ABSTRACT
The narrative for public service reform in Scotland aspires to ambitious goals of reducing social inequalities through more democratic, collaborative forms of governance, whilst pursuing efficiencies in response to public spending constraints. The key vehicle for service transformation are multi-agency, multi-sector community planning partnerships (CPPs), aligned with Scottish local authority areas. What Works Scotland, a research collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, has been supporting the development of collaborative governance within CPPs, and exploring the potential for relational and critical action research in these settings. In this chapter, we discuss action research theory and practice by drawing on illustrations from two CPPs. We emphasise the relational strategies required to carry out action research in these complex public service partnership settings. We discuss the heuristic of ‘sanction and sanctuary’ as foundational elements for inquiry and action. By negotiating sanction and sanctuary, adopting an ‘inflight’ approach, and seeking to ‘hold steady’ to an accountable process, we have sought to sustain communicative spaces for pragmatic, workable change and critical reflexivity. Given the demanding policy context and institutional pressures, we illustrate why commitment to both relational and critical working is crucial to understanding the realities, opportunities and constraints of multi-agency collaborative governance.
