Our Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) policy and action work over the next three years (2016-2019) will focus on strengthening both Canadian communities and the national community-campus engagement (CCE) movement in Canada. We continue to address  the overall question of CFICE, which has guided its work to date: How can community campus partnerships be designed and implemented to maximize the value created for non-profit, community-based organizations?

CFICE’s work is also designed to weave into and leverage CUExpo 2017, the biannual Canadian conference coming up from May 1-5, 2017 in Vancouver, exploring community-college-university partnerships as catalysts for social innovation. CUExpo 2017’s theme is “For the Common Good” and states that it will celebrate and showcase community-campus partnerships – local, national and global – which advance social, health, environmental, educational and collective strategies supporting transformation for the common good.

There is obvious synergy between CFICE and CUExpo 2017. Hosted by Simon Fraser University, this gathering promises to be a major opportunity to build on national and global momentum and expertise, and to create a long lasting-platform for campus engagement in Canada. Check out the and contact the team if you have any questions.

CUExpo 2017 will strive to include an equal number of both campus and community-based participants. Registration closes on Sunday, November 13, 2016.

© CUExpo 2017

CFICE and CUEXPO 2017 – Background

The alignment between CFICE and CUExpo stems from significant action in Canada over the past 9 years in building the community-campus engagement movement. CFICE is focused on the creation of a ‘Community-First’ approach to community-campus partnership and engagement in Canada to support environmental and societal well being.

The Aligning Institutions for Community Impact Working Group (AICI-WG) of CFICE is committed to connecting CUExpo2017 to our three priority activities-focused on institutional transformation for Phase II of the project.

1.  Creating a ‘Community-First’ Canadian classification system/planning matrix for community-campus engagement
2. Mapping and connecting Canadian university engagement initiatives and offices in Canada to support a community of practice and policy change
3. Mobilizing new Canadian funding opportunities for ‘Community-First’ research, capacity building and engagement initiatives.

Aligning CFICE and CUExpo2017 is also a natural outcome of the CFICE team’s legacy and leadership. This action research network continues to be a major catalyst and driver in Canada for community- campus partnerships and enabling national-global policies and networks.

Planning for May 2017

Besides CFICE, both entities – CBRCanada and the UNESCO Chair for CBR are on the Coordinating Committee for CUExpo2017 and anticipate this event being a major catalyst for the Canadian and global community-campus engagement movement.

CBRC has also been the lead coordinator for the CUExpo’s since 2008 (held in Waterloo, ON in 2011, Cornerbrook, Newfoundland in 2013, Ottawa, ON in 2015). Global networks such as the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (UK), Campus Engage (Ireland) and the Living Knowledge Network (Europe) are also on the Coordinating Committee and will have a strong presence at CUExpo 2017.

With the support of the Community Foundations of Canada, the CUExpo2017 SFU Team have also been working to ensure that supports will be in place to involve a strong contingent of community-based participants and students in attendance. CUEXPO 2017 is also recognizing the opportunity to create a legacy on Canada’s 150^th colonial anniversary within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call for Action to address the legacy of cultural genocide resulting from the ongoing aftermath residential schools on the Indigenous peoples of Canada— who have over 10,000 thousands years of occupation and history on the land.

The four thematic areas for CUExpo 2017 submissions includes: Community Campus Project LifeCycles,ĚýThe Engagement Process,ĚýComprehensive Community-Campus Engagement, and Community Campus Partnership without Borders. With a number of contribution formats are possible, including: oral presentation, poster, roundtable, performance, team enquiry, skill building, and creative works.

Please contact me if you have any questions about the AICI Working Group and/ or CUExpo 2017.  You can also directly contact if you have any Conference questions.

This is the first global survey that we know of on training in Community-Based Research (CBR). The study was conducted by the UNESCO Chair in CBR and Social Responsibility in Higher Education between November 2014 and May 2015. 

For more information about UNESCO’s community-based research, please visit their website 

Knowledge mobilization helps us do research that is useful and used. But the field itself is fraught with a dizzying array of terminology and concepts, leaving researchers and their community partners unsure about what knowledge mobilization means in their situation.

As a result, developing a knowledge mobilization strategy takes thoughtful planning. And CFICE is happy to help!

