Community Research & Learning Centre

What is the Community Research & Learning Centre? 

It is a community-driven, shared infrastructure that brings people together to lead research that is relevant, responsive and accountable to local communities.  

The Centre will focus on: 

• Mobilizing research findings and translating them into action with and alongside communities.  

• Participating in and leading community research initiatives aligned with the Centre’s strategic priorities.  

• Facilitating relationship building between academics, researchers and community organizations engaged in community-based and community-engaged research.  

• Developing and leading a co-researcher and leadership training program that equips community members with the skills needed to meaningfully participate.  
• Creating experiential education pathways for upper-year undergraduate and graduate students interested in research, civic engagement and advocacy. 

Why a Community Research & Learning Centre? 

Communities locally, nationally, and globally bring diverse and intersecting realities. Responding to these realities requires collaboration across sectors, disciplines and lived experiences. 

The Community Research & Learning Centre will: 

• Gather collective responses to pressing community questions.  

• Build intentionality and sustainability in community research and experiential education. 

• Ensure research is consistently used as a tool for action and systematic change.

• Support lasting social change grounded in community wisdom and leadership.  

The Centre will continue to grow through shared leadership, participation and collective imagination.  

Our Shared Commitment 

YWCA Hamilton, Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, Refuge Newcomer Health came together because of a shared commitment to research that is Equitable, Tangible and Reciprocal.  

We are committed to ensuring that research responds directly to community-identified questions and priorities, is used primarily as a tool for action and systems change and that communities are resourced and supported to help lead the work.

What We Believe: 

Research Must Be Responsive to Urgent Community Priorities  

• Community organizations must be able to identify the research questions that matter the most to them, and work in partnership with researchers to meaningfully address the questions.  

Communities Must Be at the Centre of Research and Social Change  

• The voices, perspectives and leadership of those historically excluded from knowledge creation must be elevated.  

• Communities bring expertise and wisdom to research.  

• Community members must be supported as co-researchers, not participants.

• Skill-building and leadership development must be transformational and not just as a token.  

Research Must Be Used as a Tool for Action  

• Communities served by our organizations have been over-researched but with little tangible benefit. The Community Research & Learning Centre exists to change that. We believe research can be a tool for resistance and action, challenging narratives and supporting-community led change. 

Connect with Us: 

The Community Research & Learning Centre is a living, evolving collective. If you are interested in learning more or supporting the collective, please reach out to:

Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg (research@niwasa.ca);

Refuge Newcomer Health (research@newcomerhealth.ca);

YWCA Hamilton (research@ywcahamilton.org).