A university-community partnership in Ujung Pangkah, Gresik Regency, East Java, Indonesia, was established to contribute to household food security and improve family nutrition in a semi-rural setting by optimising home gardens and strengthening women's capacity through outreach learning and transformative education. Working with 35 members of the Branch Board Aisyiyah (BBA), the program applied participatory methods including focus group discussions, training, mentoring and collaborative practice in sustainable horticulture. Selected crops-cucumbers, yardlong beans, chillies and honey pumpkins-were adapted to local conditions, whilst knowledge co-creation, critical reflection and collaborative experimentation bridged local wisdom with scientific practices. Using a single-group pre-post design, the evaluation results showed a significant increase in participants'horticultural knowledge (69.9 per cent), high productivity from a 7.2-m2 demonstration plot (up to 33.8 tons/ha equivalent) and economic feasibility, with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.32. Beyond technical gains, qualitative evidence suggests that the program fostered empowerment through increased self-efficacy, strengthened social networks and improved women's participation in decision-making, as demonstrated by the formation of the 'Home Garden Pantry of Aisyiyah'. The primary pathway to food security in this intervention was income-mediated (through the sale of produce) rather than direct household consumption. Critical reflexivity emerged as a central mechanism enabling epistemic dialogue and sustaining transformative learning. Whilst the findings are promising, the single-site design without a comparison group limits causal inference; the results should be interpreted as plausible contributions rather than confirmed effects. The model shows potential for replication in similar contexts, pending further evaluation.
This multi-method study centres on the perspectives of rural community partners in community engagement (CE), a population often underrepresented in the literature, to examine how partnerships function in a rural context. Using survey data, semi- structured interviews, the Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES) and perceived closeness measures, the study examines how partnerships function in a rural context. Partners reported positive relationships with the college, including trust in faculty and a willingness to continue collaboration. However, partners consistently rated ideal partnerships as more transformational than their current experiences, with gaps in decision-making, resource sharing, roles, power, continuity and student preparedness. Qualitative findings identify structural challenges, including limited organisational capacity, inconsistent communication and variability in student readiness and professionalism, which place strain on rural organisations. Partners also emphasised the college’s role as a rural anchor institution and the potential for deeper, relationship- based collaboration and contributions to community capacity. Overall, findings indicate that effective rural CE requires relationship infrastructure, not just goodwill, to support continuity, shared decision-making and mutual accountability. This study contributes to the limited scholarship on rural CE by offering a context-specific framework for strengthening equitable and sustainable partnerships in rural settings and a model that can be adapted by other institutions.
This study explores the impact of a community-engaged service-learning project designed to foster undergraduate students'cultural humility whilst supporting young children's literacy and understanding of diversity. Over the course of 8 weeks, undergraduate students majoring in communication sciences and disorders delivered reading instruction enriched with cultural diversity themes to children ages 6-8. Pre-and post-program surveys revealed growth in students' awareness of cultural diversity, personal development and clinical insight. Simultaneously, assessments of participating children demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to define diversity, apply inclusive thinking and summarise stories. The findings highlight the reciprocal benefits of service-learning-promoting culturally responsive practice and a commitment to equity and social change among future healthcare professionals whilst fostering inclusive awareness in early childhood learners.
This document presents a narrative case study that analyses the exchange and mobilisation of knowledge generated in the encounter between a Spanish Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) project (HEBE project) and the European Project for Youth Participation (EPYP), where partner organisations from France, Portugal and Spain worked together to strengthen participation for youth with fewer opportunities in the field of international solidarity. The outcome of this encounter is a socio-educational diagnostic tool for youth organisations and educators in diverse educational and community contexts. This diagnostic tool was itself a further development of the HEBE project’s rubric, an analytical tool based on nine dimensions of youth empowerment. The results from the international encounter show that knowledge transfer is not a one-way process but rather a collective construction in which each agent (researchers, educators and young people) contributes their knowledge, contexts and languages. Finally, this project also shows that when young people are empowered through participatory spaces and their decisions are recognised and integrated into collective processes, they can make a difference in research from its first stages.