Check out the link below for more information:

To download the infographic, click here:

1. SPRC & McMaster Colleagues Seeking Community Partners for Input to Community-Based Research Toolkit

Colleagues at McMaster and SPRC are putting together a list of 15-20 invitees to attend a workshop which willlead to the development of a community based research toolkit. If you have any names of people across various sectors in the community who have some experience working with academic researchers please pass these suggestions along to Erika Morton at SPRC at emorton@sprc.hamilton.on.ca. They’re seeking a range of voices/perspectives at this workshop.  Participants will be selected so that this range is assured:

1. Range of roles in research projects (advisory board, collaborator, co-applicant, peer researcher)
2. Range of types of communities (non-profit/social services sector; arts and culture sector; environment; health)
3. Level of experience (from very experienced working with academic researchers to one-time experience)

Please note that peoples experience with academic research can include working with McMaster, as well as other other communities/cities. If you have any names of potential invitees during the next week that would be much appreciated. Feel free to send these directly to Erika.

2. 100in1 Day Hamilton | June 6

A dedicated team of Hamilton volunteers are working in collaboration to organize a city-wide event taking place on Saturday, June 6th called . 100in1Day is a growing global movement that is changing how people interact with their cities. Originating in Bogotá, Colombia in 2012, it has encouraged hundreds of one-day community-based interventions in cities around the world. Interventions can include things like street art, urban gardens, beautification projects, social events, improvements in city infrastructure, or simply waving to strangers

All interventions are all being profiled on the same day in a city-wide festival which profiled on an interactive online map. This year, Hamilton will be joining cities around the world, along with Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax, to strive for 100+ community led projects all being profiled on Saturday, June 6th. Register your urban intervention at 

3. Trailhead Ontario Conference – The Benefit of Trails|June 7-10 2015 @ McMaster

Ontario Trails, McMaster University and Hamilton Burlington Trails Council are thrilled to be releasing the Trailhead Ontario Conference 2015 Official Program Package. You will find the Program Package . Please feel free to contact nature@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions.

The together with organized a National Summit on Collaborative Community-Campus Research. This event was held on November 3 and 4, 2014 in Waterloo, Ontario and brought together over 60 leaders of community-based research from academia and community. Summit objectives included:

• Sharing examples of CBR
• Building consensus on indicators of CBR excellence
• Discussing the establishment of Hubs of Excellence across Canada, each addressing topics of societal change
• Mobilizing National Summit learnings

To find out more about what happened at the Summit, check out the , , , and .
More information is also available about the and the .

The report can be accessed .

A divide is growing between university professors and the rest of the world. On one hand, anti-intellectualism is becoming mainstream in that public figures and policy make it increasingly difficult for research to be accepted by the masses. On the other hand, university professors alienate themselves by failing to disseminate their research further than the pages of academic journals and having little interest in community engagement.

It’s hard to bridge that divide however, when community engagement fails to operate within the “soft money” model that many schools of public health have adopted. Under these models, the majority of professors’ salaries are funded through grants. Public intellectuals have a hard time finding a place within universities due to the current focus in academia being on the bottom line and not community growth.

Over the last few decades, universities have adopted a Wal-Mart business model of hiring in that by not guaranteeing employment, they insure that contract instructors accept lower salaries for more amounts of work. This makes it increasingly difficult for community-based research to gain traction in a system that is reluctant to change. While it should be noted that the tenure process has been slowly changing by placing more emphasis on community engagement, an emphasis on how to engage in community-based research in all stages of academia needs to be put placed. A growing number of knowledge mobilizing tools are now available that can help bridge this growing divide and educate the public.

Drawing on lessons learned from University of Victoria’s hugely successful community-based leadership initiatives, the following book draws upon a host of dialogues, debates, reflections and ideas on issues related to the learning, teaching, and practice of community-based research. Not only does this book explore the practice of community-based research, but it delves into the obstacles and opportunities that may present themselves along the way.

This network emerged out of  (Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement Project – a SSHRC funded project), a collaborative project between ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, Food Secure Canada and many community partners. Between 2012-2019, we will be conducting evaluations of community based research to better understand what makes research work best for communities.

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