Dr Susan Young is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Western Australia. A long-term practitioner and advocate of action research she talks with Ernie Stringer about the potential of using developmental approaches to action research to produce sustainable changes to the practices and operations of human services agencies. In doing so she reiterates the need for systematic and participative processes that build people’s capacities to resolve issues in their lives. She also focuses on the importance of social media for incorporating young people in action research processes.