Last week, Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) and Durban University of Technology partnered to launch the Knowledge for Change (K4C) South Hub amid much excitement.

K4C is an initiative of the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education and one of its goals is to train the next generation of community-based participatory researchers.

The K4C Global Consortium was officially launched in 2017. This consortium was founded under the joint directions of Dr Budd Hall (University of Victoria, Canada) and Dr Rajesh Tandon (PRIA, India). Under this umbrella, several local training hubs have been created across the globe to design and conduct educational programmes to develop research capacities for the co-creation of knowledge through collective action by practitioners, community-based researchers, community groups and academics.

RUCE will initially be sending three individuals to be trained in Community-Based Participatory Research in March 2021 in Asia, whereafter the short course will be offered at Rhodes University (online and blended options).

Community-based research is intended as an ethical approach to research that equitably involves community members, organisational representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the research process. Every partner contributes expertise and shares in decision-making and ownership of the research agenda to help find solutions to critical societal issues.