CESI Special Projects

The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute’s (CESI) Scholars are a small group of graduate research assistants enrolled in the PhD in Social Practice and Transformational Change program. During the admissions process, some students with interest and/or expertise in community engaged work are identified and offered a position at CESI as part of their funding package.

This summary highlights key impacts reported by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) from May 2019 - April 2020. This document is a summary of a larger, internal report on CESI's activities and impacts; the numbers presented were identified as being of particular interest by the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. The metrics are separated into three categories: capacity development, partnerships, and research projects.

The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute’s (CESI) Community Advisory Term (CAT) is a small group of community members and leaders, each with expertise in unique areas, services, and groups. They provide high-level guidance to the CESI Director to ensure that CESI is informed and supportive of community-driven mandates and interests.

The CESI Faculty Advisory Board provides guidance and advice to the CESI Director and staff on high-level issues including program development and design, staffing, strategic plans, and priorities. It is composed of senior CSAHS scholar-practitioners in the fields of community engaged scholarship, community-engaged research, and teaching and learning.

This page contains links to a variety of resources related to COVID-19 and the current pandemic context; they have helped the CESI team think through how to continue to do our best, most principled work in these very disrupted times. It includes practical resources, reports and primers, resource collections, and opinion pieces that may be helpful and interesting to CESI's partners, collaborators, students, and affiliated faculty as well as the local Guelph-Wellington community.

The year 2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the Research Shop, one of the five programs through which the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) fulfills its mandate to support and carry out community engaged scholarship. At the Research Shop, staff and graduate students work with local and regional organizations to design and carry out projects that address community research priorities.

On Thursday, November 7th the Community Engaged Scholarship Instiutte hosted participants from a range of sectors to learn with and from international community engagement experts Dr. Emma McKenna (Queen’s University Belfast) and Dr. Henk Mulder (University of Groningen).

On Friday, November 8th 2019 the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute marked the 10th anniversary of the Research Shop by holding a public symposium to reflect on our work and continue to enhance our knowledge of community-university research practice and impacts.

Student learning can reach far beyond the classroom. Through community-engaged learning, faculty, students and community organizations partner to co-create research programs that have a real impact. The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute works to integrate community-driven research into the course context, introducing students to collaborative research and key issues of relevance in our community.

The Research Shop is one of five programs through which the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) fulfills its mandate to bring together community and campus skills and resources to directly support and carry out community-engaged scholarship and develop others' capacities tto do so. At the Research Shop, staff and graduate students work with local and regional organizations to design and carry out projects that address community research priorities.

The impacts and experiences of community engaged research and community-university partnerships can be challenging to share via traditional research and knowledge dissemination methods.

This project was conducted by four Community Living organizations in southern Ontario (Stratford and Area, Guelph and Wellington, Cambridge, and Owen Sound and District) in collaboration with the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute.

On October 29th, CESI hosted an event showcasing innovative and unconventional approaches to community engagement. Through this event, attendees began to learn more about the multiple ways that people in various roles and locations pursue community-university collaborations. Presenters and participants explored how radical, emergent, and unconventional work can generate significant impact.

The day featured panels, presentations, workshops, and roundtable discussions covering a range of topics, including:

This poster exhibit was displayed at the 10C community hub in downtown Guelph in February 2018. It features 10 innovative research projects conducted by researchers at the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) and College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS). Projects were selected by CESI and CSAHS Dean's Office and covered a variety of themes, including food waste, violence against women, sustainability, and civic issues (see below for a full list). Together, they provide a snapshot of the innovative research underway on a range of topics at both CESI and CSAHS.

Driven by a desire to apply lessons learned at the local level to a global context, discussions around CESI's Global Engagement Strategy began in 2013 out of the work to create a Vision for a School for Civil Society. Currently being piloted, this strategy builds on the University of Guelph's history of international research and programs, and increase the permeability between the university and global communities.

Vital Signs provides a meaningful, high-level snapshot of strengths and challenges in Guelph and Wellington County.

The Engaged Practitioner in Residence program creates a campus presence for a community expert, generating opportunities for them to contribute to student, faculty, staff, and community-partnered activities. Each Engaged Practitioner in Residence (EPR) brings their own knowledge and expertise to this role, allowing for maximum innovation, creativity, and reach across the University.

The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute hosted its second annual event on February 25, 2016. A total of 76 individuals representing 22 community organizations and groups joined us to explore the ways by which we can enhance and improve our community-university partnerships. The day consisted of two separate sessions, with the opportunity for all participants to meet and network over lunch.

The rise of open access and open data publishing has increased the amount of research and data freely available online. However, finding this information and knowing how to access it can sometimes seem impossible.

The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute organized and hosted the workshop How to Build a Research Shop on May 26^th, 2015 at Algonquin College as a pre-conference workshop to the CUExpo.

On May 15, 2012, Dr. Don Lenihan, Vice President, Engagement at the Public Policy Forum ran a workshop on “Rescuing Policy: a public policy forum seminar”, hosted by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute.

On November 9th, 2012, the Research Shop celebrated the many community and university partnerships developed over the last three years!

The posters were presented at the River Run Centre, where remarks highlighting the past three years of partnerships were given by university and community members. There were 26 posters, displaying a variety of topics and partnerships. Some of these topics included:

Rewarding CES is a self-funded partnership comprised of eight universities and an international organization working together to address university culture, policies, and practices to recognize and reward community engaged scholarship (CES).