be somewhat punished as conventional forms of research remain rewarded. Still Sonia perseveres, not least because it’s incredibly rewarding, purpose-filled work! Happily her work is also successful in finding EU funding, that always help academic seniors see the value!

Sonia shares what being a participative action researcher mean for her today and why she recommends to others do this work today.

Show Notes:

Hilary’s interview with socio dramatist, Agnes Blasko in Hungary is also relevant. https://actionresearchplus.com/?s=drama

AR+ Blog about Sonia and team’s article: https://actionresearchplus.com/mindset-revolution-for-youth-mental-health-by-bussu-et-al-in-arj/

Forever link to article: Bussu, S., Rubin, K., Carroll, N., & Eve, Z. (2025). It’s a Mindset Revolution! Co-creating inclusive spaces of participation on youth mental health. Action Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/14767503251320616

Author Bios:
Dr Sonia Bussu is Associate Professor in Public Policy at the University of Birmingham. Sonia has written and led research on participatory governance, youth participation, coproduction and participatory research and arts-based methods for inclusive democratic spaces. Studies and teaches public policy, or what governments do or do not do, why and how. Her main research interest is participatory governance, or ways of involving citizens, and particularly those groups often at the margins of social and political life, in making policies that affect them directly.

In recent years she studied the role of social movements and grassroots politics in using and strengthening democratic innovations to further social justice and has recently received funding from the EU to continue and expand the work.

Co-authors:
Katy Rubin is a Legislative Theatre practitioner and director of The People Act hub for creative civic practice. S

Niamh Carroll is currently the Research and Evaluation lead at Greater Manchester Moving.

Dr. Zarah Eve is a Research Associate at the School of Nursing and Public Health at Manchester Metropolitan University.