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“This is the start of the conversation — this is not a one‑off.”

With this opening line, Matthew Gummerson, Director of the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Portsmouth, set the tone for an evolving relationship between the council, communities, and academics at last week’s seminar.

Led by — a partnership between Portsmouth City Council, the ���������� (UoP) and HIVE Portsmouth — the seminar, called Developing collaborations that make a difference to communities in Portsmouth, brought together academics, community researchers, and partners as equal contributors.

Participants connected their expertise and interests with priorities emerging directly from Portsmouth residents, creating space for research‑ready opportunities grounded in lived experience.

Speakers

Rethinking health research in Portsmouth

Each speaker challenged the room to widen their understanding of health research and the factors that determine health across the city. Beyond familiar influences such as housing or exercise, they highlighted the impact of hobbies, environment, social connection, and belonging.

They also reflected on Portsmouth City Council’s City Vision, and how co‑design and untraditional research methods lead to richer, lived‑experience‑led research.

Antonio described how earlier conversations with Deborah and Nikki at a networking event “switched something on inside of him,” marking a turning point in his own research and illustrating the powerful shift that occurs when communities shape research rather than simply taking part in it.

As Nikki emphasised, the support offered through HDRC is not for researchers who approach community work by saying, “I have everything ready, I just need participants.” Instead, projects begin with trust, relationships, and curiosity.

Curiosity opens the door, and co‑design is the way through, a mindset that is reshaping how research begins and who leads it.

One reflection from the room captured this perfectly: “We’re creating things that work in real life, not just in theory.”

Community and collaborations

Through the HDRC programme, community researchers feel heard, seen, and meaningfully involved. Projects have the potential to be more relevant, more relational, and more capable of tackling long‑standing inequalities through shared understanding rather than top‑down assumptions.

The seminar also created space for academics to connect their own research interests with community priorities, sparking new collaborations and strengthening HDRC Portsmouth’s growing network.

The next session in July will build on these conversations and expand opportunities. This seminar certainly wasn’t the conclusion, it was the beginning of doing things differently, together.

Connect with the team

To speak to the team or explore opportunities to collaborate, please email hdrcportsmouth@port.ac.uk or .