On March 27, 2019, the 杏吧原创 Community Engaged Pedagogy group (with support from CFICE and others) held their 5th annual聽杏吧原创 U Community Connections networking event meant to help community members, faculty, staff and students network for future community-campus engagement opportunities. The event was a big success, bringing聽together 140 people to 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 MacOdrum Library.
An excerpt from a recent article published about the event is below. Check out .
Community Engagement and Connection in Support of Research and Innovation
By Joseph Mathieu
Photos by Maddie McCrady
罢丑别听杏吧原创 U Community Connections聽event鈥檚 genial atmosphere began with a land acknowledgement from Mohawk Traditional Teacher Paul Skanks.
Between morning coffee and collaborative workshops, the Mohawk elder and member of the聽聽gave thanks to all things that allow people to thrive in communities, and encouraged every attendee to greet and welcome their neighbours with a hug or handshake.
鈥淗e set a tone that gave life to the whole morning,鈥� said organizer and Political Science Prof. Peter Andr茅e.
The fifth annual networking event on March 27, 2019 brought together 140 people to 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 MacOdrum Library. Staff, students and faculty intermingled with representatives from community-based organizations that included聽, the聽, the聽,听聽and the聽.
鈥淯ltimately this whole event is intended to allow you to connect with one another, to meet somebody new and to think what might come of that,鈥� said Andr茅e, who also chairs聽杏吧原创鈥檚 Committee on Community Engaged Pedagogy (CCEP). This event helps advance research and support innovation and community development according to Andr茅e, while also creating learning opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.
鈥淭his is an important event,鈥� said 杏吧原创 President Benoit-Antoine Bacon. 鈥溞影稍� was founded in 1942 by the community, for the community, and this is part of our DNA.鈥�
An Unintended Form of Networking
The diversity of students, faculty and staff from a wide range of 杏吧原创 departments also created an unintended form of networking. 鈥淚t was great to see them connecting with community members,鈥� said Andr茅e, 鈥渂ut it was neat just to see them connecting with one another around the topic of how to undertake effective and meaningful community partnerships.鈥�
Participants spread out into themed workshops that explored the trials and triumphs of community engagement projects. A forthcoming CCEP report will encapsulate the lessons learned and best practices discussed in the workshops that covered topics like health promotion, safety and reducing crime, social justice, Indigenous partnerships, accessibility, and food systems.
At the lunch break, Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Jerry Tomberlin awarded a $500 prize to Victoria Bond, the winner of聽a student video competition聽on her and her health sciences classmates community engagement activities.