T H E L O K A I N S T I T U T E
1999 Annual Community Research Network Conference
What Works, What Doesn't?
Community-Based Research and Strategies for Change
June 11-13, 1999, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
DRAFT AGENDA
[Changes to the agenda will be updated and links to workshop
descriptions will be created as leaders are confirmed]
Thursday, June 10
9:00 - 3:00 Symposium on Public Health Implications of Genetic
Engineering: Applying the Precautionary Principle
(Merrill Auditorium) (NOTE: This must be registered for separately; for information
contact
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3:00 - 6:00 Optional Workshop: Introduction to Community-Based Research
This workshop will be lead by experienced practitioners of community-based research, and will focus on questions such as What is community-based research? Why is it different from any other kind of research? What are some examples? And how can I be involved?. It will be interactive and geared toward people who have never been involved in a community-based research project before, but are curious to know more about it.
4:30 - 6:30: Farmer Research Networking
This part of the introductory workshop on community-based research will focus specifically on how farmers and agricultural/natural resource professionals can work together in response to farmer-initiated questions.
3:00 - 7:00 Optional Institutional Change Workshop
This workshop will explore both the theory and practice of how institutions change. Beginning with a theoretical overview, the presenter will lay the groundwork for easing the slowness and pain of change. Participants will explore change theory, case studies and reflect on their own experiences with institutional change in order to better affect change at their local institutions. Particular focus, though not limited, will be on change at land-grant universities and the US Department of Agriculture.
7:00 Reception and Poster Session (Early arrivals for the CRN conference and participants in the genetic engineering symposium are invited for light food and drinks. This will also be a chance for participants in both conferences to share posters of their work.) Located in the Campus Center Front Room (aka "Big Room")
9:00 Welcome remarks and Special Guest Artists (Campus Center, Big Room)
10:15 Break
10:30 "Who are we?": Small group break-out sessions. A chance to meet people and get a feel for who is at the conference and who shares your interests.
12:00 Lunch (All meals are served in Valentine Hall)
1:30 Workshops
[Note: All workshops, with few exceptions, will be discussion sessions where strategic visioning and participation is encouraged. Workshop leaders will be knowledgeable about the discussion topic and will be useful resources during the discussion but they will not necessarily be presenting answers or solutions.]
- Ethical Guidelines for Community-Based Research
- Community-Based Research in the Classroom Curriculum
- Using Computers and On-line Resources for Community-Based Research
- Bridging the Gap Between Cultures and Histories through Research and Art
- Addressing Racism in Schools through Community-Based Research
3:00 Break
3:15 Workshops
- Funding Community-Based Research: Strategy Session to Increase Opportunity
- Basic "How To's" for Starting a Campus-Based Community Research Center
- Community Technology Centers and Community Research Centers
- Health Research, Environmental Risk Assessment, and Qualitative and Quantitative Data
- Community Empowerment through Informed Decision-Making
4:45 Break for free time (Dinner is served 5:15- 6:30)
7:30 Story Telling Session (Hamilton House)
8:00 Breakfast (served 7:00 - 8:30)
9:00 "International Community-Based Research: Expanding our Partnerships" (Campus Center, Big Room)
Elizabeth Hendron, Northern Ireland Science Shop (Belfast);
Henk Mulder, Chemistry Science Shop, Groningen, Netherlands;
Michael Sorgaard Jorgensen, Technical University of Denmark (Lyngby);
Peter Levesque, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Ottawa,
Ontario);
Facilitator: Virginia Seitz, Community Partnership Center, The University of Tennessee
(Knoxville).
10:30 Break
10:45 Workshops
- Overcoming the Institutional Barriers of Conducting Community-Based Research
- How do we get our Work Covered by the Media so People Take Notice?
- Proposal Writing I
- Immigration Reform, Welfare Reform and Changing Workplaces in Culturally Diverse Communities
- Community-Based Research in Rural Areas and Success Stories of Participatory Rural Appraisal
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Workshops
- Evaluation of Community-Based Research
- Reclaiming Land Grant Universities and the Role of Extension
- Increasing Community Self Sufficiency Through Transnational Community-Based Research
- Involving Kids in Community-Based Research
- Proposal Writing II
- Community-Based Research as a Tool for Organizing
2:45 Break
3:00 - 4:45
All participants divide into primary interest groups/cohorts:
community representatives
farmers
funders/policy-makers
academics
students
Guiding questions for the discussion will include:
- What nuts and bolts obstacles to our goals have not been identified?
- What strategies (experimental and otherwise) will we develop to address them?
- What resources would enable us to be more effective?
- Who are our partners/collaborators and what other groups should we reach out to?
- How will we continue to support each other as allies?
5:15 Dinner
8:00 Party with Live Music, dance, snacks and drink. (Hamilton House)
(Representatives from primary interest groups convene in a synthesis committee to develop a summary of strategies for presentation on Sunday morning)
Sunday, June 13
9:00 Building an action agenda (Campus Center, Big Room)
Meeting in groups that include members of all four "interest" groups. We will work from proposals developed during the course of the conference and the synthesis committee Sat. Evening, organized into these and other categories and relevant as much as possible to all special interest groups represented at the conference:
Community Research Network Communications Infrastructure
Funding strategies to increase the funding pool
Adopting Ethical Guidelines for community-based research
Documentation and Dissemination of Community-Based Research
Evaluation of community-based research, centers and the networkDiscussion to consider:
What role can the Community Research Network play in supporting the action agenda?
What actions/next steps are you going to take?
What questions are left unanswered or unresolved?
How will you assess your work?
How will members of the CRN (centers, communities, researchers, etc.) collaborate and network in the future?
10:15 Break
10:30 Closing Remarks
11:30 Evaluation
12:00 End of Community Research Network Annual Conference
Lunch
Conference Co-sponsors:
The Loka Institute*, C.S. Mott Foundation*, W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Managing Information with Rural America (MIRA) Initiative*, The Bonner Foundation*, Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research Education*, Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide, Childhood Cancer Research Institute, Science & Environmental Health Network, Youth Policy Institute, Applied Research Center*, CTCNet, Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies, Center for Mutual Learning*, Institute for Community Research, Highlander Research & Education Center in Partnership with the Folk & People's Education Association of America
* Indicates Scholarship Sponsors