Evidence-based programs that address the mental health needs of infants and young children exposed to early adversity are essential for disrupting patterns of intergenerational risk. There is now a growing understanding that research must be co-created in collaboration with community partners, as research and evaluation are both core components of implementing infant and early childhood mental health programs. Yet less than half of infant and early childhood mental health programs in Canada have research and evaluation embedded within their core services. Embedding evaluations within a mental health program requires trust, relational development and the use of frameworks and methods that meet the needs of the program. The process of embedding research within a community program setting has the potential to inform program improvements, provide critical information to funders and build evaluation capacity within the field of infant and early childhood mental health. This article provides a road map from the perspectives of embedded research staff, on-site service providers and academic researchers for conducting community-based research (CBR) within infant and early childhood mental health settings. First, we provide a conceptual foundation of CBR along with an explanation of how these concepts can be applied within programs delivering infant and early childhood mental health services. Next, we detail and compare the histories of two community-based interventions for pregnant and parenting substance-involved mothers and their families: Breaking the Cycle (BTC), a program which has had research embedded within its operation from the onset and Maxxine Wright Community Health Centre (MWCHC), a similar program in the early stages of embedding research. We detail how an established researcher-community partnership served as a model for the second collaboration. Specifically, we describe how a community-based researcher (the 'research person') can function as a bridge in facilitating community-university partnerships. We highlight specific strategies and considerations for clinicians and researchers interested in building community research partnerships. Moreover, we provide practical guidance for embedding CBR within their programs to support relational approaches and research sustainability. Finally, we discuss collective reflections for increasing the uptake of infant mental health research and research practices in Canada.
Commercial tobacco use remains a leading contributor to the cancer burden in the United States and disproportionately affects historically marginalised communities including American Indians. National surveys estimate current cigarette smoking prevalence for American Indian adults is 27 per cent; however, state-level and tribe-specific data are limited. North Carolina is home to seven state-recognised tribes, one federally-recognised tribe and four Urban Indian Organisations with approximately 300 000 residents identifying as American Indian. We conducted a commercial tobacco use survey with and for tribal leaders and communities in North Carolina to assess overall tobacco use among American Indian residents and by tribal affiliation. Next steps include prioritising the dissemination of our results to tribal leaders, community members, state regulators and academic partners. This will guide the development of policy, systems and environmental changes to reduce commercial tobacco use among American Indians. Here, we highlight our community-academic-government collaboration supporting implementation of the North Carolina American Indian Adult Tobacco Survey. Our research team includes members from multiple tribes, universities and state organisations across North Carolina.
Urban economic inequality continues to challenge efforts towards inclusive and sustainable development. This article presents a case study of a participatory, community-university partnership that co-developed a culturally grounded food delivery initiative to promote economic opportunities in Ca & ntilde;o Martin Pe & ntilde;a (CMP), a historically marginalised community in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Anchored in a community economic development (CED) framework and guided by a shared action learning approach, the project connected CMP's small, family-owned restaurants with the neighbouring financial district, Milla de Oro (MdO), through a locally designed lunch delivery system. The initiative, Hecho Para Llevar, emerged from a collaboration between Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Proyecto ENLACE, a local community development corporation. Using mixed methods-including interviews, surveys and iterative participatory engagement-the project identified shared interests, logistical barriers and opportunities for mutual benefit. The resulting model leverages community assets such as culinary traditions and informal delivery networks, whilst addressing structural challenges like limited market access and digital infrastructure. Economic projections suggest that the initiative can generate sustainable income for restaurants and delivery workers, whilst offering affordable, culturally relevant meals to MdO employees. We underscore the ethical imperative that replication of this model must avoid placing disproportionate responsibility on marginalised communities and instead ensure shared accountability among institutional and systemic actors. This case contributes to the scholarship of engagement by demonstrating how participatory, cross-sector strategies can bridge spatial and economic divides, foster community agency and offer a replicable-and ethically grounded-model for equitable urban development.
Risky sexual behaviours in youth are a pressing public health issue. Using narrative methodology to represent the perspectives of various stakeholders, this article examines the transformative potential of community-based participatory research (CBPR), as embodied by the Tygerberg Research Ubuntu-Inspired Community Engagement model, to develop targeted interventions like the Values in Perspective curriculum for at-risk youth. This article showcases the role of ReCapturing the Vision's community partnerships in creating impactful interventions tailored to community needs. Additionally, it highlights the use of community partnerships in guiding the development and implementation of a sex education program. Our findings demonstrate the importance of prioritising community engagement to address public health challenges through CBPR. This research contributes to rigorous discussions with policy implications and emphasises the need for community-led responses to youth and adolescents, informed by community-driven research initiatives.
