Knowledge Democracy

Knowledge democracy rests on the principle that knowledge, in all its diverse forms and expressions, must be accessible and usable for the public good. It recognises that knowledge is produced not only in universities but also in communities, civil society, and social movements, through a range of methods. Respecting this plurality, knowledge democracy calls for open, value-based, and decolonized systems where knowledge is shared freely across borders and generations.

This digital platform is a part of that vision. It brings together the rich legacy of Participatory Research (PR), from its early beginnings in the 1970s to its continued practice today, into an open access repository. By digitizing rare writings, reports, and audio-visual resources scattered across personal archives and institutional libraries, and making them easily searchable and globally accessible, the platform provides a living resource for researchers, students, practitioners, and communities alike.

In line with the global Open Science framework, this platform strengthens the movement toward making knowledge transparent, inclusive, and accessible to all. The repository has been intentionally designed to be easy to navigate and explore. You can browse the Communities section to discover the different themes and areas of work represented in the collection. You can also search the knowledge materials using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), language, or region to find resources relevant to your interests and context.

This is not a finished archive, but a living and evolving resource that will continue to grow as new histories, experiences, and contributions are brought into the collection. We invite scholars, researchers, practitioners, communities, and institutions to become a part of this movement by contributing their own work and helping to build this shared global resource. If you would like to contribute your work to the repository or learn more about how to do so, please get in touch with us at library@pria.org.

Communities in DSpace

Select a community to browse its collections.

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Recent Submissions

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Action research in universities and higher education worldwide
(SAGE Publications, 2015) Boden, Rebecca; Greenwood, Davydd J; Hall, Budd L; Levin, Morten; Marshall, Judi; Wright, Susan
The Sage Encyclopedia of Action Research is a two-volume work of entries on action research, compiled by a team of editors and specialists in different areas of the field. Greenwood specializes in general action research, while Coughlan and Dick specialize in organization development. Brydon-Miller, Flicker and Hall work in community-based action research, and Friedman in organizational behaviour. Sankaran specializes in action research as a meta-methodology, Gaya in agency and activism, and Zhao in educational action research. Guhathakurta, Jaitli and Tandon specialize in participatory action research. The editors sought entries from 200 researchers. The topics are extensive and include biographies of well-respected action researchers, concepts, epistemologies, ethics, goals, methods, methodologies, organizations and movements, philosophical underpinnings, settings, skills, spirituality, theories and tools.
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International participatory research network
(SAGE Publications, 2014) Hall, Budd L
The Sage Encyclopedia of Action Research is a two-volume work of entries on action research, compiled by a team of editors and specialists in different areas of the field. Greenwood specializes in general action research, while Coughlan and Dick specialize in organization development. Brydon-Miller, Flicker and Hall work in community-based action research, and Friedman in organizational behaviour. Sankaran specializes in action research as a meta-methodology, Gaya in agency and activism, and Zhao in educational action research. Guhathakurta, Jaitli and Tandon specialize in participatory action research. The editors sought entries from 200 researchers. The topics are extensive and include biographies of well-respected action researchers, concepts, epistemologies, ethics, goals, methods, methodologies, organizations and movements, philosophical underpinnings, settings, skills, spirituality, theories and tools.
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The future begins today: Nature as teacher in environmental adult popular education
(Elsevier, 1997) Hall, Budd L; Clover, Darlena E
The future begins today is a review of the importance and role of learning, specifically environmental adult and popular education, in working with communities and community-based organizations on planning, organizing and revisioning life from an ecological perspective. The authors report on their work based at the Transformative Learning Centre in Toronto, Canada which explores the role of nature as both teacher and site of learning. Theoretical and practical illustrations are included. All education, up to our present moment, has never countenanced the possibility of planetary destruction from the destruction of the life-support system. This viability of planetary existence was never an issue for educators because it was not, until now, part of our cultural understanding. (Hall and O'Sullivan, Transformative Learning: Contexts and Practices, 1994) The human enterprise cannot be separated from the natural world even in our minds because no such separation exists in nature.(Wackernagel and Rees, Our Ecological Footprint, 1995).
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Knowledge Democracy, Transformation and Higher Education
(2013-05-15) Hall, Budd L
In this paper, Budd Hall examines what the waning confidence in a one size fits all global economy and the Western canon means for higher education and its social responsibility. Drawing on examples from Durban’s shack dwellers’ university, South Africa’s traditional healers, and PRIA in India, he introduces knowledge democracy as an alternative to the “knowledge economy” and “knowledge society”. The concept rests on three ideas: plural ways of knowing, plural forms of expression, and the use of knowledge to deepen democracy. He then turns to the community-university engagement movement as a promising site for institutional change. The paper closes with the 2013 Barcelona meeting of global engagement networks, convened by Guni to advance a shared agenda for action.
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University of Victoria task force on community-based research: Towards a structure for community-based research University of Victoria: Phase II
(2005) Keller, Peter; Hall, Budd L
This document was prepared by the University of Victoria Task Force on Community-Based Research, co-led by Peter Keller and Budd L. Hall. It explains the background to Phase II of the work on creating a structure to support community-based research (CBR) at the university, starting with a 2005 forum that drew more than 80 academics. The document uses a three-part definition of CBR as collaborative, as democratising knowledge, and as aimed at social action and social justice. It then sets out the next steps in the consultation, including talking with community partners, reviewing models from elsewhere, recommending a steering committee, identifying networks and funding sources, and exploring UVic’s hosting of the 2007 Community-University Expo.