This article presents a participatory research project involving immigrant organizations and professional parenting support services in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The project combined local development aims with co-generative knowledge and mutual learning to produce socially and scientifically relevant knowledge. By using participatory components as ‘windows of understanding’ in a broader non-participatory research, previously excluded perspectives were included in knowledge production, while also producing local change. An analysis of the challenges and positive outcomes offers a methodological reflection that can contribute to future developments in participatory action research (PAR).