Co-Construction of Knowledge
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Item Knowledge democracy and excellence in engagement(IDS Bulletin, 2016-12) Tandon, Rajesh; Singh, Wafa; Clover, Darlene E; Hall, Budd LWe often come across theories and aspects related to ‘knowledge’, but seldom do we try to understand its hidden implications. Knowledge as understood generally is about the information of facts and understanding of a subject. This article essentially argues against this understanding. It explores the multiple dimensions of ‘knowledge’ through a literature review and illustrations of practical examples. It makes a case for how important the process of knowledge creation is, especially given current societal challenges. It also outlines the importance of co-creation of knowledge, through acknowledgement and valuation of alternate paradigms of knowledge. Further, it discusses the concept of ‘knowledge democracy’, and how institutions of higher education, by abiding by its principles, can help achieve ‘excellence in engagement’. The article concludes with the findings of two studies undertaken by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair, which were based on the principles of ‘knowledge democracy’ and ‘excellence in engagement’Item Perspectives on community practices: Living and learning in community(Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, 2015) Krašovec, Sabina Jelenc; Štefanc, Damijan; Hall, Budd L; Tandon, Rajesh; Tremblay, Crystal; Singh, WafaThis book presents the findings of the 2015 European Society for Research on the Education of Adults conference and brings together a rich collection of research that explores how communities learn, organise, resist and transform across varied contexts. It covers themes such as adult learning and wellbeing, intergenerational spaces of experience, feminist work in public museums, learning cities and regions, community resilience, applied theatre and transformative learning, and the co-construction of knowledge in community–university partnerships. Contributions such as Adult Learning and Wellbeing: Between Body Politics and the Body Politic, Community Building as Forum and Arena, and Challenges in the Co-Construction of Knowledge foreground tensions between policy, participation, power and everyday practice. The strength of this book lies in its plurality. It holds together critical, empirical and practice-based insights, making it an important resource for understanding community learning in complex and changing times.Item Challenges in the co-construction of knowledge: A global study on strengthening structures for community university research partnerships(0000) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, Rajesh; Tremblay, Crystal; Singh, WafaWhat does it mean to institutionalise the co-construction of knowledge between universities and communities at a global level? This paper begins from the premise that knowledge democracy requires moving beyond expert driven models towards collaborative processes that recognise the knowledge generating capacities of each human being and of every community. Community university research partnerships are presented as a key pathway for this shift, as they create structures through which research questions, methods, processes and outcomes can be shaped jointly. Drawing on a global survey and national case studies across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, the authors examine the histories, discourses and institutional forms that support or constrain such partnerships. This paper further analyses models such as Science Shops, centers of community-based research and national policy frameworks, while identifying tensions and practical challenges in embedding such work within universities. It highlights the importance of facilitative structures, supportive leadership, transnational networks and sustained institutional commitment. In doing so, it argues that institutionalising community-based research is not only a technical exercise but a political and ideological process that reshapes how universities understand knowledge, partnership and their responsibilities to society.Item The power of collaboration, creativity and art in knowledge mobilization: Reflections from international work(2020) Tandon, Rajesh; Hall, Budd LIn this paper, Dr. Budd Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon examine how knowledge mobilization (KMb) can become a more effective tool for social transformation when it is integrated throughout the research process rather than treated as a final dissemination activity. Drawing on over four decades of community-based participatory research (CBPR) across the global South and excluded North, the authors contend that KMb is most powerful when embedded in research from the outset, rather than added after the fact. Working within a knowledge democracy framework through the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, the paper explores how creative and arts-based methods have served as powerful vehicles for sharing research with communities, policymakers, and the broader public. Through four case studies—domestic workers in India using a hand-stitched saree to document sexual harassment, waste recyclers in Brazil producing participatory videos for policy advocacy, immigrant women in Toronto presenting through spoken word at City Hall, and a community health fair in rural South Africa the paper illustrates how art reaches people and places that conventional academic outputs cannot. The paper concludes that creativity is not decorative in KMb; it is essential, particularly when research aims at social transformation and meaningful community change.Item Against epistemicide: Decolonising higher education(2020) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, RajeshHow have knowledge systems been shaped by histories of enclosure and dispossession? In this reflective essay, Dr. Budd Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon examine how colonisation and the enclosing of knowledge are embedded within the same paradigm through which capital was accumulated by dispossession, as theorised by David Harvey. Drawing parallels with