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Explore the latest news in community-based research across Canada, including community-based initiatives, new publications, and wise practices in community-based research.
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Report: "Community-Engaged Research and the Climate Crisis: Key Insights and Best Practices". 2023
Mahoney, T. (2023). Community-Engaged Research and the Climate Crisis: Key Insights and Best Practices. SFU CERi. About: Climate crisis is already unfolding across BC: heat domes, wildfires, and floods have had devastating impacts on communities throughout the province, both urban and rural. These impacts – like other social and environmental injustices – are unevenly distributed, often exacerbating existing harms to Indigenous peoples, communities of colour, and the underho
May 9, 2023


A Student Perspective on Using Community-Based Research as a Vehicle for Change
It’s almost as if you’re at a party, but you don’t know anyone. For a while, it’s fine to float around the room, tuning into conversations here and there. But after some time, you notice a feeling of loneliness. Of, like, invisibility. Of ‘I definitely don’t belong here’. It is disheartening enough that, when reflecting on her early university experience, my sister repeatedly returned to these sentiments of paralyzing estrangement from her broader campus community. It is even
Mar 8, 2023


Building Flourishing Communities through the Community Impact Lab Network
The Social Innovation team as part of the Department of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Georgian College has been developing a unique approach community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) informed by co-design practices and principles to better understand what it means for communities to flourish, specifically across its seven predominately rural campuses. With this newfound understanding, the department aims to drive meaningful community projects in its
Feb 28, 2023


Landscapes of Injustice: unearthing our uneven past and finding new paths forward
When I began the conception and design of the Landscapes of Injustice partnership, I had no idea what our most dynamic and impactful activity would be. Or, rather, I had many ideas – it’s just that those ideas were wrong. While our team is proud, now that our work is done, to count many other achievements, we’ve been blown away by community response to what I once imagined as a minor aspect of our work – the digital archives . There are thousands of archival researchers out
Feb 24, 2023


Video Story of MHCC's Investment in Community-Based Research
This short, animated video tells the story of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's investment in 14 community-based research (CBR) projects to address knowledge gaps in the relation between cannabis and mental health. This video is the first in a series designed to shed light on the important themes emerging from various CBR projects. It also seeks to inform funders and organizations wishing to undertake CBR projects or consider other ways to engage communities and people
Jan 24, 2023


Article: "Make-work methodology: Canadian homelessness research and its role in austerity". 2022
Ilyniak, S. (2022). Make-work methodology: Canadian homelessness research and its role in austerity. Radical Housing Journal, 4(2), 139-156. DOI: 10.54825/HJAT4040 Observations from the frontlines of the Canadian homelessness research community demonstrate that it largely constitutes ‘makework’: activities carried out to keep busy and thus, perpetuate the non-profit sector and maintain the status quo. It achieves this through its conceptualization of socio-economic issues an
Dec 8, 2022


New Publication: "Centering equity and lived experience: implementing a CBR grant..."
This new publication, "Centering equity and lived experience: implementing a community-based research grant on cannabis and mental health." (Obegu, P., Armstrong, J., & Bartram, M., 2022), the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) shares insights from an innovative program that funded and supported 14 community-based research projects across the country on mental health and cannabis. Read the article here #CBRMethods #EquityInResearch #MemberResearch
Nov 9, 2022


SPIDER: A look inside one of the largest community-based trials in Canada
1 out of 4 Canadian seniors (26.5%) are on 10 or more different medications. Some of these medications could be harmful to seniors: increasing the risk of confusion, falls, or hospitalizations. Stopping drugs, or de-prescribing, could help. Our project, a Structured Process Informed by Data, Evidence and Research (SPIDER) , is a large community based and community-informed project designed to test and implement effective approaches to de-prescribing. We target potentially
Oct 18, 2022


Building bridges between government and community: the missing link for policy change
Solid waste generation is reaching a tipping point. Current forms of waste management are not taking care of the complex and wicked challenges related to discard and waste. This is why it is so important to engage with community and jointly address these challenges. Mapping Waste Governance, a community-based research project, partners with waste picker organizations (WPOs) to identify, examine and document grassroots social innovations and challenges in waste governance. Th
Oct 18, 2022


New Co-Authored Publication: "Participation - with what money and whose time?'"
This new publication, " Participation—with what money and whose time?’ An intersectional feminist analysis of community participation" , (Fursova, J., Bishop-Earle, D., Hamilton, K., & Kranias, G., 2022) , is co-authored with community collaborators. It features Community Engagement Continuum, a template to reflect on the characteristics of technocratic/instrumental vs transformative and empowering community engagement processes. For more information or for community members
Oct 13, 2022


