LEARNING THROUGH PARTICIPATION: A UNIVERSITY-LED INITIATIVE FOR WORKPLACE INNOVATION

This paper traces the methodological evolution of a university-led project designed to foster workplace participation in Italian manufacturing firms. Over four yearly editions, the project, developed in collaboration with trade unions and companies, brought together students and shop stewards to codesign solutions to real-workplace organisational challenges. Although initially structured as a training initiative, the project progressively shifted toward a more participatory, interactive format. This paper examines how the project evolved over time in line with an action research approach, adapting to emerging tensions, constraints, and participant feedback. Rather than presenting action research as a fixed toolkit, the paper highlights its nature as a processual and situated practice that demands continuous calibration. The insights generated will be useful to researchers and practitioners navigating participatory projects in contested or evolving contexts, especially where structural asymmetries shape engagement dynamics, as well as to members of institutions dedicated to the provision of academic education or vocational and workforce training.