Engaged Research Projects Research Articles

Co-Constructing “Third Spaces” for Engagement with and for Minoritized Community Groups and Environmental Scientists

The demographics of environmental and Earth scientists are not representative of the UK’s multicultural society. We sought to widen diversity and engage equitably through two related engaged research projects, “Walking the Walk” and “Landscape Stories.” This paper offers a critically reflexive account, based on the methodology of duoethnography, of how we co-constructed a “third space” with and for minoritized community groups and environmental scientists. We sought to create the conditions for inclusive leadership informed by connectedness, respect, humility and intentionality. We argue that for environmental and Earth science research to be more equitable and inclusive, members of project teams should be engaged and more representative of wider society. Following this, collective work to create third spaces requires: respect for diversity and different forms of expertise, knowledge starting points, power dynamics and esteem; a willingness to make connections across disciplines and sub-cultures, actively listening and (un)learning from different (knowledge) cultures; and a commitment to be respectful of hidden and manifest difference, exploring purpose and gaps in knowledge in more holistic ways.

Civically engaged research in political science: a methodological guide

ABSTRACT In political science, there are growing calls for scholarship to engage directly and equitably with communities and other research stakeholders. We build on, and advance, this emerging methodological literature by revisiting the conventional research process, and provide an adaptable guide scholars can use to develop and undertake a collaborative and civically engaged research project. We outline key considerations and decisions to be made at each step of the process when undertaking civically engaged research, provide a menu of options for how scholars can engage with research stakeholders at each step, and demonstrate these options with examples from real-world applications. In addition, we discuss the current and potential impacts of CER on the larger discipline of political science. This article aims to serve as a useful guide for scholars interested in developing a civically engaged project and as a resource for broadening the training students and scholars receive in research methods.

289 Trailblazer Pilot Grants as Originators of Research Collaborators: Past, Present, and Future

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: We aim to share information about the Trailblazer Award Pilot Grants, which support collaborative, community engaged research projects with potential to improve health equity in Indiana, and achievements of awardees in terms of publications and funded external grants. We also share plans to expand the impact of the pilot grant process. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Data on publications and funded grant applications resulting from Trailblazer Award-funded projects were obtained from progress reports completed by the projects’ principal investigators. Awardees submit annual progress reports throughout the project and five years following the close of the project. On these progress reports, awardees list the publications that they have submitted, and their publication status, and external grants submitted and funded. Because some progress reports were never submitted, and projects which began in 2021 or 2022 are not complete, and are therefore likely to have additional publications and grants result from their projects, our results likelyunderestimate the number of publications and grants resulting from these projects. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Below are a number of charts which illustrate the outcomes of Trailblazer Award projects from years 2015 through 2022, including: the number of applications received as compared to the number of applications funded; the academic institutions of the academic partners on awarded projects throughout the state of Indiana; the general topic areas of all funded projects; and the number of publications and funded grants resulting from Trailblazer Award-funded projects, as reported by awardees. We have found that, in recent years, while the amount of publications by awardees have stayed roughly the same, the numbers of funded external grants resulting from Trailblazer-funded projects have decreased somewhat. [blob:https://acts.slayte.com/8404bbca-3054-4f57-9d36-cd8d6152841b] [blob:https://acts.slayte.com/6b43bd70-fe90-494a-be1a-c091a6ab924d][blob:https://acts.slayte.com/b0e2b7f6-1604-4379-94df-efccdc2e51c2][blob:https://acts.slayte.com/c1a591a7-2a0e-4f6d-ade1-027bb389ef68] DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We will implement changes for Trailblazer projects, including hosting workshops on disseminating findings and applying for external funding, and helping awardees to form partnerships within their topic area. We believe providing these resources to awardees will increase publications and grant funding, thereby allowing their work to continue.#_msocom_1.

