CommunityBased Research:

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Community-Based Research What have we learnt?
Where are we going?

Presentation by Marc Renaud to the University of
Victoria Community-based research forum April 23,
2005
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Community based research (CBR) is a new way to
conduct research

• It involves a community, i.e. a group that
  gathers people because they share a common
  pertinent feature a geographical location, an
  ethnic origin, a professional orientation, etc.
• It involves face to face contact between
  potential users of knowledge and potential
  producers of knowledge on applied issues.
  

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From happenstance knowledge sharing
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To permanent interfaces for maximum knowledge
impact
Clusters CURA Concordats, etc.
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What CBR is not

• It is not a direct tool for community
  development it is a tool for research, for the
  systematic acquisition of new knowledge. Question
  to peer assessors Are we in front of a real
  research endeavour?
• It is not another layer of bureaucracy between
  the university and the community. Question to
  peer assessors Are we seeing a real research
  team involving the fluid alchemy of several
  partners?

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What SSHRC supports
NEW in 2005-2006
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Grosso modo, what is CBR about

• Social and economic development issues (social
  economy, contingent work, Clayoquot alliance,
  future of cities, migration, etc.)
• Historical and cultural development issues
  (cultural property, projet Laurier)
• Issues relating to the delivery of social and
  other services (substance abuse, alternative
  dispute resolution, enhancement of youth
  resiliency)

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Grosso modo, what is CBR about (contd)

• Issues concerning aboriginal communities (the
  Daghida Project, language revitalization in
  Vancouver island)
• Environmental issues (sustainable resource
  management, floodplain management)
• New Economy issues (forensic accounting,
  harnessing the web for competitiveness, rural
  Canada)

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Lessons learned thus far (Performance Report on
CURA, Nov. 2003)

• About Research
• CURAs have clearly succeeded in organising and
  executing complex and innovative research
  programs, yet a fairly high proportion of CURAs
  (about 1/3) have not yet yielded significant
  peer-reviewed research publications.
• CURAs have provided a very fertile ground for
  engaging students in diverse opportunities to
  acquire community-based research skills and
  experience.

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Lessons learned thus far (contd)

• On the community
• Several CURAs have implemented conditions
  favourable to enhancement of community capacity
  and decision-making, and to influencing social
  and cultural policy. The potential however is
  greater in local or downstream practice and
  policies, rather than in upstream, macro-level
  policy arenas.

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Lessons learned thus far (contd)

• On universities
• There is a lack of systematic evidence of CURA
  impact on university teaching. There is also a
  lack of systematic evidence that CURAs have
  significantly enhanced university capacity to
  work with and respond to community needs.
• The best performing CURA are at institutions
  where the senior administration takes direct and
  ongoing interest in the teams progress, gives it
  high profile on campus and helps it to leverage
  additional resources within the university or
  externally.

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Role of SSHRC

• The role of SSHRC is to create the intellectual
  spaces to enable and enhance the research effort
  in Canada. From the individual scholar pursuing
  questions of interest, to collaborative projects,
  interdisciplinary efforts, or targeted
  endeavours, the SSHRC mandate involves engaging
  researchers in the broadest experience of
  scholarly enquiry.

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The future

• Criteria for tenure and promotion?
• Rebalancing university and community leadership?
• Moving to regional CURA model for macro policy
  issues?
• CBR as the precursor to SSHRCs transformation?

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Transforming SSHRC Beyond a Granting Council
into a Knowledge Council
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Transformation of SSHRC

• to make sure the knowledge it sponsors has real
  social, economic and cultural impacts on Canada
  and Canadians,
• to better connect researchers among themselves
  and with research users across the country and
  internationally

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The consultation process

• A provocative document to catalyze debate
• Campus dialogue (81 universities, 71 scholarly
  associations, CAGS, new researchers, CRCs)
• Non-academic community dilaogue (think tanks,
  private foundations, government departments,
  NGOs)
• Expert dialogue (bibliometrics, think tanks,
  bridging with governments, etc.)

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Three Central Messages

• Canada depends on SSH research
• SSH research is no longer just academic
• Researchers recognize the need to maximize the
  impact of their work on Canadian society

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SSHRC Tomorrow
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(No Transcript)
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Fig. A
www.sshrc.ca