BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network

Community-engaged scholarship (CES) and community-academic partnerships are gaining momentum in Canadian higher education. The tri-council funding bodies have moved aggressively towards increasing support for community-engaged research and knowledge mobilization efforts. The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation has invested in community-academic partnerships across the country through their social innovation and community service learning programs. In spite of these important developments, university reward systems that acknowledge and encourage CES have often lagged behind the research and learning activities. Much work needs to be done within university cultures to institutionalize and sustain community engagement as a core value and practice. Creating a cadre of faculty members whose focus is CES – and universities that recognize and reward them – are central to addressing this issue.