91. Exploring Barriers and Opportunities for Preventive Health Services for Young Adults: A Community-Led Youth Engagement Research Project

91. Exploring Barriers and Opportunities for Preventive Health Services for Young Adults: A Community-Led Youth Engagement Research Project

231 Training Medical Interns and Graduate and Professional Students on Community Engaged Research: Lessons Learned from Implementing a Community Scholars Program

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: 1. Describe the development and implementation of a Community Scholars Program to train graduate and professional students on principles of community engagement and its application to their research. 2. Evaluate lessons learned and overall impact implementing a Community Scholars Program. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: After identifying a need to train scholars on the principles of community engagement, the Community Engagement Research Core’s (CERC) Community Advisory Council (CAC) developed the Community Scholars Program (CSP) in 2014. The CSP was designed to educate scholars on community engaged research and how it can be applied to their research projects. The program is currently in its ninth cohort with 19 graduate and professional students having participated in the program to date. Prospective scholars identify a community partner and faculty mentor and apply to conduct a community engaged research project over the course of an academic year. The purpose of this project is to describe the development and implementation of a CSP and identify lessons learned throughout the process. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Five lessons learned have been identified: five major lessons learned from implementing the CSP: (1) establish partnership agreements between the scholars and their community partners and faculty mentors, setting expectations to avoid conflict and increase mutual understanding; (2) expand and implement more creative outreach approaches to cultivate a more diverse pool of applicants; (3) increase networking between current and past scholars to share experiences and serve as a resource for each other; (4) provide formal CE training for scholars to develop a better understanding of the principles of CE and CE research; and (5) document progress of the program through formal feedback and evaluations. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The CSP was constructed to fill a gap in CE research training for graduate and professional scholars. Over the course of the program, the identified lessons learned have created program clarity and increased accountability for scholars, mentors, and community partners alike.

Addressing Fragmentation of Health Services through Data-Driven Knowledge Co-Production within a Boundary Organization

Behavioral healthcare services involve multiple disconnected sectors and providers serving the same populations. Efforts to identify and address service delivery problems are hampered by fragmentation of datasets. We conducted an engaged research project in which we formed a boundary organization and developed a knowledge co-production process centered on collaborative data sharing and visualization. Multisector participants in [location] worked to access and share data and to collectively interpret the resulting integrated data through visualizations using four knowledge co-production practices: collective interaction with data, perspective taking, reflection & debrief, and iteration of visualizations. The knowledge co-production process was evaluated using qualitative methods. This research extends sociotechnical research on knowledge co-production by proffering collaborative data sharing and visualization as a knowledge co-production process that can extend across disconnected and disparate social groups and contributes to community informatics by highlighting the role boundary organizations can play in facilitating data sharing and data-driven problem solving between fragmented sectors.

“People From the Forest”: Discourse About Migrants in the Narratives of NGO Workers and Activists Involved in the Humanitarian Crisis at the Polish-Belarusian Border

This article presents the results of a socially engaged research project based on 30 in-depth interviews with NGO workers and activists who became involved in the humanitarian crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border and engaged in subversive humanitarianism. The aim is to analyze the discourse about migrants constructed by people who provided different types of support during the crisis. The theoretical part presents a brief overview of the crisis and describes hybridized humanitarian actions that were taken. It also offers a discussion of two opposite discourses about migration in Poland. One is based on securitization and is created by the state, and the other relates to compassionate solidarity with migrants and is constructed by civil society. The results of the study indicate that the representation of migrants created by NGO workers and activists engaged in subversive humanitarianism to some extent reproduces the pro-immigrant narrative of compassion to date. What is more, the study shows that activists’ discourse is more individualized and emotional, while the narratives of NGO workers are more professionalized and institutional in nature.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Research with American Indian and Alaska Native Populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced health research programs across the world to close or pause, threatening the progress of basic science, clinical and social science research, and research careers. Impacts of the pandemic on research occurring with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples, which is often conducted using community-based and -engaged approaches, offer an opportunity to understand how community-research partnerships shaped decision-making and facilitated adaptations to study design, recruitment, data collection, program implementation, and analyses. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted AI/AN peoples, exacerbating many of the health and social inequities already being examined in community-based and -engaged research projects. The nine articles in this special issue share insights from research focused on a variety of topics from food security to diabetes prevention and parenting skills training. In the face of the pandemic, the research teams drew on experience and skills garnered by engaging the perspectives and wisdom of community partners and rooted in the principles of community-based participatory research to respond to shifting research priorities, new processes for remote consent and data collection, and increased needs for clear communication, connection, and support. Lessons from these research teams challenge us to think about how we can carry forward beneficial adaptations to best serve community needs, especially as the pandemic continues and the potential for similar global crises increases.