The present study focused on examining the community participation in ecotourism project development in the Menz-Guassa Community Conservation Area in Ethiopia. Methodologically, a descriptive design with a mixed-research approach through a crosssectional survey was employed. Simple random, stratified and purposive methods were used. Descriptive statistics for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data were utilised. The data collected via questionnaires and interviews, and document review were employed to triangulate the results of this study and past studies. The study indicates that the current degree/level of community involvement in ecotourism project development leans towards a degree of citizen control (high level) as described by Arnstein's model at all phases. This denotes that local communities have significant influence at the initiation, planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation phases of ecotourism projects. Generally, the positive development of an ecotourism project is not possible without the involvement of communities. This study contributed by demonstrating that Arnstein's model is a vital tool for measuring the level of community involvement in the development of ecotourism projects, where communities play a significant role at each stage to ensure the establishment of well-organised ecotourism initiatives. This study proposes that collaborative efforts amongst all relevant stakeholders are crucial to fostering community participation for achieving impactful and successful ecotourism projects in the Menz-Guassa Community Conservation Area.
Inspired by my work as a Muslim musician working in UK healthcare and community settings, 'Sawt al-Shifaa' (the sound of healing) was a research project I undertook during a 10-month postdoctoral research residency at a music conservatoire in London, UK. For three months, I worked with 16 participants who identified as Muslim/of Muslim heritage to explore how they were accessing music and sound for healing. I did this via six two-hour sessions held at a local community theatre, where we came together for discussions and music-making. I applied a thematic analysis approach to my data, which consisted of detailed notes I took about music-making, participants' own reflections and feedback, and messages in our WhatsApp group chat. This article explores five themes I constructed from the data. At the end of the project, I made a co-created zine alongside participants, combining creative writing, drawing and reflections about the project. In keeping with the improvised nature of the music-making throughout the project, and the focus on Muslim people's experiences, the article is grounded in participants' words and includes links to music that they shared, alongside my own illustrations and handwritten notes from the zine. It is my hope that this work can enable more people from Muslim communities to access music for healing/health, as well as to feel empowered to do research in community about these topics. Throughout the article, I explore what it might mean to activate a decolonial approach to community music making in Muslim community settings, thinking with healing justice frameworks to understand healing as something embodied, politicised, and inherently connected to liberatory anti-colonial practices. I explore what an Islamic ethics of hospitality might mean for music facilitation, as well as reflecting on the importance of sound and sonic practices alongside musical considerations.
This study evaluates the pedagogical impact of the Center for Artistic Activism's (C4AA) Creative Campaign Framework, as implemented through the 2024 Unstoppable Voters Faculty Fellowship. The fellowship was a United States-based initiative designed to foster creative, non-partisan civic engagement in higher education using C4AA trainings and materials as outlined in their Creative Campaign Framework. The fellowship supported a cohort of nine faculty members across seven institutions, ranging from research universities to liberal arts colleges and a historically black university, that integrated C4AA materials into courses spanning clinical psychology, political science, theatre, design and the visual arts. Using a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) model and grounded in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), the study employed qualitative methods to examine how fellows adapted the Creative Campaign Framework, the strategies they used to engage students and the outcomes of their campus-based civic engagement projects. Key findings include the Framework's adaptability across disciplines, student responses to this approach to creative civic learning and the opportunities and challenges of translating activist language to academic settings. This is the first study to assess the application of the C4AA's artistic activism pedagogy in a coordinated higher education initiative, offering new insights into the potential of creative civics pedagogy using the C4AA Creative Campaign Framework as an impactful and adaptable approach to teaching democratic habits and civic engagement.
In higher education, boundary spanners play a crucial role in translating information, knowledge and culture across diverse stakeholder groups. This reflective essay shares insights from experiential education (EE) leaders who, through the Society for Experiential Education (SEE) fellowship program, examined the complexities of boundary spanning in experiential learning. Our collective inquiry highlighted the pressing need for adaptable frameworks to help professionals navigate the dynamic challenges of their roles. Drawing upon our lived experiences, we developed the Experiential Education Boundary Spanner Framework, which includes four main pillars: (1) translating principles of practice; (2) unlocking points of access; (3) balancing stakeholder needs; and (4) envisioning and invigorating experiential education. This framework aims to assist educators and practitioners in fostering meaningful partnerships and enhancing the integration of experiential learning into curricula. The essay will outline our literature review on boundary spanning, introduce the authors and their diverse experiences, and articulate the methodology employed in our collective inquiry. Ultimately, we aim to shed light on how boundary spanners can effectively respond to the evolving demands of education while enriching student learning experiences and community engagement.