the enclosure movement in England, they argue that common lands were gradually privatised, displacing those who depended on them. In a similar way, wealth extracted through colonisation helped build universities that enclosed knowledge within their walls, regulating who could access it and who could legitimately produce it. These enclosures determined which knowledge systems were recognised and legitimised and which were dismissed as irrational, reinforcing distinctions between knowers and non-knowers. The essay traces how these processes continue to shape contemporary academic institutions and their authority over what counts as legitimate knowledge. In response, the authors describe the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education as a deliberate effort to reverse the colonisation of knowledge systems by creating structures and processes for the co-creation of knowledge with social movements and civil society partners, grounded in a commitment to epistemic justice.Item Should participatory research be taught in a university?(Society for Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), 2003) Tandon, RajeshThis excerpt is based on a keynote address delivered by Rajesh Tandon in February 2003, reflecting on whether and how participatory research can be taught. It questions the limits of conventional research, opens up debates on methodology and power, and invites readers to think of knowledge as something shaped through dialogue rather than instruction.Item Notes on participatory research methodology for forest studies(1982-09) Tandon, RajeshThis document outlines a participatory research framework for studying the impact of forest legislation on forest-dwelling communities in India. It emphasizes involving local activists and residents directly in data collection, analysis, and reporting so that research becomes both documentation and a tool for mobilization.Item Institutionalizing community university research partnerships: A user’s manual(PRIA and University of Victoria, 2015) Tandon, Rajesh; Hall, Budd LThis manual on Institutionalizing Community University Research Partnerships is both a handy reference and a ready tool-kit for university and college administrators interested in establishing and improving Community University Research Partnership initiatives in their institutions. It provides practical guidelines and steps that will help deliver on policy commitments made to promote Community University Engagement/Community University Research Partnerships in higher educa-tional institutions. These guidelines, supplemented with best practices (in boxes) from around the world, are intended to show a way forward, and are not necessarily prescriptive; they offer insights into how institutions can build and sustain Community University Research Partnership practices and structures. These best practices are a snapshot of current administra-tive structures and institutional policies that are facilitative of Community University Research Partnerships. A section on Frequently Asked Questions provides ready answers to questions that may arise in the process of institutionalizing Community University Research Partnerships. Resources and further readings at the end of the manual are an aid to fur-ther learning. The content of the manual has been carefully drawn from available global literature, much of it culled from products of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded global study on 'Mainstreaming Community University Research Partnerships' conducted under the aegis of the UNESCO Chair on Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education. This global study documented case studies across 12 countries and a comparative analysis of the cases high-lighted the practices and exemplars for institutionalizing Community University Research Partnerships. This easy-to-use manual is an effort of the UNESCO Co-Chairs towards co-creating knowledge, capacities and partnerships between universities (academics), communities (civil society) and government (policymakers). We hope it will be beneficial to all universities, colleges and other higher educational institutions that are sensitive to the issue of social responsibility and the potential of community based research to provide local solutions to global problems for local communities. We look forward to your comments and feedback once you have started on the journey of institutionalizing Community University Research Partnerships in your institution.Item Adult education, culture development and social movements: The contemporary challenge( Society for Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), 1993-04-27) Tandon, RajeshItem Issues and experiences in participatory research in Asia(1979-06-25) Tandon, RajeshIn this paper Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines characteristics and issues of participatory research as practised across Asia during the late 1970s, drawing on meetings held in India and Thailand alongside field reports from researchers. Practitioners engaging with participatory research bring varied motivations, ranging from disillusioned social scientists seeking relevance beyond classical research paradigms to activists redirecting failed development strategies toward decentralized alternatives and educators treating research itself as a vehicle for social transformation. Rural settings dominate the Asian experience, reflecting both the scale of rural populations and the concentration of documented efforts in land, health, and adult education. The paper situates participatory research in close and often uncomfortable relation to social action, tracing the political consequences that follow from this link across varied Asian contexts. It also addresses the largely unorganized condition of underprivileged groups and the corresponding need to build organization alongside inquiry, along with the personal values and behavioural skills researchers need to genuinely facilitate participation rather than reproduce authoritarian patterns. The paper closes by treating these issues as unresolved questions for the ongoing evolution of participatory research in the region, rather than settled conclusions.