Reimagining Local Journalism: A Community-centered Intervention

ABSTRACT At a moment when many U.S. news organizations are reckoning with their relationships with communities of color and attempting to build relationships of trust, this engaged research project uses a communication infrastructure theory framework to assess the information needs and assets of a majority Black neighborhood that has historically been stigmatized by media coverage. It draws from nine focus groups, as well as diaries and interviews with residents to assess the local storytelling network and explore how residents conceptualize trustworthiness factors of perceived accuracy, perceived motivations, and representation in local media. Through discussions and participant observation over the course of 17 months, it follows the collaborative process of designing and piloting a community-centered journalism project that attempts to strengthen ties between local media and communities. From this, it explores how residents’ ideals for local journalism at times clash with dominant journalism norms and practices regarding objectivity.

Structural Community Governance: Importance for Community-Academic Research Partnerships.

Community based participatory research (CBPR) emphasizes democratic knowledge production and joint action between academics and communities to promote health equity through multilevel interventions. While much scholarship has expressed a commitment to collaboration between researchers and communities, effective methods of structural governance between community and academic stakeholders is under explored. We fill this gap by presenting a conceptual and empirical analysis describing multiple dimensions of structural governance in CBPR partnerships. First, we integrate public policy evidence on effective collaborative governance designs with the emerging literature in CBPR to create a conceptual model. Next, we utilize internet surveys of 179 federally funded community engaged research projects to construct and assess a measure of structural governance across multiple dimensions using confirmatory factor analysis. We explore whether antecedent factors such as the stage of the partnership and ethnic composition are associated with these dimensions and we examine associations for each of these components on positive perceptions of community involvement of research and collective empowerment. We develop a robust multidimensional measure of structural governance that is positively associated with perceptions of increased community involvement in research and collective empowerment.

Od redaktorów: Analiza dyskursu a prawda o dyskursie

Celem artykułu jest wprowadzenie w tematykę numeru poświęconego interdyscyplinarnym badaniom dyskursu. Redaktorzy tomu umiejscawiają tytułową problematykę w kontekście wyzwań, jakie w XXI wieku stoją przed analizą dyskursu jako perspektywą badawczą. Po pierwsze, chodzi o wyeksplikowanie poznawczego celu analizy, związanego z odsłanianiem mechanizmów forsowania różnych i konstruowanych dyskursywnie faktów oraz prawd moralnych. Po drugie, dylematem zarówno ideologicznym, jak i metodologicznym jest opowiedzenie się badaczy i badaczek dyskursu za analizą neutralną wobec swojego przedmiotu lub zaangażowaną w projekt zmiany rzeczywistości komunikacyjnej i społecznej. Po trzecie, wyzwaniem jest wybór między dyscyplinarnie jednorodnym a różnorodnym postępowaniem badawczym i wykorzystanie tego drugiego do wzmacniania wrażliwości krytycznej w badaniach dyskursu. W końcowej części artykułu prezentowane są teksty zebrane w tym tomie i ich główne przesłanki metodologiczne.

Indexes of employability assets: a comprehensive tool for analyzing students' attitudes in Indigenous contexts

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze the indexes of employability assets that affect students' employability in Indigenous contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe study restructures the indicators developed from the survey the authors did for the Vital Outcome Indicators for Community Engagement (VOICE) research project into six employability indexes. The six indexes are reading and comprehension, numeracy, technological mastery, contribution to organizational performance, job searching skills and cultural awareness. The study has applied mixed research method, which is the combination of survey and secondary data analyses.FindingsAll six indexes have impacts on students' employability in various degrees with a high level of internal consistency among the indicators. The regression analysis reveals that the technological mastery, reading and comprehension and numeracy indexes significantly influence students' contribution to the organizational performance. The results also show that cultural awareness has impacts on employability but students do not connect it to the required employability skills. Such disconnection of cultural awareness with employability skills justifies the necessity to integrate Indigenous cultural contents into programs and curriculums in today's post-secondary education, particularly in the University College of the North (UCN), improving students' cultural knowledge, which, in return, enhances their employability in Indigenous contexts. The result is also applicable globally to countries which have large populations of Indigenous people such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Mexico and other regions where workplaces are set in Indigenous contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThe research survey was only conducted within students of UCN Thompson campus.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper can be used as a guideline to adjust teaching/learning strategies with a focus on integrating Indigenous cultural components into UCN courses and programs, including other institutions with similar attributes to enhance Indigenous students' employability. UCN tri-council, faculty, community leaders, researchers, government and NGOs can also use the outcome of this paper to articulate polices that enhance students' employability. The outcome and strategic implication of the study can also be applicable to any institutions in a global Indigenous context.Originality/valueThe authors of the paper provide empirical evidence from the indexes of the employability assets including their indicators affecting students' employability. It is attested that cultural awareness index have impacts on students' employability in Indigenous context.

