{"id":44883,"date":"2017-05-24T10:13:48","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T14:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=44883"},"modified":"2017-08-29T16:14:23","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T20:14:23","slug":"research-roundtable-examines-ways-brock-and-community-groups-can-collaborate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/05\/research-roundtable-examines-ways-brock-and-community-groups-can-collaborate\/","title":{"rendered":"Research roundtable examines ways Brock and community groups can collaborate"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Brock University builds up its community engagement activities, researchers and Niagara service providers are looking at ways to create mutually beneficial working relationships.<\/p>\n

At a recent roundtable organized by Brock\u2019s Social Justice Research Institute (SJRI), three of the institute\u2019s community research partners shared their vision of what those partnerships could look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that we can connect your thoughts and ideas with the thoughts and ideas of what community organizations are looking for,\u201d Glen Walker, Executive Director of Positive Living Niagara, told faculty and staff attending the May 11 event.<\/p>\n

Walker, along with Natalie Chaumont from the United Way and Marc Todd from Niagara Region, spoke about their research interests and what they could offer Brock researchers.<\/p>\n

A big need on their list was research that would evaluate the effectiveness of agency programs and services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to measure what we do because that provides us opportunities to change or validate what we do for those who make decisions about where the dollars are spent,\u201d said Todd, manager of Niagara Region\u2019s Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities.<\/p>\n

Todd is one of the co-ordinators of the Niagara Prosperity Initiative<\/a>, a program that Niagara Region set up to support poverty reduction and prevention initiatives. Since its inception in 2008, more than $12 million has gone to 318 different projects delivered by more than 80 agencies and groups across the Region.<\/p>\n

The Prosperity Initiative is writing a funding proposal that would have SJRI researchers evaluate the impact of its various programs and services.<\/p>\n

Chaumont, program manager with the Niagara Prosperity Initiative, said her small staff doesn\u2019t have the time or expertise to conduct program evaluations.<\/p>\n

The United Way and SJRI researchers recently created a research partnership<\/a> to study precarious employment in the Region. The report examines the situation of full- or part-time workers employed on a casual or permanent basis who may receive no benefits, receive low wages or face job insecurity.<\/p>\n

She explained that Brock\u2019s help with ethics clearance and collecting the data will enable her agency to conduct the research within the one-year funding time frame.<\/p>\n

What United Way brought to the table was \u201cyears of experience in the community working with different agencies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the politics and the nuances of different relationships; we have access to different funding that Brock can\u2019t access, just like Brock has access to different funding that we can\u2019t access.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers should be more mindful of how and why they present their research to community groups, said Walker.<\/p>\n

He explained that, in the past, researchers from different institutions would approach Positive Living Niagara with HIV research ideas without asking whether or not the research fits into the organization\u2019s work or goals.<\/p>\n

And then they would disappear once the study was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about (adding) a knowledge exchange component to all research: you do research, we work with you as a partner, you\u2019re coming back, you\u2019re educating us on it, you\u2019re talking about how we can implement your research and your ideas,\u201d said Walker.<\/p>\n

Community groups also need Brock researchers to fill in research gaps, said Walker. He noted that agencies generally lack expertise in how to carry out research, write grant proposals and get ethics clearance for their research.<\/p>\n

He gave the example of his organization\u2019s former housing task force, which was asked to estimate the number of homeless people \u2018couch surfing,\u2019 or staying temporarily in other peoples\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you research that?\u201d asked Walker. \u201cHow do you apply those numbers to a housing implementation model for the Niagara Region and province?\u201d<\/p>\n

In opening the May 11 event, Brock University President Tom Traves acknowledged that Brock\u2019s research should \u201calways be, ultimately, in the service of the community that has created us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he stressed that research partnerships must support Brock\u2019s core mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a certain kind of expertise,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to lend it in a collaborative way to the community, to develop the strengths of the community, but at the end of the day, that has to also serve our mission, and our mission is the education of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University also exists to publish research, and contribute to the wider \u2018knowledge community,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Traves praised SJRI\u2019s research partnerships for providing publishing opportunities and service learning experiences for students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Brock University builds up its community engagement activities, researchers and Niagara service providers are looking at ways to create mutually beneficial working relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":44884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,4,5],"tags":[703,720,5235,1083,4526],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}