ResearchImpact presents at Living Knowledge 2009, Queen’s University, Belfast

On August 28, I had the chance to present on behalf of ResearchImpact at the poster session of the 4th Living Knowledge Conference held at Queen’s University in Belfast. The conference brought together academics, funders, staff and students engaged in community based research, knowledge mobilization and Science Shops from 17 countries. Our poster addressed the one of the conference’s main themes of student engagement and looked at Graduate Student Engagement within ResearchImpact- Canada’s Knowledge Mobilization Network, including in the KM Summer Internship program at YorkU and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Courses held at UVic.

Krista Jensen, Knowledge Mobilization Officer, YorkU

It was great to meet with faculty, staff and students from across the world doing similar work and to hear about their successes and challenges. Highlights for me were learning about student engagement in the newly created Science Shop called WUZULU, Intuthuko at the University of Zululand in partnership with Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Challenges at UniZulu include large class sizes, were many classes commonly have 800 students in them, the fact that most students also work as well as go to school in order to pay for their education, and the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS on the community. Another interesting project was the climate change work going on at The Science Shop at the Technical University of Denmark, which recently worked on a project to address the CO2 impact of foods on the climate. In partnership with a local municipal government, this project resulted in a visual aid similar to the well know food pyramid to show municipal canteen staff which foods contribute to greater CO2 emissions in order to help them chose foods having a lower climate change impact.

Some of the overall themes that emerged for me over the 2 days were:

1. Students play a vital role in knowledge mobilization and community based research and engaging students is key to the work we do
2. All over the world communities outside of the university are supportive of and very interested in becoming actively engaged in KM and CBR initiatives
3. And while some university researchers “get” KM and CBR and have integrated it into the work they do, until more universities have institutional capacity for KM through university wide KM Units (like ResearchImpact), Science Shops or CBR Offices which have dedicated staff and\or faculty who are using the broker model to facilitate university-community partnerships, we will continue to see the university lag behind the community in their uptake of KM
4. Some Irish dancing is a great way to unwind after a full day of workshops, poster sessions and plenaries

Community Based Research Canada (CBRC) Symposium “From Recession to Renewal: The Vital Contribution of Community Based Research”

Last month in Ottawa Community Based Research Canada (CBRC) held a working Symposium “From Recession to Renewal: The Vital Contribution of Community Based Research”. This event was co-hosted by the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton University, and saw a number of speaking panels comprised of both academic and community leaders. A paper titled “Funding and Development of Community University Research Partnerships” was presented by Rupert Downing and Budd Hall, and opportunities for networking and discussion occurred throughout the day.

CBRC is a network of people and organizations engaged in Community-Based Research to meet the needs of people and communities. CBRC came into being through the Community University Expo Conference held in Victoria, BC in May of 2008.

Since that time many more universities and organizations have joined . The Universities of Carleton (Dean Katherine Graham), Quebec at Montreal (Dr. Jean-Marc Fontan) and Victoria (Dr. Budd Hall), have stepped up to take on the roles of Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary, with Tim Simboli of the Ottawa Community Based Research Network and Ottawa Family Services as a community representative on the Executive Committee. There is also a Steering Committee of community organization and university representatives. A website and newsletter is about to be launched, and resources are being developed from a variety of sources. An Action Plan has been developed that focuses on: Building community-based research (CBR) capacity; mobilizing knowledge on CBR practices and outcomes; influencing policy and institutional environments to strengthen support to CBR, and; providing networking and learning opportunities. Rupert Downing, the former Executive Director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network and Co-Director of the Canadian Social Economy Research Hub, is assisting with the formative work to establish CBRC.

For more information, please visit: www.communityresearchcanada.ca

Knowledge Mobilization and Community-Based Research at UVic

The UVic Knowledge Mobilization Unit and Office of Community-Based Research have been working closely together under the institutional banner of “Civic Engagement” for a year. It is quickly becoming apparent that the goals of both of these initiatives would be realized more efficiently and thoroughly if there was an official amalgamation. The upcoming merger of the Knowledge Mobilization Unit and the Office of Community Based Research will create greater capacity for impact on all levels.

The coming together of Knowledge Mobilization and Community-Based Research functions at UVic will allow the knowledge brokers to pool resources, exchange expertise, and expand networks, leading to greater capacity to support various research collaborations with community organizations and policy makers. This merger will create one cohesive, organized, and productive office with a civic engagement mandate relating to positive social change.

Community Based Video Art and Activism Course at YorkU

The following course will be offered during the Winter semester at YorkU:

FA/VISA 3053 3.0 Community Based Video Art and Activism
Winter (Tuesday 9:30 – 1:30)
Same as FA/FILM 3331 3.0
For enrollment purposes: the Catalogue Number: D69P01

Focuses on the community based video, documentary and video activism.
Students create individual and/or group projects on topics of their choosing, working with community organizations. Students gain skills in production, editing and working with community organizations. The field of community art addresses the social responsibility of artists as well as the relevance of art to society and reframes art as a vehicle for community groups and activists to explore and engage with contemporary societal issues through art-making. Elective course toward the Community Art Certificate program.

Prerequisites: 3rd or 4th year standing. Materials Fee: $20.
Course Director: Nancy Nicol

The course has open spaces for non-majors and has space available in it now.