Dr Bryony Vince-Myers

Bryony is a Founder and Co-Director of Wild Fig Research. She works with communities, universities, and organisations to design and deliver participatory research that is community-led, strengthens relationships, and supports meaningful social change.

Before co-founding Wild Fig, Bryony worked across academia on UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded research projects in the UK and South Africa. Her research has explored community-led approaches to peacebuilding, examining how peace is understood and built by communities in contextually specific ways, and more recently has focused on improving the systems, cultures and practices that enable equitable participatory research between universities and communities.

Alongside Wild Fig Research, Bryony runs the Participatory Research Network at the University of Sheffield, supporting researchers to develop inclusive and participatory research practice. She previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Co-Production Futures Inquiry, a national collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool and Manchester exploring how to improve the conditions for participatory and co-produced research across higher education. She was also an Associate Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Sheffield Hallam University.

Bryony is passionate about building stronger relationships between research, policy and practice, and creating the conditions for communities to shape the decisions, services and places that affect their lives. Through Wild Fig Research, she enjoys working with diverse organisations and individuals that share a commitment to collaboration and community-led change.

Bryony lives in Sheffield, and loves spending time with her family and friends, eating good food, and hiking and swimming in the Peak District.