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Research Collaborations on International Development Between Canadian Universities and Civil Society in Canada
This research is to inform academics, civil society and funding agencies in Canada about the research and knowledge-oriented collaborations for international development between Canadian Universities and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Canada. Academics and practitioners lament the lack of documentation of their practices. International research and connections with civil society tend to be decentralized and individuals-driven in academia. CSOs are often constrained by time and resources in order to document their practices. The goal of this research is to show what modalities of collaborations for international development research exist in Canada, what makes them the good practices, what challenges they overcame in building these relationships, and what lessons can be shared. This research is supported and informed by the participants of the collaborations and community engagement activists in Canada.
Over the last decade there has been a noticeable trend demonstrating the interest and capability of Canadian NGOs and other SCOs to involve in international development research and knowledge-oriented activities. Oftentimes, these are community-based participatory and action research activities aimed at bettering life in the global South. According to the annual reports by the Special Initiative Division at the International Development Research Centre in Canada, a growing number of Canadian civil society organizations recognize the value of research to support their international work. “Increasingly they are forming networks to address issues of common concern, combining forces to define and undertake the research required to inform the positions and policy recommendations to be put forward.” (AR 07-08, p.7) This attempt to incorporate a research component creates an opportunity for the dialogue with academic institutions. Canadian universities increasingly recognize the types of knowledge other than academic, which cuts across institutional and cultural boundaries. Increasing number of universities establish community service-learning programs and centres on their campuses. During the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2010 in Montreal the group of Canadian academics organized a forum Knowledge Commons inviting the recognition of knowledge co-created and shared in various environments. Is there a space for collaborations for international development in the collision of these two movements? An overarching goal of this project is to encourage Canadian academic institutions and CSOs in Canada to combine their forces in research and other knowledge-oriented collaborations in the field of international development, and to learn together and from each other in the process.
Specifically the objectives for this research are:
Identify and document the range of the existing modalities through which Canadian Universities and CSOs collaborate for their knowledge-oriented activities on international development;
Select and analyse examples, case representative of different collaboration modalities, in terms of drivers, challenges, benefits to parties involved, and evolution of collaboration if any;
From the case-studies, identify factors and conditions which have been responsible for making collaborations effective; and
Suggest ways to encourage knowledge-oriented collaborations between academic institutions and civil society in Canada addressing development issues.
The focus of this project is on the nature of knowledge-oriented and research collaborations between Canadian universities and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Canada in the field of international development. After Dr. Lester Salamon, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, by “civil society organizations” I understand “a broad array of organizations that are essentially private, i.e., outside the institutional structures of government; that are not primarily commercial and do not exist primarily to distribute profits to their directors or “owners”; that are self-governing; and that people are free to join or support voluntarily.” The definition embraces religious as well as secular organizations. However, unlike Salamon, I exclude private universities from SCOs for the purpose of my research, because academic culture is distinct and my interest is in dynamics of relationships between academic institutions and SCOs. The literature on collaborations and partnerships for international development sometimes highlights a lack of research on the relational side of informal collaborations, on the nature of intangible outcomes and learning experiences. In order to address these critics the present research uses exploratory, descriptive and participatory approaches, where different groups of participants will be involved in all research stages. The central piece of the research involves semi-structured personal interviews with the representatives (the conceivers of collaborations) on both academic and practitioner sides. Whenever possible the interviews are conducted in a form of focus-group in order to understand the relationship dynamics and to contribute to the reflection process among the participants on their effectiveness. Presently most interviews are collected and I am in the initial stage of the analysis. The draft of the research paper will be distributed for verifying and comments between the participants and presented in IDRC in Ottawa.
Preliminary results have shown that the character of interaction between academics and civil society differs in different parts of Canada. The engagement happens easier if there is a “parallel” issue in Canadian society: e.g. with the community of homeless people; waste-pickers; coastal management for the First Nations. There are few examples where both sides engage based on their research in international development issues. Here the relationships beyond the project built on trust, mutual recognition, and respect play the major role. The study will feature several case-studies of such collaborations.
Despite increasing collaboration of universities with outside organizations in international development work (Brohman, 2003, 90), growing popularity of community-based research in Canada (1, 2009, 32), and mounting interest in participatory development and social learning (GUNI), little is known about the nature of Canadian university – civil society collaborations on international development research. This research is being conducted at the division of IDRC that issue small grants for Canadian universities and civil society involved in international development research. They noticed the interest in collaboration between the institutions. This is an innovative way to create a new space for co-construction of knowledge.
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