Research partnerships in planning and architecture in Indigenous contexts: theoretical premises for a necessary evaluation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Participative research partnerships are a relevant approach for researchers and professionals in planning and architecture as well as for Indigenous communities developing projects coherent with Indigenous planning practices. Yet, research partnerships generally suffer from a lack of theoretical foundations. This scoping review connects relationality – a founding ontological concept in the Indigenous world – to the importance of relational dynamics in partnership projects. I suggest that the coming together of researchers, professionals, and communities occurs in a partnership space, a space of relationality in Indigenous contexts. Partnership authenticity allows for the evaluation of research partnership processes by integrating their factors of success or failure.