Overview
An edited book that presents personal but grounded perspectives on
engaging
communities to undertake research within them in ways that promote
and
privilege the voice of the community, is respectful of local or
indigenous
practices and is culturally safe. 

This is a book about people and chapters will be drawn from
disciplines that
encompass both research and practice concerned with communities (such
as
community informatics, health, etc).

As such research, in this context is often and applied and
qualitative and
nature. It is, like the project being examined, embedded in the
community
and at its best provides useful and usable results for a range of
stakeholders, including the community itself, funding agencies,
developers
of policy and other practitioners. Claims are often made that such
research
is a partnership but in reality, our time in a community is often
limited
and, unless we are also a part of that community, we are unlikely to
be
directly affected by the project. This book positions researchers as
guests,
hopefully invited in, sometimes simply 'parachuted' in by a
government
agency or NGO as part of a contractual obligation to evaluate. 

How then are we as researchers to achieve a balance between all the
stakeholders? How are we to ensure that the voice of the community is
heard,
not simply in the research but in the design of the research and the
application of outcomes. Our focus is on the impact of the project on
people
and the potential for engagement and change. Every community is
different
and so each project must reflect that and so must our research.
Whilst these
issues apply to any community, they can often be more significant
for
researchers working with marginalized groups and with indigenous
peoples.

Objectives
A resource for researchers wanting to engage in community-centric
research
and community practitioners wanting to learn more about
collaborative
research. This book will provide a practical but rigorously grounded
resource that describes applied, community-based research through
the
narrative and exemplars of researchers and the communities
themselves.

Audience
* Academic Researchers
* Community activists and practitioners
* Post-graduate students
* Commercial researchers and evaluators
* Government agencies and policy developers
* Anyone wishing to work effectively with communities

Value and contribution
Some community-based projects risk being researched to death, yet
traditional approaches to research seem to offer little back in
return for
the privilege of being invited in. The result can be that communities
report
feeling exploited. What knowledge is created is often accessible to
only a
small cohort of academics and resistance to further research in the
community builds up. We believe that good practice in this field
would allow
researchers to design studies in such a way that it gives back to
the
community and at the same time contributes to the wider discipline.
This
book will provide support for new or experienced researchers who wish
to
engage more effectively with the communities that they are
researching and
will provide ideas as well as examples for how this can be done. It
will
also act as a resource for communities who wish to undertake or
participate
in research activities.

Call for Chapters
Contributions are sought for this book in two formats:

Researcher perspective
Chapters of between 3000 - 5000 words that provide an overview of a
project
and community, please include personal reflection and reflexive
commentaries
on the process and lessons learned. Since the book is targeted at
researchers, literature should be used to support arguments where
appropriate, however, it is not intended to be a dense or overly
academic
publication. These submissions will be peer reviewed before
acceptance.

Community perspective
Short vignettes (1000-2000 words) are sought from community
practitioners
describing their experiences of research in their communities. Both
positive
and negative stories are sought, however each chapter should provide
a
summary of learning experiences and recommendations for future
projects.
These submissions will be editorially reviewed before acceptance.

Timetable
* Initial chapter proposals due................. Apri 10, 2006
* Authors notified of provisional acceptance.... June 2006
* First draft of chapters due for review........ September 2006
* Authors notified of acceptance/changes........ November 2006
* Final chapters due............................ January 2007
* Publication................................... June 2007

Proposals
Chapter proposals should be sent to [log in to unmask] in the body of
an
email and should include:

* Working title
* Authors names and affiliations
* Type of submission: Researcher or practitioner
* Summary of the proposed chapter (max 500 words)
 
Proposal should be emailed to Andy Williamson - [log in to unmask]



Ruth DeSouza
Centre Co-ordinator/Senior Research Fellow 
Centre for Asian and Migrant Health Research
National Institute for Public Health and Mental Health Research
Auckland University of Technology
Address: Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1020
Aotearoa/New Zealand

T: 64 (09) 921 9999 x 7770
E: [log in to unmask]
www.aut-camhr.ac.nz
www.wairua.co.nz/ruth
www.aen.org.nz