Abstract
Co-operative inquiry is a research method that enables researchers to harness the transformative potential of research for social change through work in multi-disciplinary teams, with multiple knowledge paradigms, and multiple research approaches. Through a midpoint critical reflection on Warming the Whare, a three-year co-operative inquiry, we explore the potential and benefits of harnessing multiplicities in this method. Warming the Whare partners with two urban perinatal mental health services working together to build system readiness for transgender-inclusive perinatal mental health services in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our approach uniquely centres Indigenous knowledge about LGBTQIA + wellbeing, alongside transgender parents’ lived experience. Reflection on our inquiry is organised in three themes: valuing multiple ways of knowing, working across multiple sites, and learning through multiple data sources. Within these themes we critically explore the rationales, as well as the challenges encountered, across the first two phases of our inquiry. While work with multiplicities can add complexity, we argue that embracing multiplicities also multiplies the transformative potential of co-operative inquiry. Specifically, through contributions to social justice and decolonising research processes. We conclude by affirming the important role of incorporating continuous reflection about capacity, resources, and impact into the co-operative inquiry phases to ensure work with multiplicities is effective and sustainable.