Co-creating sustainable innovations in Irish social housing through participatory research

Policymakers need active citizens' participation to implement meaningful, transparent, and inclusive reforms aimed at ambitious policy changes. However, effective methodologies for ensuring genuine participation, addressing inherent power imbalances, and translating community stakeholder feedback into tangible and lasting policy and project outcomes remain underdeveloped, particularly within the context of housing sustainability and innovation in Ireland. This research addresses this critical gap, employing Participatory Research methods, engaging 28 stakeholders in the Irish social housing sector to inform the implementation of environmental sensor technology to enhance housing sustainability and resilience in the industry. This study details the insights collected from stakeholder engagement, focusing on key concerns, such as data privacy and the diverse needs of residents. It also demonstrates how this input shaped the project's technological design and engagement strategies. The insights shown in this research aim to motivate researchers and policymakers in Ireland to adopt participatory approaches that integrate citizen perspectives into digital innovation and resilience planning. This research also contributes to the field of participatory research methods with a practical approach to meaningfully engaging vulnerable populations and integrating their concerns into technological solutions, demonstrating how participatory frameworks can advance both digital sustainability and housing resilience.