Défis de la co-construction d’une recherche interventionnelle associant acteurs associatifs et chercheurs : le cas du projet Makasi

Abstract

Based on a reflexive approach centered on the co-construction of the Makasi project, involving researchers and associations, this article aims to highlight certain conditions required for co-constructing intervention research. Makasi is a community-based intervention research project carried out with sub-Saharan immigrants in precarious situations to strengthen their sexual health empowerment. It involves three research teams and two associations. Involving the three stakeholders in the various stages of the project and taking into account the diversity of expertise were the guiding principles. Outlining the challenges at each stage of the project and the solutions provided highlights the need to link, throughout the project, mixed decision-making bodies, formalized exchanges, and the utilization of high-level expertise and interpersonal skills. The experience of Makasi highlights the need to collectively discuss the relationship between stakeholders and the subject of study ahead of projects and establish and moderate a participative space for the duration of every project. Finally, the co-construction in the Makasi project was an opportunity for researchers to strengthen their capacity to decentralize and to rely on experiential knowledge, and for association workers to train themselves in research and to share their experiences and knowledge of migration and health.