Knowledge Democracy / Participatory Research
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Welcome to the Knowledge Democracy / Participatory Research Community. This community serves as a comprehensive repository of resources on participatory approaches, community-based research, and collaborative inquiry methods. Our mission is to foster knowledge sharing and support initiatives that empower communities to contribute to research, ensuring their voices shape the knowledge that impacts their lives.
Explore a wealth of materials, including case studies, policy papers, training guides, and research publications that highlight the practice and principles of participatory research worldwide.
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Item Reconnecting society and science: Trajectories of the knowledge democracy movement(Sage, 2026-02-12) Tandon, RajeshAs interrelated global wicked problems increasingly engulf all sections of life on this planet, searching for knowledge solutions to address them has become urgent. While scientists in modern science establishments (labs) are busy finding answers to COVID (and other pandemics) and climate disruptions, communities and societies continue to struggle and use their own wisdom and capacity to find meaningful measures for local adaptations. This disconnect between societal actors and science has become critical. So, professional science communicators have critical responsibilities for rebuilding mutually respectful connections between society (and its diverse actors) and science. How can science communicators play such important roles in bridging society and science? Let me illustrate the ways it is being attempted in diverse contexts.Item Bridging knowledge cultures: Rebalancing power in the Co-Construction of knowledge(Brill, 2024) Lepore, Walter; Hall, Budd L; Tandon, RajeshEstablishing truly respectful, mutually beneficial, and equitable knowledge creation partnerships with diverse communities poses significant challenges for academia. Bridging Knowledge Cultures provides valuable insights into the dynamics involved and the obstacles encountered when attempting to establish meaningful research partnerships between different knowledge domains. This book goes beyond exploration by offering practical recommendations to overcome these challenges and forge effective collaboration between mainstream research institutions and community groups and organizations. This book includes ten compelling case studies conducted by research and training hubs established through the global Knowledge for Change Consortium. These case studies encompass community-university research partnerships across various geographical locations, tackling a wide range of societal issues and acknowledging the wealth of knowledge created by local communities. The overarching goal of this book is to inspire the next generation of researchers and professionals to embrace the richness of diverse perspectives and knowledge cultures. By advocating for the construction of "bridges" through practical approaches, the book encourages a shift from competition to collaboration in research. Ultimately, it aims to foster an environment where different forms of knowledge can intersect and thrive, leading to a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of the world around us.Item Participatory research: Where have we been, where are we going? – A dialogue(UCL IOE Press, 2017-07) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, RajeshRajesh Tandon and Budd Hall, the UNESCO Co-Chairs in Community-Based Research, have worked together on the theory and practice of participatory research since they first met in Caracas, Venezuela in 1978. This article is a conversation between the two of them that took place in New Delhi, India in 2015. It covers the creation of the concept of participatory research, a coming to awareness of the importance and power of local knowledge, the creation of the International Participatory Research Network and their thoughts on some of the challenges facing community and academic partners today. Of note is the fact that the early roots of participatory research were found in the global South, specifically in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Of further interest is the fact that for the first 20 to 25 years, participatory research was a discourse located almost entirely outside formal academic circles but rather in social movement structures and civil society circles.Item Mobilisation des connaissances de la communauté et du milieu universitaire en vue d’un changement en profondeur : L’évolution de la Chaire UNESCO sur la recherche communautaire et la responsabilité sociale en enseignement supérieur [Mobilizing community and university knowledge for transformative change: The evolution of the UNESCO Chair in community-based research and social responsibility in higher education](Commission canadienne pour l’UNESCO, 2017) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, RajeshLa Chaire UNESCO sur la recherche communautaire et la responsabilité sociale en enseignement supérieur a été créée en juin 2012 dans la foulée de la 2e Conférence mondiale de l’UNESCO sur l’enseignement supérieur, qui s’est déroulée à Paris en juillet 2009. Rajesh Tandon, Ph. D. et Budd Hall, Ph. D., ont été nommés cotitulaires de cette chaire. Cet article retrace les origines de la chaire et examine les contributions apportées jusqu’à ce jour ainsi que les leçons stratégiques que l’UNESCO, les décideurs politiques, les praticiens et les universitaires peuvent en tirer.Item Understanding design of organisation(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2001-08-25) Tandon, RajeshThis text by Dr. Rajesh Tandon presents a comprehensive analysis of the structure and process of understanding organizations and NGOs and navigates strategies to their management. The text describes models as conceptual tools for analyzing organizational behaviour, emphasizing the organization as an open social system and provides a systems theory for it. It explains missions and purposes of an organisation and lists its required inputs and desired outputs. The text further identifies and describes five key components of organizational design, technology, tasks, human resources, formal organizational structure, and informal organization. It analyses the concept of congruence, arguing that organizational effectiveness depends on the degree to which these components fit together and presents the congruence hypothesis arguing that greater the fit between components, the more effective the organization will be in achieving its mission. The text identifies types of NGOs and addresses several critical issues for NGO management such as compatibility with organizing elements, size and informal structure, hierarchy, and organisational changes. It further discusses the differences