Finding Community Voice in A Global World: Linking Grassroots Projects

1. Finding Community Voice in A Global World: Linking Grassroots Projects

2. Collaborative Research as an opportunity to challenge the “global trump card” • Increasingly decisions made beyond the local level • government decisions • corporate decisions • National and world events have impact at local level • But local events also have and can have an impact at regional, national, and international levels

3. Collaborative Research as an opportunity to challenge the “global trump card;” it’s a matter of…. • not sitting back since “it’s all decided somewhere else” • creating a grassroots voice at local, regional, national, and international levels • strengthening networks in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and other areas

4. Community voice is missing in national and international policy-making process • National policy developed by “inside-the-beltway” think tanks and elite universities • Difficulties in community-based organizations accessing national/international policy-making circles Center for Urban Research & Learning

5. We have the potential for creating “local-to-local” international policy making networks by weaving together university:community collaboratives at the community level.

6. Creating grassroots-anchored international policy-making networks This is made possible by…. • improved access to sophisticated communications systems • increased sophistication of community-based organization leadership, national/international connections more possible • increased access of faculty and students to resources to connect them to international networks Center for Urban Research & Learning

7. What are the implications for local-to-global networks? • For community organizations: • regularizes communication with other organizations with possible different, but useful, problem-solving strategies • provides information from other cities/countries that increases political influence locally • elevates the work of CBOs in eyes of potential supporters

8. What are the implications for local-to-global networks? • For universities: • provides comparative perspective/data which is at the heart of most research • allows researchers to counter the bias in academia that sees community-based research as parochial and unimportant • creates opportunities for students and faculty to increase knowledge base

9. Examples of growing linkages:University of Birmingham UK • Exchange visits of faculty, students and community leaders • Formal university exchange • Association House/Birmingham Settlement House project • Developing housing, racial/ethnic diversity projects Center for Urban Research & Learning

10. Examples of growing linkages: University of Technology Sydney • UTS Shopfront • similar approaches to community-anchored research • sharing project information • parallel interests in racial/ethnic diversity • potential for interdisciplinary work: social sciences to engineering • Possible faculty, staff, community leader, student exchanges Center for Urban Research & Learning

11. Examples of Growing Linkages:LivingKnowledge Network • Science Shop Network • European Union connections • Differences between European & other approaches in U.S. and Australia Center for Urban Research & Learning