‘A series of abject failures’: Navigating the pitfalls of place-based participatory histories

While historical geographers and historians increasingly recognise the benefits of and need for participatory research, the rigid structures regimenting academic practice have acted as barriers to successful knowledge exchange. Community involvement and place-based research come with a number of challenges characterised by miscommunications, frustrations, and failures. This paper reflects on findings that emerged from a three-month internship investigating public and community engagement activities at the Centre for History, University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The internship was the outcome of a collaboration between UHI and the Centre for the History of People, Place, and Community (CHPPC), Institute of Historical Research London (IHR). Based on interviews with UHI academics and heritage institutions beyond the Higher Education sector based across the Highlands and Islands, the paper explores the inevitable pitfalls that comes with community engagement and the ethical questions raised by knowledge co-production.