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Summer Institute

Knowledge 4 Change (K4C) Takaronto Hub presents the Summer Institute in Community-Based Participatory Action Research

From left to right: Alexis Bornyk, Nancy Cardwell, Saman Goudarzi, Maggie Huang, Isabelle Kim, Elham Rasoulian, Karen Natalia Villanueva
From left to right: Alexis Bornyk, Nancy Cardwell, Saman Goudarzi, Maggie Huang, Isabelle Kim, Elham Rasoulian, Karen Natalia Villanueva

Knowledge Equity Lab is pleased to be hosting a Summer Institute in Community-Based Participatory Action Research with our partners, Ontario Council International Cooperation and the Centre for Learning and Development. We are honoured to be holding our first in-person Summer Institute after holding several virtual workshops in the past. This event is one of the K4C hub’s key activities and we will continue to share resources and updates about the workshop with you over the next few weeks. We look forward to continuing to host in-person events and workshops for our community!

Event Summary and Details

Over two days, the K4C Summer Institute will include opportunities to learn about the origins, purpose, key principles, ethics and planning phases of CBPAR, and to discuss and explore equitable university-community research partnerships, mindful participatory observation and interviewing, participatory theatre, muralism and community mapping.

 Participants may include:

  • Representatives of Community-led Organizations
  • Students, Academics & Researchers
  • Representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working locally and globally
  • Policymakers in local, national and internationally focused institutions and organizations 

Registration Fee: $30.00

Morning refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Register here.

A limited number of registration fee waivers are available for those that would otherwise not be able to attend. Click here to applyApplicants will be notified of the status of their fee waiver application on a rolling basis.

Program

Day 1June 22, 2023
9:00 – 9:30Registration & Refreshments
9:30 – 10:30 Welcome Ceremony 
10:30 – 12:00 Introduction to Community-based Participatory Action Research 
12:00 – 1:15Lunch
1:15 – 3:15Mindful Participatory Observation & Interviewing
3:15 – 3:30Closing
Day 2June 23, 2023
9:00 – 9:30         Registration & Refreshments 
9:30 – 10:00Welcome
10:00 – 12:00Participatory Theater Workshop
12:00 – 1:15Lunch
1:15 – 3:15Muralism Workshop OR Social Cartography Workshop (Participants Choose 1)
3:15 – 3:30Closing

Workshop Facilitators

Alexis Bornyk Taanishi Alexis Bornyk dishinihkaashoon. Aen Michif niiya, Treaty Six d’ooshchiin. Mii paaraantii Rivayr Roozh ooshchiw. My family is of mixed Michif and Settler heritage. I am a Michif, Russian, Ukrainian and German woman who grew up in Treaty Six Territory, the homeland of the Grand Prairie Métis. My community is the Gabriel Dumont Local 11 Michif peoples. I am currently residing as a visitor on the lands of the Mississauga of the New Credit, Anishinabek, and Williams Treaty territory. In my work I see the world through two lenses, my Michif worldview and colonial educated worldview, this helps me walk in two worlds as I move forward with my research and life interactions. I am going into my fourth year at UTSC in the International Development Specialist Program and focus my studies around how the colonial system of society affect Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island.

Nancy Cardwell is a PhD candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research focuses on arts in education through the lens of critical literacy studies and feminist theory. Nancy has created workshops for outreach programs at the National Ballet of Canada, the Stratford Festival, and for school boards across Ontario. A Dora Mavor Moore and Gemini award-winning dancer and choreographer, Nancy is an established artist on the Canadian dance scene.

Saman Goudarzi‘s work operates at the intersection of information science and critical geography. She’s particularly interested in the ways in which community-owned and -governed infrastructure can contribute to equitable knowledge systems. Currently, Saman takes care of McMaster’s Lloyd Reeds Map Collection, ensuring community members are able to access, understand, and use the collection for teaching and research.

Maggie Huang is an advocate for knowledge equity, the right to research, and community-driven systems change. She believes every person and community has deep knowledge & wisdom within them, and has the right to learn and collectively act on this knowledge to co-create the change they want to see.As a UNESCO-certified CBPAR mentor supporting the Knowledge 4 Change Tkaronto Hub, convenor for community-led systems change at the United Way for Greater Austin, and workshop facilitator for a variety of organizations and activist groups, she draws on a diverse toolbox of participatory research, mindfulness and collective presencing, community development, and systems change practices to enable these aspirations.

Isabelle Kim, UNESCO Knowledge For Change (K4C) Mentor in community-based research and founding member of the K4C Tkaronto Hub, Isabelle has over 20 years of experience working in community and international development, education, policy and research within the non-profit and public sectors in Canada and internationally. She is a proud alumnus of the University of Toronto Scarborough’s International Development Studies Coop programme (BA), and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) (MA, PhD). Isabelle has taught nearly 30 courses in research methods at OISE. In 2019, she co-designed and taught with Karen Villanueva, a course on community-based participatory action research at the Toronto Centre for Community Learning & Development. Isabelle lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.

Elham Rasoulian’s educational background is in Industrial Engineering. After moving to Canada in 2019, she started her Canadian career journey by joining the Immigrant Women Integration Program (IWIP) in the Centre of Learning and Development (CL&D). For her Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), she focused on the Affordability and Availability of Childcare for Newcomer Families in Toronto. Having a Project Management lens, she co-designed the workshop regarding planning for community-based research for the next IWIP cohorts. Elham is currently leading the IWIP Program and collaborating with CL&D and MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions in community-based research projects.

Karen Natalia Villanueva is a Colombian immigrant who is currently based in Tkaronto, Kanata (Toronto, Canada). She graduated from York University with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto. Karen currently holds the portfolio of Deputy Executive Director at the Centre of Learning & Development where she integrates her passion for popular education, activism and visual arts to foster capacity building in immigrant and newcomer populations. Karen has been a Board member of Community Based Research Canada for the last two years to bring awareness and representation to the increasing need of CBPAR in Toronto communities.