Institution Building to Support Equitable Research between Communities and Universities

Our proposed project investigates two community-led initiatives to develop infrastructure to support community-based research—1) a new Equity Center-funded review committee in Charlottesville (the “Residents for Respectful Research (R3) Project”) that reviews and approves proposals for community-based research before university IRB approval can be granted, and 2) a research dissemination network in Gugulethu, Cape Town (the “Street Committee Project”) that leverages existing local governance structures (street committees) to support the dissemination and translation of research findings for the broader community’s use. Both initiatives are efforts to move beyond a reliance on the good intentions, best practices, and resources and capacities of individual researchers and community members and build more sustainable institutional infrastructure to democratize knowledge production.

Updates

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This 10-minute video captures highlights from the 3rd Gugulethu Community-Researcher Indaba, held on 12 March 2025 in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The Research Indaba was organized by the Cape Town-based Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ), the University of Cape Town, and the University of Virginia. The objective of the Indaba (a local word for ‘news’ or ‘meeting’) is to improve community health and well-being by promoting community-researcher engagement. The focus was on improving men’s health given the high levels of disease and death among South African men from TB, HIV, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, and from violence and injury. This Indaba presented relevant research to the local community to increase awareness, build social and research networks, and consider next steps for local solutions.

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