Library as Research Lab

Information literacy at the graduate level can happen at the intersection of research method education and mentorship into a disciplinary community of practice with its own traditions of inquiry, communication, and knowledge creation. Funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Library as Research Lab Project at the University of Michigan enables graduate students, academic librarians, and information science faculty to engage in a series of research activities together, illuminating tacit knowledge in information studies and librarianship, both as a discipline and as a profession.
 In the project, three interconnected labs pursue authentic research questions emerging from challenges faced by the Library while providing School of Information students with mentorship, new skills, and a fellowship stipend. A common curriculum across the labs includes research ethics, publishing, project management, and current issues in higher education research. Engaging with the frames of “Research as Inquiry” and “Scholarship as Conversation” from the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education​, students also learn how to effectively discuss, iterate upon, and present their research activities to different audiences. At the end of the fellowship, students enter the profession with an understanding of complex challenges facing libraries and with new strategies for responding to ambiguity and pursuing new solutions through research.
 As we complete the final year of the grant, the librarians from the Design Thinking for Library Services Lab will reflect on lessons learned and share student perspectives as a way of discussing how similar initiatives might facilitate positive and critically engaged research projects at other institutions. Attendees will be able to describe strategies for developing similar environments in support of authentic research experiences and will be able to apply strategies documented in a mentoring handbook from the project in their own work.

The Complex Ecology of Young People's Community Engagement and the Call for Civic Pedagogues

This paper focuses upon the community engagement of young people growing up in socio-economically disadvantaged areas and the creation of apt civic learning spaces. It is in direct response to public policy within the UK, as in many other democratic countries, giving continued attention to how young people’s active citizenship can be best supported. As a consequence of processes of globalisation, social change and technological advancement it is being increasingly recognised that young citizens face unprecedented challenges in the 21 st century. At the same time young people growing up within areas of socio-economic disadvantage are commonly identified as being most at risk of social exclusion and discouragement with regard to their civic participation. This paper draws from the EngagED research project, a two-year study based in England that used a mixed methods approach to explore the civic action and learning of young people living in both inner city and rural areas of socio-economic disadvantage. It presents an eco-systemic model of the host of factors and agencies that influence young people’s civic identity and patterns of community engagement. It outlines two new civic learning spaces that were created in response to these complex ecologies and from these experiments in ‘pre-figurative practice’ proposes a set of key principles for the effective civic pedagogue. This radical notion of the civic educator moves away from educational strategies that seek to ‘transform’ young people into good future citizens, towards finding personalised ways of supporting young people ‘as’ citizens.

Walking methodologies, digital platforms and the interrogation of Olympic spaces: the ‘#RioZones-Approach’

