International collaboration for changing the culture of research: The UNESCO Chair in community-based research and social responsibility in higher education

Abstract

In this article Dr. Budd L. Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon reflect on the evolution and global impact of the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, established in 2012 as a joint initiative of the University of Victoria, Canada, and the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), India. Based on over forty years of collaborative work in participatory research, the authors trace the growth of international networks focused on community-based research, knowledge democracy, and socially responsible higher education. They examine how the chair's work, combining research, advocacy, and capacity building, has aimed at changing cultures of knowledge production and strengthening university-community partnerships. Through global studies, policy engagement, the "Big Tent" Communiqués, and the Knowledge for Change Consortium, they show how this work has addressed both local needs and the Sustainable Development Goals. The authors show that participatory, engaged research increases the social relevance of higher education by co-creating knowledge and building research capacity in the Global South and the "excluded North," marginalized communities within wealthy nations. The article points to sustained international collaboration and a substantive commitment to democratizing knowledge production as critical to reorienting research cultures towards equity, social justice, and sustainability.