New: Annual 2021–2022 Annual Ontario School Survey Data Handbook assembled by People for Education
For over 20 years, People for Education has conducted its Annual Ontario School Survey (AOSS) across Ontario’s publicly funded elementary and secondary schools. For the first time, we are publishing a data handbook to provide a high-level overview of the quantitative data collected in the most recent survey cycle. This overview is primarily comprised of data tables, accompanied by brief descriptive analyses and figures to highlight trends and key findings. It is our hope that
Oct 11, 2022


Mini Documentary: Caring for Life: Community Checkpoints and Territorial Control in Tirua
Caring for Life: Community Checkpoints and Territorial Control in Tirua is a short mini documentary (8 mins) that explores the emergence of grassroots responses to the pandemic in a small rural municipality in southern Chile, where Indigenous communities, civil society organizations, and the municipal government came together to protect their life and territory. This film is the result of a collaborative research project with Indigenous communities in Chile. The project was
Oct 11, 2022


Allyship in Research Toolkit by Kelowna Homelessness Research Collaborative
The Allyship in Research Toolkit provides researchers and practitioners with a framework to embed lived and living experience, and allyship, into their work. The toolkit describes ways to incorporate authentic participation into the entire research process or program development process, identifies strategies for engaging in a co-research/con-construction process, and outlines the benefits of practicing in this way. To accompany the toolkit, Creating Allyship in Research vide
Oct 11, 2022


British Columbia Case Study - Capturing the Lived Experience of K-12 Educators During COVID-19
Written by: Marian Riedel & Alison Taplay In British Columbia, the rapid shift to emergency remote learning for K-12 education during the initial phase of the COVID-19 global pandemic offered us the opportunity to capture the lived experience of various educational professionals, including teachers, educational assistants, administrators and other support staff. As a joint faculty research project situated at Vancouver Island University (VIU), regional independent schools and
Feb 8, 2022


Ontario Case Study - The Community School Initiative: Closing the Achievement Gap during COVID-19
Written by Ardavan Eizadirad, Sally Abudiab, and Brice Baartman Wilfrid Laurier University and Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the delivery of education with widespread disruptions. Many extracurricular programs that provided much needed support for marginalized children, families, and communities were shut down or offered remotely. Our research project, funded by the Social Sciences
Feb 7, 2022


Article: "Assessing excellence in community-based research: Lessons from research...". 2020
Janzen, R. and Ochocka, J. 2020. Assessing excellence in community-based research: Lessons from research with Syrian refugee newcomers. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement,13:1 , Article ID 7037 . This article reflects on three Syrian refugee research projects that were conducted in Ontario, Canada to demonstrate tangible ways of assessing research projects which claim to be community-based, and in so doing gain a deeper understanding of how
Feb 1, 2020


Featured Journal Articles: 2020 to 1998
The pdf below features community-based research journal articles between 2020 and 1998 written by a wide variety of contributors. #MemberResearch #CBRTheory #CBRMethods
Feb 1, 2020


Research for All
Why Research for All? What does it do for academia? And what does it does it do for wider communities? Research for All was born out of a UK initiative that brought together enthusiasts from different universities and different academic disciplines. While each team was creating a culture of public engagement in their own university we were also developing ideas for an international journal. We brought together a range of people involved in engaged scholarship, including aca
Dec 12, 2019


CBRET Workshop in Ottawa
The Community-Based Research Excellence Tool (CBRET) is a reflective assessment tool for those involved in community-based research ( learn more ). CBRET aims to assess the quality and impact of community-based research proposals and projects. The trainers for the workshop are Joanna Ochocka and Rich Janzen, the co-directors of Centre for Community Based Research. Read below to learn more! April 25, 2019 Carleton University hosted a CBRET workshop in Ottawa and the day was
Nov 4, 2019


CBRET Workshop in Vancouver
The Community-Based Research Excellence Tool (CBRET) is a reflective assessment tool for those involved in community-based research ( learn more ). CBRET aims to assess the quality and impact of community-based research proposals and projects. May 6, 2019 A Community-Based Research Excellence Tool (CBRET) workshop in British Columbia was sponsored by Vancouver Foundation. It was held in Vancouver at the Work Centre for Dialogue (room donated by Simon Fraser University). The
Nov 4, 2019
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