Mega-sport events (MSEs) target, sequestrate and territorialise a ‘host’ (city – or nation) to exist, sustain themselves, survive and deliver on organisational objectives. Yet, little systematic and empirical evidence examines such urban processes, specifically in real-time during ‘live staging’ periods, including related implications for host community inclusion (and exclusion). In this article, we present the #RioZones project; a series of physical-embodied and digitally enabled primary data collection methods focused around embodied walking and participatory digital methods aimed at: (i) providing a deeper – and disruptive – interrogation of the spatial, social and economic implications of MSE organisation, (ii) developing creative ways to share empirical insights via microblogging, vlogging, media and public engagement platforms, and (iii) bringing together academic, industry, and policy stakeholders to debate and influence change. Embedded physically and digitally (albeit temporarily) into Rio’s Olympic city, we refer to this strategically planned amalgam of methods as the ‘#RioZones-Approach’. Our findings reveal that utilising a set of post-positivist methods and approaches can be highly effective for creating new lines of (disruptive) inquiry and qualitative knowledge insights, currently latent in this field of analysis, and in related critical tourism and event studies). Additionally, we illustrate how projects with a longitudinal ethos present a unique opportunity to maintain longer-term scrutiny on spatial-urban processes and involve key stakeholders to critique contested MSE legacies. Our article provides a detailed, but single snapshot into the life of an ever evolving, live and stakeholder engaged research project. In terms of significance and contribution, we argue that #RioZones – and the #RioZones-Approach – presents an ideal platform to bring together new, existing, creative and disruptive research projects striving to offer a deeper level of analysis and interrogation toward the study and intersection of events, urban space, and host community inclusion and exclusion.

Transition Programming for Youth with Persistent Delinquent Histories: A Descriptive Case Example

ABSTRACTDetained youth experience noted struggles with reentry to school and the community and the first 6 months after release are critical for reentry to school or work for decreasing the rate of recidivism. For this community engagement research project, numerous partners including the University, local school district, local youth detention center, and family resource center were involved. This transition project provided transition support to three participants through: (a) electronic monitoring, (b) educational advocacy, (c) case management, and (d) in-school mentoring. The delinquent and social histories of each participant are described, as well as the descriptive findings from the wraparound intervention. Reentry, access to services, attendance, and recidivism data reflect intervention effectiveness.

Community engaged research projects for undergraduates

A commitment to providing research opportunities for undergraduates has been a key element in Harvey Mudd's efforts to increase the diversity of our computer science student body [1]. Including students in problems outside of the classroom helps them develop identities as computer scientists, while providing those opportunities early on in students' careers, can help welcome new students to the field [14]. But many first-year undergraduate students don't have a lot of previous experience, so it can be difficult to find research positions where they can make substantial technical contributions. Student-driven, community-engaged data analysis projects offer an opportunity to engage those students.

Leisure, engagement, and meaning-making among high-risk youth

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of constructive leisure-like pursuits in meaningful engagement with life among young people at high risk in a variety of challenges in life. This data was based on reflective insights from youth leaders (n = 9) and community agency partners (n = 8) who have been involved in the authors’ collaborative youth engagement research project for the past few years. Their insights show that constructive leisure-like activities in the research project helped promote the youths’ meaningful engagement with life. Specifically, such constructive meaningful engagement was facilitated by providing opportunities for gaining a sense of: (a) a joyful life, (b) a composed life, (c) a connected life, (d) a discovered life, and (e) an empowered life. The findings support the use of a youth-centered approach to promoting this meaning-making process especially through the strategic use of youth leadership to inspire and support high-risk youth.

Making time/making temporality for engaged scholarship

ABSTRACTResearch on engaged scholarship has demonstrated that it requires substantial investments of time and requires the negotiation of research partners’ multiple, differing time horizons. Although the importance of time as a resource in research collaborations is generally recognized, the implications of temporal difference among research partners need further exploration. Drawing on the meso-level model of organizational temporality, we develop a heuristic framework for analyzing the temporal enactments, temporal construals, and the designable features of temporality in key practices of engagement, namely, co-missioning, co-designing, and co-enacting. The framework is illustrated with the authors’ firsthand accounts of multiple engaged research projects that highlight concrete strategies for managing the temporal difficulties of long-term engagement.

Engaging with the public in public engagement with research

Though there is now growing commitment to publicly engaged research, the role and definition of the public in such processes is wide-ranging, contested and often rather vague. This article addresses this problem by showing that, although there is no single agreed upon theory or way of being public, it is still possible and very important to develop clear, public-centric, understandings of engaged research practice. The article introduces a multidimensional framework based on the theoretical literature on the 'public', and demonstrates – in the context of a recent engaged research project – how it is possible to conceptualize, design and evaluate context-specific formations of the public. Starting from an understanding of publics as mediated and dynamic entities, the article seeks to illuminate some of the choices that researchers face and how the framework can help them navigate these. This article is for all those interested in what it means to address, support and account for an engaged public in contemporary settings.