Cultivating Collaboration for Community Health
The Creating Healthier Communities event, held on June 23, 2026, aimed to foster cross-sector connections and relationships. With the hope of planting seeds for future collaboration opportunities, 89 attendees filed into the Guelph Arboretum Centre for a morning of rich conversation, information sharing, and problem solving. The event was grounded in the belief that meaningful change happens when community organizations, researchers, and practitioners work together. The event was co-hosted by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute and Toward Common Ground, in collaboration with U of G’s Research Innovation Office, the Guelph-Wellington Ontario Health Team, and Guelph Community Health Centre.
Collaboration was at the heart of the event from the planning stages onward.
Dr. Ashleigh Domingo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Health Sciences at the University of Guelph, set the stage with her keynote presentation. She explored what it means to collaborate and why university-community partnerships are so important to health and well-being. “The benefits of community partnerships in research may extend to collective action to make health programs more accessible and responsive to community needs” said Dr. Domingo.
Following the keynote, a panel of university and community experts shared their experiences and ideas to strengthen collaboration between the university and the community. The panel’s advice echoed themes from Dr. Domingo's keynote, particularly the importance of building trust-based relationships. Panelists from Stepping Stone and the SEED at Guelph Community Health Centre emphasized how crucial it is to learn about each others’ priorities and organizational cultures, find shared commitments, and combine different skills to address shared goals. Their stories provided strong, inspiring examples of successful collaborations that truly improve community well-being.
The event offered attendees time and space to nurture relationships. Networking time and roundtable discussions gave participants an opportunity to engage with each other and discuss challenges that could be addressed by collaborating across health, social service, and research sectors. Participants appreciated the opportunity to build meaningful connections, identify opportunities for collaboration, and advance health and well-being across Guelph-Wellington. As one attendee noted, “Just having space to imagine collaborations was helpful.”
Not only was collaboration the theme of Creating Healthier Communities, it also shaped the event from the beginning. The event was planned, supported, and delivered through a partnership of community and university organizations.
Both the energy in the room and the process to plan the event serve as a powerful reminder that meaningful change happens when diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and expertise are brought together with a shared purpose. While many conversations began on June 23, the relationships and momentum built through Creating Healthier Communities have the potential to spark lasting partnerships and inspire collective action across Guelph-Wellington.
Visit their websites to learn more about the organizers:
- Community Engaged Scholarship Institute
- Guelph Community Health Centre
- Guelph-Wellington Ontario Health Team
- Research Innovation Office
- Toward Common Ground