ANTI-RACISM Policy
Updated 01.09.2021
This policy applies to all Dartington Service Design Lab staff, including senior managers, trustees, other paid staff, CSP Fellows, volunteers and associate workers, agency staff, interns, or anyone working on behalf of, or with the overarching charity: The Warren House Group at Dartington (WHG).
The purpose of this policy:
To support our intention to become an anti-racist social research charity, and specify what this means for clients, partner organisations, and the communities with which we work.
To support our staff to create and embed anti-racist ways of working in our social research and design projects, as well as within the culture at Dartington Service Design Lab.
This policy sets out the ways in which we will intentionally consider and address racism during the life-cycles of our projects, and within our organisation. It should be read alongside our paper ‘Embedding an anti-racist approach in research and design’, as well as our Equality and Diversity Policy found in the Policy section.
1. Project & Partnership Formation
1.1 We will use our Equality Impact Assessment Framework to consider whether we have sufficient expertise and understanding (alone or in partnership) to undertake each specific piece of work.
1.2 We will create more diverse and partnerships to reduce the risk that work we carry out exacerbates bias and inequality.
1.3 We will constructively challenge invitations to tender we believe perpetuate racism, and where this is not successful, we will not bid for this work.
2. Design, Engagement and Implementation of Research and Design Activities
2.1 We will use our Equality Impact Assessment Framework to consider all research and design work though an equity and intersectionality lens and will justify design and analytical decisions related to race and ethnicity. We will design methods that are informed by and sensitive to diverse needs and experiences.
2.2 When undertaking engagements with practitioners, families, young people or communities we will work with partners to ensure that engagements are: (i) inclusive and as far as possible reflective of local communities in which research and design works takes place; (ii) that research and design methods and approaches to measurement are inclusive and culturally appropriate; and (iii) that they are conducted in a trauma-informed way.
2.3 When drawing upon bodies of research or evidence, we will consider and be transparent about how representative and transferable (or not) we believe it is for diverse populations.
2.4 Where possible we will:
Engage and recompense organisations embedded or connected with the populations and communities served.
Engage and recompense diverse groups of people that support or participate in research or design engagement activities.
Enable and empower communities which are the focus for analysis by including them in interpretation of findings.
3. Analysis Reporting & Dissemination
3.1 We will use our Equality Impact Assessment Framework to consider analysis and reporting to avoid or mitigate any risk of perpetuating racism and other inequalities in these activities.
3.2 We will cost dissemination activities with minoritised communities of focus as an integral part of research and design activities (and where resources do not permit, a dialogue will take place with funders or commissioners about the limitations and risks of this).
3.3 Where possible, findings and insights will first be shared and validated with communities or groups of people from which it was generated. This initial engagement and review should generate feedback, insights and recommendations about the messages and language used in subsequent dissemination.
3.4 Engagements and sharing of data/findings with communities will be designed in a way that promotes equitable access (i.e., in formats or forums that enable equitable participation and engagement).
3.5 When reporting we will be transparent about the degree to which the communities of focus were (or were not) involved in the design, data collection, interpretation, and dissemination strategies.
3.6 We will use language that accurately and respectfully describes the populations we are working with or describing. We will explain why we have chosen particular language and acknowledge its benefit and limitations.
3.7 We will only publish peer-reviewed research in open-access journals (ensuring that the fees for this are covered by funders and costed into the work).
3.8 In reports and outputs, we will use diverse, inclusive and sensitive imagery.
4. Creating a diverse and inclusive team
We are also committed to increasing, and protecting, the ethnic diversity of our team and trustees.
4.1 We will de-bias job adverts and embed inclusive recruitment practices.
4.2 Seek to increase the ethnic diversity of our Board of Trustees.
4.3 Nurture an inclusive working environment that supports a more diverse workforce.
This policy will be reviewed and updated (as required) on an annual basis.
Date of last review: 01.09.2021
5. Contact
If you would like to discuss anything in this anti-racism policy, please contact:
Tim Hobbs
Email: info@dartington.org.uk