In July 2023, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel University College will welcome the Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR) as a Core Collaborator. This formalized relationship is beneficial to both organizations as many of their peace-focused goals related to community, collaboration, and research align with each other.
“We are eager to see all the ways that the CCBR staff team will enrich our community of participants and partners,” announced Paul Heidebrecht, Director of the Centre for Peace Advancement. “CCBR has played an important role in establishing a new model of participatory research in Canada and beyond, and their innovative and collaborative spirit is evident in the hundreds of projects they have completed since 1982.”
Core Collaborators at the Centre for Peace Advancement can advance their work by engaging in additional research projects and community engagement opportunities mobilized by the Centre. They also benefit from proximity to a community of practitioners, entrepreneurs, and artists, and can create natural connections with students at Grebel and the University of Waterloo. The current roster of Core Collaborators includes Project Ploughshares, Tamarack Institute, Mennonite Central Committee, Intercultural Dialogue Institute, and The Ripple Effect Education, as well as five Research Fellows.
“This new partnership is a significant opportunity for Grebel to support cutting edge, community-based research that makes positive social change and promotes social equity,” remarked Grebel Dean Troy Osborne.
“We at CCBR are excited about our move to the Centre for Peace Advancement,” noted Rich Janzen, Executive Director. “It will allow us to build on past collaborations and provide more focus to imagining how Centre partners and their constituents can benefit from research that is community-driven, participatory, and action-oriented.” He added, “We see our role within the Centre to be a resource in supporting community-based research that contributes to transformative social change, including creating and sustaining conditions for peace."
“I am delighted that the Centre for Community Based Research is now based at Grebel,” said Professor Reina Neufeldt, PACS Chair. “Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) students are routinely excited by the possibilities that community-based research offers as a foundation for community-led change and its synergies with peacebuilding.” To date, five MPACS alumni have worked with CCBR, three as interns working on projects in Waterloo or Port au Prince, Haiti, and two as staff. “Dr. Janzen also teaches a special topics course at the master’s level titled Research for Social Action,” she added. “With CCBR now located in the Centre for Peace Advancement, I am looking forward new opportunities for research partnerships and student engagement.”
Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement advances expansive and innovative understandings and practices of peace locally and globally by promoting collaboration among its peace partners in ways that seek wisdom, nurture faith and serve church and society.
Centre for Community Based Research is committed to social justice and to building communities that are responsive and supportive, especially for people with limited access to power and opportunity. They conduct and promote research that is community-driven, participatory, and action-oriented and that combines research with education and community involvement. Their work builds on community strengths to create awareness, policies, and practices that advance equitable participation and inclusion of all community members.