Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making
For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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UTS ePRESS
2025-01-01
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Series: | Gateways |
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Online Access: | https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296 |
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author | Kelly Dombroski Rachael Shiels Hannah Watkinson |
author_facet | Kelly Dombroski Rachael Shiels Hannah Watkinson |
author_sort | Kelly Dombroski |
collection | DOAJ |
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For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up the research and uses it to inform policy or action outside of academia – with contemporary impact databases measuring this by whether it has been cited in policy documents. But this way of understanding impact is fundamentally at odds with researching community-led activism, where impact is already happening, and researchers engage with communities to document and evaluate the impact in ways that support the work. For activists out in the community, research and learning are happening all the time and have impact without anyone writing it up at all. This article reflects on a research project in the city of Ōtautahi Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand, where researchers and community activists began with ‘impact’ and ‘dissemination’. From there, we developed frameworks and methods, developed evidence, then ended with asking wider theoretical questions relevant to academic literature. Effectively, we reversed the order that research projects usually follow. In order to recognise this ‘reversed’ order, our article utilises a reversed structure, using the concept of thinking infrastructures to understand what academic research adds to the knowledges already produced in community impact.
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format | Article |
id | doaj-art-6bc56ae3002e4edc946907f9f7399ce8 |
institution | Kabale University |
issn | 1836-3393 |
language | English |
publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
publisher | UTS ePRESS |
record_format | Article |
series | Gateways |
spelling | doaj-art-6bc56ae3002e4edc946907f9f7399ce82025-02-01T05:12:58ZengUTS ePRESSGateways1836-33932025-01-0118110.5130/ijcre.v18i1.9296Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-makingKelly DombroskiRachael ShielsHannah Watkinson For scholars in academic institutions, the process of research usually begins with a question often gleaned from academic literature, progresses through some methods and results, then ends in writing and dissemination of the findings. ‘Impact’ is identified by trying to see if anyone takes up the research and uses it to inform policy or action outside of academia – with contemporary impact databases measuring this by whether it has been cited in policy documents. But this way of understanding impact is fundamentally at odds with researching community-led activism, where impact is already happening, and researchers engage with communities to document and evaluate the impact in ways that support the work. For activists out in the community, research and learning are happening all the time and have impact without anyone writing it up at all. This article reflects on a research project in the city of Ōtautahi Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand, where researchers and community activists began with ‘impact’ and ‘dissemination’. From there, we developed frameworks and methods, developed evidence, then ended with asking wider theoretical questions relevant to academic literature. Effectively, we reversed the order that research projects usually follow. In order to recognise this ‘reversed’ order, our article utilises a reversed structure, using the concept of thinking infrastructures to understand what academic research adds to the knowledges already produced in community impact. https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296impacttransitional place-makingcommunity action researchChristchurchNew Zealand |
spellingShingle | Kelly Dombroski Rachael Shiels Hannah Watkinson Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making Gateways impact transitional place-making community action research Christchurch New Zealand |
title | Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making |
title_full | Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making |
title_fullStr | Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making |
title_full_unstemmed | Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making |
title_short | Curating life in vacant spaces: Community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge-making |
title_sort | curating life in vacant spaces community action research and reversing the process of academic knowledge making |
topic | impact transitional place-making community action research Christchurch New Zealand |
url | https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/9296 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kellydombroski curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking AT rachaelshiels curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking AT hannahwatkinson curatinglifeinvacantspacescommunityactionresearchandreversingtheprocessofacademicknowledgemaking |