Knowledge Democracy and Participatory Research
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://192.9.200.215:4000/handle/123456789/123
Welcome to the Knowledge Democracy and 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 Enabling Public Grievance Redressal Systems in Municipalities: An Operational Manual(Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2013)Grievance redressal lies at the heart of accountable governance, yet in many contexts it remains fragmented and inaccessible to ordinary citizens. This manual offers a practical framework for designing and implementing public grievance systems that are transparent, responsive, and rooted in citizen participation. It sets out processes for creating enabling environments, building institutional structures, and clarifying roles for officials and communities alike. By addressing both procedural steps and the broader ethos of trust and accountability, the manual positions grievance redressal not only as a technical exercise but as a means of deepening democratic practice.Item Global trends in training community-based research in higher education institutions and civil society organizations(UNESCO Chair in Community-based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, 2015-07) Lepore, WalterAcross the world, the practice of community-based research is growing, yet the ways in which people learn and are trained for it remain uneven and often informal. This report draws on a global survey of practitioners and institutions to explore how CBR knowledge is acquired, what gaps exist in training, and what possibilities are opening up. The findings suggest both the strength of informal learning networks and the challenges of building more structured opportunities, particularly in regions where resources are scarce. By mapping these trends, the study raises important questions about how future generations of researchers might be supported, and what it would take to make training in CBR truly global and accessible.Item Guidelines for Global Review on Training in Community-Based Research (CBR)(UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, 2014-04) UNESCO Chair CBR-SRAs community-based research gains recognition as a vital approach to linking knowledge with social responsibility, questions remain about how new researchers are trained and supported. These guidelines, developed under the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research, set out a framework for conducting a global review of training practices in four key areas: asset-based development, indigenous methodologies, participatory citizenship, and water governance. They outline strategies for literature review, institutional mapping, and assessment of training materials, while also identifying spaces for collaboration among universities, civil society, and international networks. More than a technical manual, the document positions training in CBR as central to building a new generation of scholars and practitioners, especially in the Global South, and opens the way toward a global community of practice.Item Citizen report card: Citizen feedback for effective service delivery. An operational manual(Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2013)As Asian cities expand rapidly, the gap between citizens’ needs and the capacity of local governments to respond has widened. This manual, developed by PRIA in collaboration with partners in Bangladesh and Cambodia, explores the use of Citizen Report Cards as a participatory tool to address these deficits in governance and service delivery. Drawing on experiences from multiple municipalities, it outlines the design, implementation, and communication of CRCs while highlighting their potential to foster accountability and responsiveness in basic services such as water and sanitation. Rather than offering prescriptive answers, the document positions CRCs as an evolving practice, an invitation for practitioners, officials, and communities to rethink how citizens’ voices can reshape urban governance.Item Citizen's report on water supply, sanitation and solid waste management in selected small and medium towns in India(Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2008-12) Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)"In many small and medium towns of India, the most basic urban services like water supply, sanitation, and waste management remain inadequate despite constitutional provisions assigning these responsibilities to municipalities. This citizens’ report, prepared by PRIA and local partners, presents the findings of participatory research conducted across eight towns in five states, where over 3,000 households and community leaders were engaged in documenting their experiences. By drawing attention to everyday struggles of access, affordability, and accountability, the report highlights both the gaps in service delivery and the possibilities that emerge when citizens actively monitor and communicate with municipalities. Rather than offering ready-made solutions, it positions citizen-led inquiry as a way of reshaping urban governance and opening space for more responsive institutions.Item Indigenous People and Perspectives in Latin American: Final Report(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and Unversity of Victoria, 2016) Haffenden, Johanna AndreaThe review examines CBR in Latin America regarding indigenous people and indigenous perspectives around the core themes of democracy, water governance and sustainability. In Latin America as a result of decades of continuous political activity and in the name of democracy indigenous populations have been recognised with an active political role without having to abandon their cultural identity (Korovkin, 2001) to the point that it has also become a tool of power to change existing structures. In addition, it is argued that the current political participation of indigenous peoples in Latin American constitutes the development of postliberal citizens (Jorge Hernandez Díaz, 2010). Within this context CBR involving indigenous people and indigenous perspectives in Latin America frequently refers to the idea of recovering indigenous identities and discourses that intend to subvert systems that still serve privileged and white social classes over indigenous people. It is in this context that CBR, encompassed by universities and intellectuals committed to alter the current dynamics, develops and shapes social initiatives. Within the CBR framework indigenous peoples are visible actors who possess perspectives that are part of a culture that can offer solutions to environmental issues created by the ‘other.Item Asian regional participatory research network: A note(1985) Tandon, RajeshItem PRIA's engagements with Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs): Initiatives in Community Based Research (CBR)(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2014) Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)PRIA has engaged with academia in a multitude of interventions, bringing community and practitioner knowledge into the portals of traditional research institutions and processes. By doing this, PRIA has helped Higher Educational Institutions (HEls) realize their social responsibility towards a community's needs and aspirations. This document traces PRIA's work in promoting community engagement within HEls in India and beyond. The experience, garnered over three decades, have been classified into six categories to highlight the different forms PRIA's interventions as a facilitator have taken to build bridges between the world of formal research, the practitioner knowledge of civil society actors and the experiential knowledge of local communities. The experiences discussed in this paper are not intended to be comprehensive; a few specific interventions are described under each category to illustrate the nature of the engagements fostered and the practices promoted.Item Local Food Project: Strategies for increasing food security on Vancouver Island(Office of Community Based Research, University of Victoria, 2011-08) Vancouver Island Community Research Allicance (VICRA); Office of Community Based Research (OCBR)This report highlights the results of Vancouver Island Community Research Alliance's (VICRA) Local Food Project. The project's goal is to provide current evidence, drawn from community expertise and peer-reviewed research related to food security on Vancouver Island, to engage in strategic collaborative work, and inform opportunities for future action. The report summarizes research carried out by student interns from post-secondary institutions on Vancouver Island, with oversight provided by advisory committees comprised of both community members and academics. Each strategy area had its own unique approach and process and this is reflected in the findings.Item Early childhood care and development programs as hook and hub for community development: Promising practices in First Nations(University of Victoria, 2004) Ball, JessicaThis report summarizes key findings of a year-long investigation into the steps taken by Lil’wat Nation, Tl’azt’en Nation, and six of the First Nations in the Treaty 8 Tribal Association to strengthen their capacity to provide early childhood care and development programs, in ways that reinforce their cultures and languages and promote the well-being of young children and their parents or other caregivers.