This book explores how action research forms a valuable methodology for producing collaborative knowledge and action. It outlines the recent uptake of action research in policy analysis and transition research and develops a distinct and novel approach that is both critical and relational.

Koen P.R. Bartels is Lecturer in Management Studies at Bangor University, UK, where he teaches courses in public administration and qualitative research. He has published in leading journals, including Urban Studies, Environment and Planning C, Public Administration, Public Administration Review, and International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, as well as a book Communicative Capacity (2015).

Julia M. Wittmayer works at the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. With a background in anthropology, she is interested in roles of and social relations and interactions between actors in sustainability transitions (governance).

1. Introduction: Action Research in Policy Analysis and Transition Research [Koen P.R. Bartels and Julia M. Wittmayer] Part I: Sustainability Crises and Actionable Knowledge and Research 2. Both Critical and Applied? Action Research and Transformative Change in the UK Water Sector [Emma Westling and Liz Sharp] Co-inquirer reflection by Chris Digman 3. Cooperative Research for Bottom-up Food Sovereignty and Policy Change [Bálint Balázs and György Pataki] Co-inquirer reflection by Csilla Kiss and Borbála Sarbu-Simonyi 4. Transition Scientivism: On Activist Gardening and Co-producing Transition Knowledge 'From Below' [Shivant Jhagroe] Co-inquirer reflection by Rutger Henneman Part II: Critical-Relational Heuristics for Action Research 5. Cultivating 'Sanction and Sanctuary' in Scottish Collaborative Governance: Doing Relational Work to Support Communicative Spaces [James Henderson and Claire Bynner] Co-inquirer reflection by Alison McPherson 6. Negotiating Space for Mild Interventions: Action Research on the Brink between Social Movements and Government Policy in Flanders [Erik Paredis and Thomas Block] Co-inquirer reflection by Dirk Barrez 7. Soft Resistance: Balancing Relationality and Criticality to Institutionalise Action Research for Territorial Development [Ainhoa Arrona and Miren Larrea] Co-inquirer reflection by Ander Arzelus Part III: Approaches to Critical-Relational Action Research 8. Lipstick on a Pig? Appreciative Inquiry in a Context of Austerity [Alison Gardner] Co-inquirer reflection by Liz Jones 9. Getting Unstuck: The Reconstruction Clinic as Pragmatic Intervention in Controversial Policy Disputes [Martien Kuitenbrouwer] Co-inquirer reflection by Karima Arichi 10. Exploring the Use of Audiovisual Media for Deliberation: Reframing Discourses on Vulnerabilities to Climate Change in Nepal [Floriane Clement] Co-inquirer reflection by Damakant Jayshi 11. Really Imagined: Policy Novels as a Mode of Action Research [Sonja van der Arend] Co-inquirer reflection by Martine de Vaan 12. Conclusion: Critical and Relational Action Research for Policy Change and Sustainability Transitions [Koen P.R. Bartels and Julia M. Wittmayer]