Dr Anne-Marie Bartlett

Professional biography

Anne-Marie’s research interests include participatory research, co-creation methods, and inclusive design. Her work focuses on voice, inclusion, and the potential for design to bring about social change. Recent interdisciplinary collaborations have examined the role of design in Evidence-based Transformation within the NHS (Lab4Living, SHU, 2017), tackling digital exclusion in higher education (LJMU, 2021), and healthy eating and sustainability in primary schools (LJMU, 2023).

Anne-Marie has presented her research at conferences of international standing including Interaction Design and Children (IDC), Bremen, 2012; The Cambridge Workshop on Universal and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT), 2014; the Design Management Institute (DMI) conference, London College of Fashion, 2014; and at 2CO:2 - Communicating Complexity, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, 2017.

Anne-Marie welcomes PhD applications from students with interdisciplinary research interests, particularly in the areas of co-design/co-creation, and projects designed to give voice to marginalised or underrepresented groups. Anne-Marie has supervised research students at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has experience of leadership in doctoral research environments as Transart Institute for Creative Research Advisor and Principal Investigator and Internal Examiner at Liverpool School of Art and Design. In the area of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) at the Centre for Educational Research, she was Lead Supervisor to a candidate who successfully completed his PhD by Published Works in ITE for Design and Technology (2021-2022) and Mentor to a colleague pursuing a PhD by Published Works in ITE in Art and Design.

Anne-Marie is currently acting as External Examiner for Short Courses in Art and Design at The University of Edinburgh (2023-27).

Sustainability

'The Anfield Green Food Strategy: Co-Researching a New Approach to Healthy Eating and Sustainability with Primary School Children' (Bartlett, 2023)

This QR (quality-related) funded internship project brought children at All Saints Catholic Primary School, Anfield, together with academics and students at Liverpool John Moores University, and local social enterprises, to tackle health inequality in the Liverpool City region on a united front. Anfield is in the top-10 most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This project focused on catalysing social inclusion, increasing outreach in schools in disadvantaged boroughs, enhancing regional educational attainment and sustaining local community engagement through targeted educational workshops, the design of the school’s green food strategy plan and its dissemination in the wider community.

Tackling Inequalities

'Tackling Digital Exclusion: Lessons Learned from the Experiences of University Students during the Covid-19 Pandemic' (Bartlett, 2021)

This QR funded internship project was an initial study into the uneven social impacts of Covid-19 on students from Liverpool School of Art and Design. Qualitative methods of inquiry were employed to examine affect, namely how learners feel about their experience of teaching and learning under lockdown during the pandemic, through co-created learning and teaching.

Participatory design methods were employed to enable student interns to investigate peer and staff experiences of teaching and learning online during, and in emergence from, coronavirus lockdown, and in response, to co-create staff development and training resources on digital inclusion. Findings were disseminated at the Graphic Design Educators Network (GDEN) event, 2021: Into the Void: Reflections on Teaching Graphic Design During a Pandemic and at the LJMU Annual Teaching and Learning Conference, 2021. As a case study, this project was situated in LJMU’s Impact Hub website, highlighting Anne-Marie’s research expertise, its translation into curriculum, and student impact.

Living Well

'Disseminating Positively Deviant Strategies through Creative Co-design' (Chamberlain et al., 2018)

Anne-Marie’s research at Lab4Living, Sheffield Hallam University (2017-2018), examined a positively deviant approach to Evidence-based Transformation within the NHS. Lab4Living is a transdisciplinary research group, involving collaboration in design, healthcare, and creative practice. Positive deviance is a bottom-up approach to behaviour change employed by groups recognised for their community strengths.

Findings from co-design workshops with ward staff were used to develop a set of creative interventions and artefact installations designed to support strategies for improving quality and evidence on best practice within elderly patient medical wards. The research was funded through the Evidence Based Transformation Theme of the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) CLAHRC (Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health research and Care) YH (Yorkshire and Humber) and was supported by the Translating Knowledge into Action (TK2A) theme.