This article explores knowledge mobilisation in youth research. We take as a starting point that youth knowledge mobilisation (YKMb) requires specific strategies because of the unique power dynamics involved in mobilising knowledge related to young people. However, existing knowledge mobilisation models cannot account for these specificities. YKMb often requires co-creation with partner organisations as well as with youth themselves, leading to diverse and sometimes fragmented approaches to YKMb. An overarching discussion about the theory and practice of YKMb is missing from the literature. To explore the factors that influence the diversity of approaches to YKMb, we take up reflexivity to explore the experiences of a YKMb Chair working in intersectoral partnerships as well as with young people in Quebec, Canada. This article features an emergent YKMb framework that conceptualises a continuum of approaches to mobilising knowledge about, for, with and by youth. Across these modes of working, several factors influence YKMb in practice, from research paradigm and context as well as specificities regarding which actors are involved and why these different actors want to mobilise knowledge, as well as what roles different actors play in knowledge production and mobilisation. These factors influence the continuum of roles that academic researchers may play in YKMb, from more traditional roles as knowledge translators to engaged roles such as facilitators, advocates and learners. Conceptualising YKMb through continuums of practice offers critical insights to support intersectoral and interdisciplinary teams of academic researchers, partners and young people in research co-creation to better bridge the gap between research and practice.
Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, is essential for understanding the human condition and informing societal decisions in healthcare, education and policymaking. The public’s interest in neuroscience highlights the need for effective scientific communication to bridge the gap between scientists and the public. This study describes the organisation, activities and evaluation of International Brain Awareness Week (IBAW) 2023 in Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is a municipality that borders Argentina, led by the Physiology Research Group (GPFis) and POPNeuro Program at the Federal University of Pampa, located in the same state. Activities included neuroanatomy exhibitions, a night race for brain health, lectures on ageing and public neuroscience demonstrations. Over 700 people participated, and feedback indicated high satisfaction and increased understanding of neuroscience. The study emphasises the importance of public engagement in science to promote critical thinking and informed decision-making. It also highlights how the main activity proposed by our group for IBAW – a neuroanatomy exhibition – received a positive response from the target audience (school students from the municipality of Uruguaiana), and how these activities contributed to strengthening university-community integration. Additionally, the closing event, a race, was among the most recommended activities for future editions.
This article presents a university-community cooperation framework developed and tested through the Science Hub UŁ (SH) pilot project, implemented at the University of Łódź in Poland between October 2022 and October 2024. Funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the initiative aimed to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration by engaging students, academics and external partners such as businesses, public institutions and NGOs in tripartite teams tasked with addressing real-world challenges. A total of 41 collaborative projects were carried out across a range of disciplines including the natural, social and human sciences, with several interdisciplinary and inter-university projects also undertaken. The article outlines the operational framework, stakeholder engagement strategies and support mechanisms introduced during the project’s implementation, including call for proposals, tailored training, mentoring and communication efforts. The initiative not only enhanced institutional capacity for cooperation but also fostered the development of enduring partnerships, generated new research and educational outputs and contributed to building the university’s societal impact portfolio. The SH project also addressed the broader national context in which cooperation with the socioeconomic environment is legally mandated and assessed through education and research evaluation systems. By reflecting on the lessons learnt including challenges related to sustainability, recognition of contributors and the need for strategic alignment this article offers practical recommendations for embedding such initiatives within the structures of higher education institutions. It concludes by positioning the SH as a replicable model that can inform similar efforts both in Poland and internationally, especially in contexts seeking to operationalise meaningful university-community engagement.
