Reimagining Research
Research was one of three core activities prioritized when the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement was first envisioned over a decade ago. This might strike you as a rather predictable move, given that the primary purpose of every one of the other thirty centres and institutes currently based at the University of Waterloo is to elevate research in a particular thematic area or field.
Many of my colleagues “across the creek” would have assumed that Grebel was adding peace to the array of other concentrations of research expertise found on campus, including those who pursue scholarship in broad areas such as climate, energy, and water. The Centre for Peace Advancement would join these other centres in pursuing grants, conducting studies and experiments, and producing peer-reviewed journal articles and other publications. This assumption would have been misplaced, however, not only because we also have a mandate to advance peace through training and community engagement, but because our research activities are in service of agendas that go beyond traditional scholarship.
Indeed, our research community is anchored by affiliated organizations such as Project Ploughshares, whose advocacy for nuclear disarmament, controlling the arms trade, and regulating emerging technologies of warfare is grounded in the careful efforts of their core team of three researchers. They pore over government documents, corporate reports, media analysis, and even social media images, as well as consult with civil society and academic partners to generate timely analysis and recommendations. This is an example of research with a larger purpose—informing, challenging, and holding government policy-makers accountable.
Other examples of agenda-laden research can be found in any one of 15-20 projects that another one of our affiliate organizations, the Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR), is pursuing at any point in time. Their team of almost a dozen researchers partner with a wide range of community organizations working to support newcomers, provide healthcare to vulnerable groups, and meet many other social needs. CCBR’s approach to research is always community-driven, participatory, and action-oriented, and they have played an instrumental role in advancing this approach across Canada and beyond over the past four decades.
The Centre for Peace Advancement community is also eager to equip students with research skills, and many have benefitted from internships with our affiliated organizations and research fellows. In addition, CCBR launched a new Certificate Program in Community Based Research earlier this year in collaboration with Grebel and the University of Waterloo. And for the past seven years, the Centre for Peace Advancement has facilitated Waterloo’s participation in Map the System, a global research competition organized by the University of Oxford that requires students to apply a system-thinking lens to clarify their understanding of a complex social or environmental challenge. We have seen Waterloo students succeed at the national and global levels of this competition, and we have seen them use their research as a springboard for policy interventions, program innovations, and social entrepreneurship start-ups.
Research is an important way we can better understand—and take action on—the growing number of challenges our world faces in building peace. As the Centre for Peace Advancement’s dynamic community of participants continues to evolve, we look forward to growing our research capacity and impact.
