This section documents the inquiry which ran alongside the Emerge support project, to inform and direct its community based model of support. Accepting that our research interventions will impact on the community’s development, we chose appreciative inquiry as an approach which would have a positive effect and which promotes an atmosphere of collective inquiry. Assuming that research participants move in the positive direction of what they study, our aim was to ask questions which would support the community to move forwards.

The inquiry questions were

• What conditions/activities/processes make the community successful?
• What do participants value about a community based approach to support?
• What is effective about a community based approach to supporting a funded programme?

The iterative nature of this inquiry allowed for the collection of data at multiple points in time and in various formats, which resulted in a large and rich dataset. In all there were approximately 25 separate data collection points, each of which was reported back to the community members and management team in order to assist them in making decisions about what to do next. The stories and voices of the members were used to examine how this community developed, and what made it successful. There was evidence that the community developed into an effective support system for projects. The benefits for individuals and projects included opportunities for professional development, collaboration with others, improved project planning and management, and awareness of the relevance of projects in a wider context. The AI final report makes recommendations for planning and conducting community based models of support.

For details, reports and related resources of the AI activities link to: http://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/EMERGEAI/