Much innovation happens at the community level. Community-based services, by virtue of their setting, have proximity to consumer experiences, perspectives and needs, and often spearhead advances in community care and advocacy. Thus, leveraging local knowledges and supporting their translation across research, clinical practice and policy is integral in enabling an equitable ecosystem to enhance community wellbeing. However, research and evaluation (R&E) capacity and capability within community settings remains limited, hindering such knowledge-sharing and change. This article details a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project involving an 18-month- long partnership between academic researchers and service providers at an Australian not-for-profit eating disorders organisation to build R&E. Collaboratively, we planned, co-designed and implemented monitoring, evaluation and learning practices into service delivery. This article shares: (1) the process of academic partnership within a community mental health context; (2) critical reflections on the complexities, strengths, challenges, and opportunities of engaging in CBPR in building capability/capacity; and (3) actionable recommendations to guide future efforts. We explain the need for a systemic approach to building R&E within the community sector and provide rich examples of CBPR in practice. Our learnings hold implications for how local knowledges are created, utilised and translated, and what will help moving forward to enhance community care.
Community stewardship involves active participation and responsibility from local residents in collectively caring for and managing their shared environment and its resources. The essential role of community stewardship lies in its capacity to foster sustainable behaviours, empowering communities to make informed decisions, and driving positive, lasting impacts towards a more environmentally conscious future. A key challenge presented in much of the related literature is how to engage citizens in community stewardship initiatives. This article aims to address this challenge by exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of community stewardship, using the Heritage Keepers national initiative in Ireland as a case study. The article navigates the complexities of community stewardship, acknowledging diverse perspectives within communities and the importance of scale in stewardship activities. It explores the intersection of place-based learning and stewardship, emphasising the need for a holistic approach. The article is based on a five-year practitioner-led doctoral project undertaken while the primary author was embedded in a community stewardship initiative in the west of Ireland. Various methodologies are employed that reflect both practitioner and community-based research principles. The methodology and findings presented were guided by the central research question: How can place-based learning enhance community stewardship? Emerging from the empirical research conducted as part of a change-oriented community-university research initiative, this article presents a practical framework to support the process of community stewardship. Specifically, the article identifies five key elements central to the community stewardship process; these include: Care, Knowledge, Facilitation, Agency, and Action. Enhancing and under-pinning each of these is Collective Action. By synthesising these elements, the framework offers valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to implement similar community stewardship initiatives, moving community stewardship beyond a conceptualisation to a series of sequential and operational steps that can be implemented across a variety of contexts.
This themed volume explores writing research differently: both the social practices that might foster experimentation and participation and the semiotic innovations needed to articulate knowledge plurality in our published scholarly texts. This collection of community-based research articles explores the many ways in which the standard genre conventions of the research article – order, structure, headings, images and quotes – can be creatively called upon to make visible on the page other worlds, other futures, other ways of knowing and being. Together, they demonstrate that coherence and cohesion – clarity – come in more shapes and forms than generally admitted, and can be welcoming frameworks for the rarely admitted: hope, sustenance, complexity, conflict and change.
As a collective of peer researchers, scholars and members of a non-profit organisation, we have come together to share a curated walk through low-income communities in Cape Town and London. We do so with the intent of exploring the embodied and social experiences of walking and writing research differently through a collaborative process of listening, co-creating and sharing knowledge about the pedestrian mobilities of young men as mediated by the precarities of urban life. Our walking-writing practices are a hybrid of the actual practices of walking and potential for enacting change by valuing the everyday experiences and knowledge of peer researchers. The curated walk that we share guides readers on the research journey that we have taken together from the homes of those involved to the metaphorical centre of power in the cities/regions where our work takes place, with the intention of long-term, meaningful impact.
It is generally accepted in extant literature that friends drift away after a person receives a diagnosis of dementia. In turn, we set out to explore friendships that continued to flourish following a diagnosis by interviewing people living with dementia, their friends, and family members. Along the way, we shaped and adopted a multimodal approach, incorporating artistically rendered, fictionalised vignettes based on our participants’ stories, thus incorporating visual and auditory components that encourage people living with dementia and their friends to reflect on how best to continue to nurture their relationships. In this article, we describe our process of adopting multimodality through an intertwined set of five kairotic moments, whereby we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones to move beyond the format of the conventional peer-reviewed journal article, recognising the need to write differently to reach a broader audience. In another moment, we moved past an academic emphasis on writing to adopt multimodality. Subsequently, we connected with artists and knowledge mobilisation specialists to bring our collective vision to life. Finally, we aimed to make our study findings more accessible by sharing them through our website and engaging with various types of media. We conclude by offering a methodology for multimodality that includes relationality, axiology, passivity and action and temporality in embracing opportunities to write differently.
