معرفی
Kar Man Au serves as a Research Assistant at CASCADE (Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre) within Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences. She concurrently holds a Visiting Tutor position at Royal Holloway, University of London, and maintains active collaborations with the University of Sussex, Foundations (What Works Centre for Children and Families), and multiple London boroughs including Camden and Hammersmith & Fulham.
Her research interests center on Family Group Conferencing methodologies, Peer/Parent Advocacy systems, and Child Protection frameworks. She specializes in Relational Activism approaches that emphasize empathy, compassion, and network-building to transform social care systems. Her work integrates lived experience perspectives with academic research to develop strengths-based practices in social work.
Analysis of her publications reveals consistent focus on family-centered interventions across child and adult social care systems. Her research examines implementation effectiveness of Family Group Conferencing models, explores intersections between parental advocacy and child protection outcomes, and investigates how socio-economic contexts influence safeguarding practices.
- Top Achiever Award - Undergraduate Major Project, Anglia Ruskin University London (2020)
- Top Achiever Award - Business Strategy, Anglia Ruskin University London (2020)
- Top Achiever Award - Business Information, Anglia Ruskin University London (2019)
- Graduate Young Enterprise Professional - Young Enterprise, Leeds University Business School (2009)
Au leads significant NIHR and Nuffield Foundation-funded projects including 'Family VOICE' (Family Group Conferencing evaluation) and 'Parental Advocacy in England'. She serves as Parent Advocate for Child Protection in Camden, coordinates the Camden Family Advisory Board, and acts as lay member of the Camden Safeguarding Children Partnership. Her consultancy work focuses on service development and implementation with Local Authorities.
Through Relational Activism, she facilitates events and partnerships that bridge academic research with frontline practice. Her approach emphasizes co-design methodologies where service users actively shape interventions, particularly in domestic abuse contexts and child development frameworks.