arising from different ideologies and operational strategies and the need for NGOs to manage relationships with multiple constituencies. The text concludes that organizations are complex social systems requiring analysis at multiple levels and aspects and that a successful organisation requires effective division of work and integration of efforts.Item Mapping the assets of your community: A key component for building local capacity(Southern Rural Development Center, 2002) Beaulieu, Lionel JAmid growing debates on how best to foster local development, asset-based approaches have emerged as an alternative to problem-driven planning. This paper explores the concept of community asset mapping as a practical strategy for strengthening local capacity. The study contrasts the traditional needs assessment approach with asset mapping, showing how the latter encourages collaboration, reduces dependency, and creates a stronger sense of ownership among community members. Instead of beginning with a list of problems, the discussion emphasizes identifying the skills, talents, and resources that already exist within individuals, institutions, and informal groups. Special attention is given to how local leadership can be discovered and nurtured, and how linking people, organizations, and institutions builds a foundation for sustainable development. The research points toward a way of rethinking development by shifting attention from what is missing to what is already present, leaving open the question of how such a shift might transform community life.Item Mutual learning and empowering support: Networks and balance between local and global demands(GUNi, 2017-03) Tremblay, Crystal; Singh, Wafa; Lepore, WalterCommunity-University Engagement (CUE) net-works and research partnerships may be particularly useful for advancing sustainable social and ecological development as they can mobilize the knowledge, skills and assets of both Higher Education Institutions (HEls) and communities. In this chapter, we present a series of principles for stakeholder engagement and partnership at HEls, showcase key global CUE networks com-mitted to strengthening the civic roles and responsibility of HEls, and propose recommendations to help policymakers and practitioners use networks and partnerships as a practical tool to engage with global and local pressing problems. There is growing evidence that indicates a large aggregate trend to unite civil society, HEls and networks in common efforts to co-create knowledge, mobilize it to inform practice and policy, and enhance the social, economic and environ-mental conditions of people, communities, nations and the world.Item Fabric crafts and poetry: The art of development education in Canada(Centre for Global Education, 2006) Hall, Budd L; Clover, Darlena EThis article by Darlene Clover and Budd Hall traces how development education in Canada has drawn on arts and crafts as tools for critical learning. It begins with the field's roots in the 1960s and 70s, when CUSO volunteers came home questioning accepted narratives about poverty and global trade, then traces its decline once government funding dried up in 1994. The authors turn to two case studies: a group of women on Vancouver Island who used collective quilting to protest a gas plant and the Iraq war, and a University of Victoria poetry course that turned students into poets and peace activists over five weeks. Drawing on both cases, they make the case that arts and crafts belong in development education: they open oppositional imagination, work through metaphor where dialogue alone falls short, use humour as resistance, and ask real risk of participants, as the censored quilts themselves proved.Item Socially responsible higher education: International perspectives on knowledge democracy(Brill Sense, 2021) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, RajeshThis book is built upon a foundation of our thinking and practice over a period of 40 years. Our UNESCO Chair, which sprung from the 2009 UNESCO World Conference, provided us with an organisational framework for the theoretical and practical discourse that we have been engaged in since the 1970s (Hall et al., 2013, 2015, 2017a, 2017b; Tandon et al., 2002, 2016a, 2016b, 2017). As we have followed our mandate to build research capacity in the fields of community-based research and social responsibility in higher education in the global South and the excluded North, we have found ourselves in conversations, in conferences, in research projects and networks in all parts of the world where the question is being asked how should universities respond? What are the changing roles of the university today? Is the university contributing to our global crises or does it offer stories of hope? Our book is a contribution to the on-going debates and policy discussions which are critical for the future, a post-pandemic future, a future which moves the UN Sustainable Development Goals from lip service to action, a future where our climate crisis no longer remains the cry of the few, but the reason for action for the many. We have deliberately sought authors and viewpoints from parts of the world that have seldom been heard in the international literature on higher education and social responsibility. In contrast to books like these that most generally only feature writers from the global North, we have chosen to share the experiences of a broadly representative and globally dispersed set of writers. Importantly we have intentionally chosen to achieve a gender and diversity balance amongst our authors. This book features many younger and emerging scholars.Item 50th anniversary edition of pedagogy of the oppressed(2020) Hall, Budd LWhy has Pedagogy of the Oppressed remained one of the most influential works in educational thought for more than five decades? In this review, Dr. Budd L. Hall critically examines the 50th Anniversary Edition of Paulo Freire’s foundational work and explores the reasons for its enduring global impact. Drawing on personal recollections from his time in 1970s Tanzania, Hall reflects on how Freire's philosophy shaped early radical adult literacy initiatives. The review emphasizes that the strength of Freire’s work emerged from its close connection to the experiences of marginalized communities and literacy movements in Brazil, where dialogue and collective reflection became tools for understanding and challenging oppression. This is further enriched by contributions from Donaldo Macedo and Ira Shor, whose writings in the anniversary edition highlight the continuing relevance of Freire’s ideas in a world marked by inequality and political polarization. Ultimately, the review concludes that Freire's work remains significant because it demonstrates how education can enable marginalized communities to understand, challenge, and transform oppressive social conditions.