In This Together: Relational Accountability and Meaningful Research and Dissemination With Youth

This article explores what it means to engage youth in meaningful dissemination of research findings. To do so, the authors (a group of academic researchers and youth collaborators, aged 14-18) consider their experience working together on the Spaces & Places research project, a participatory visual methods research program that took place in Eskasoni, a Mi'kmaq community in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. Over the course of the project, we developed a strong sense of relational accountability. Reflecting on our experiences, we believe that this is central to the development of a dissemination process that is meaningful and engaging. To reflect on youth perspectives and experiences of the project's dissemination process, we use a participatory action research technique-the Socratic Wheel-to explore six factors that contribute to a meaningful dissemination process: The degree to which the project is relationship building, strengthening, rewarding, able to reach our intended audience, provides opportunities moving forward, balances structure with flexibility, and allows youth to have a sense of ownership over their work.