 Budd Hall, director of UVic’s Office of Community-Based Research.
Credit: Tara SharpeWhat did it mean to UVic and OCBR—as national leaders of CBR—to host the largest gathering of community-based researchers in Canadian history?
It allowed us to showcase some of the exciting work being done in Victoria and the region by community and university partners working on issues of importance not only to our communities but to others in Canada and elsewhere. Over 70 faculty members, students and their community partners from UVic research centres and faculties presented the results of their work. In addition we had 75 student volunteers working and supporting the event. Holding the event here gave an opportunity for involvement to many more people than would have been possible had it been held elsewhere.
There is great interest in what we are doing at UVic and it was very exciting for us to learn about the wonderful work being done across the country and around the world.
What were some of the exciting new ideas, projects and people that you encountered at the symposium?
The work of the village-based Mpambo Multiversity in Uganda to support the development of “Mother-tongue” scholarship was very innovative. The stories from Services aux Collectivités from the Université du Québec à Montréal which has been going for nearly 30 years was inspiring. Learning about the work led by persons with HIV/AIDS with the Ontario HIV/AIDS Treatment Network was powerful. Hearing from Marlene Brant Castellano, the Bay of Quinte First Nations scholar, was truly inspirational, as was the presentation by Rajesh Tandon, the founder of India’s community-based research network. Learning of the work by the European Science Shop movement from Eric Gall of France, Caspar de Bok of The Netherlands and Norbert Steinhaus of Germany was exciting as well.
What are the most tangible results of this international symposium, in your opinion?
They are many. Each of us is strengthened in the knowledge that the community-based research movement is growing across the country and around the world. We have the beginnings of a national working group on community-based research and homelessness. The creation of the Pan-Canadian Network for Community-Based Research means that we will have a permanent capacity to communicate together on an ongoing basis about how to use research to strengthen community action. The agreement by the conference participants on the wording of the Global Alliance of Community-Engaged Scholarship marked the first time an international normative statement linking knowledge creation to human rights has been made. A first meeting on science and civic engagement is another achievement.
What role do you foresee the OCBR playing in the months and years to come in relation to furthering these discussions?
Our first task is to make sure that as many of the presentations, texts presented, photographs, video and audio recordings as possible find their way to the social networking sites. We need to produce a report of the key issues put forward at CUexpo 2008 to use to inform the federal granting councils of what communities and their allies need to be able to move this work forward. UVic will provide a secretariat for the Pan-Canadian Network for Community-Based Research. We need to figure out how best to do that. Most importantly we need to see how best the energies, ideas, best practices and just plain inspiration that came from CUexpo 2008 can be used to advance action on the complex issues facing our own community.
See related article about CUexpo 2008.
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