Doing the work together: Insights from our Anti-Racism Action Framework launch
5th December 2025
On Wednesday 26th November we came together with over 150 researchers, designers and practitioners to launch our Anti-Racism Action Framework: Centring Equity in Research and Design Practice. Launching this framework now feels particularly urgent as racism continues to shape the experiences, outcomes and opportunities of our teams and the communities we, and those across our sector, work with. Against a backdrop of increasing mobilisation by the far-right and ongoing harmful and hateful rhetoric, many of us are grappling with how to take action that is meaningful, sustained and structurally focused rather than symbolic or episodic.
In light of our commitment to keeping anti-racism on the agenda in our sector, we wanted to share our own learning around anti-racism in the open, and give others a practical tool in the form of our Framework that they can use to embed equity in their own practice. We also wanted to create space to hear from others and hoped that this event would spark honest conversation and strengthen collective resolve. In sharing our learning and tools freely, we wanted to build confidence for action across our sector.
The energy in the room reflected a real appetite for cross-sector change. Despite different roles and contexts, there was a shared willingness to learn, question and take responsibility. For us, seeing so many people gather with openness and determination underscored something important: anti-racism requires collective effort, not siloed initiatives. Seeing more than 150 people show up willing to learn, reflect, challenge and connect felt like a hopeful signal that our sector is ready to move beyond intention and towards action, and we hope that the Framework we’ve shared can support that.
Reflections from the room
Across the event, participants reflected honestly on three questions draw from our Framework:
How does anti-racism and equity show up in your work?
Whose values, experiences or needs are being centred, whose are being marginalised in your work (and what are the implications)?
How are you actively identifying and addressing inequities and racism in both the process and the outcome of your work?
The picture that emerged was textured and candid: pockets of meaningful practice, clear intentions, and equally clear gaps.
Many people described anti-racism as something that shows up in everyday decisions: how samples are built, who conducts research, how evidence is interpreted, and the questions teams ask of themselves and each other. Some spoke about the influence of personal identity. Others described practical steps they’re taking or want to take: budgeting for interpreters, translating materials, diversifying recruitment routes, and designing more reflective, inclusive research methods.
At the same time, a recurring theme was the gap between intention and implementation. For many organisations, whiteness still sits at the centre, whether through English-language–dominant communications, limited representation of different groups in survey samples, or research processes shaped around the needs of funders and organisational leaders rather than communities. Several people described anti-racism as present in principle but inconsistent in practice, something experienced as individual effort rather than organisational expectation.
Participants also acknowledged the emotional and professional risks involved in anti-racist work for staff of colour, and the limitations of organisational processes that fail to respond meaningfully when racism is raised. We heard that work is often project-based, sporadic, under-resourced, or reliant on individual champions without structural backing.
Yet there were also signs of movement: teams forming sub-groups to learn together, organisations starting to design funding that reaches beyond familiar networks, and practitioners committing to naming racism even when it disrupts normative assumptions about childhood, evidence or service delivery. We heard about teams shifting to run work where minoritised populations live, amplifying participants’ voices, and noticing whose voices carry power in meetings or decisions.
Together, these reflections show a sector that is beginning to challenge itself and take action on explicit anti-racist practice, one that recognises both the scale of the work ahead and the need for shared, sustained effort rather than isolated acts.
What next?
After the event we’re sitting with this reflection: this work is complex, sometimes uncomfortable and often slow, but there is potential for real momentum when we choose to face it together.
As Dartington, our next step is to continue embedding the Framework in our own practice and expand on how anti-racism is upheld across our organisation. We’ll keep creating spaces where people can learn from one another to push this work further and we will refine and adapt our Framework as we hear from others about how you get on using it in your practice. Thank you to everyone who joined us at the launch for the insights, honesty and challenge that you brought to the space, which will help us shape our anti-racist and equity practice going forwards.
For now: