Knowledge for Change-K4C

Project Brief

Knowledge for Change (K4C), will train next generation of mentors and leaders in Community Based Research (CBR) to a global standard developed by UNESCO Chair on CBR around the world, especially in global south and excluded north.

The critical challenges facing humanity today require new understandings and solutions. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require new insights and connections locally and globally. New understandings and innovative solutions have been shown to be catalyzed through co-construction of knowledge carried out in respectful partnerships with local communities. UNESCO Chair has developed global standards of curriculum and pedagogy for training next generation of researchers in CBR. Recent studies have demonstrated a growing demand for learning CBR methodology amongst practitioners and students alike, especially in hitherto excluded contexts in global south.

Historical background

Canadian contribution to the development of CBR spans four decades of innovation beginning with practice of participatory research by Budd Hall in 1970s. International Network of Participatory Research was founded in 1978 by International Council for Adult Education in Toronto, under the leadershipof Rajesh Tandon. Hall and Tandon were appointed as UNESCO Co-chair on CBR in 2012 which produced global assessments of practice of Community-University Research Partnerships and analysed gaps in rigorous training of next generation of researchers equipped with ethical, normative, conceptual, professional and experiential repertoire critical to effective practice of CBR.