What We Do

The Community Engagement and Research Centre works to build meaningful relationships between the U of R's Faculty of Arts and our communities. It does this in two main ways:

• community-based research
• capacity building

What is Community-Based Research?

Community-based research (CBR) is research carried out by university and community researchers to address a need expressed by the community. It is research with and for the community. This type of research emphasizes collaboration between the university and the community, acknowledges different types of knowledge, and seeks positive social change. Because the research need is initiated by the community, CBR is often directly applicable to the goals and needs of community partners. The resulting knowledge is considered a public good.

Learn about the Community Engagement and Research Centre's current and past projects. If you are a community or university member interested in being a part of our community-based research, please visit our Research Services page. 

What is Capacity Building?

The Community Engagement and Research Centre believes that the University of Regina is a rich resources for our communities, and as such, we should offer our knowledge, expertise and resources to enrich and empower non-university partners. We do so in a variety of ways, including:

• Organizing the Toolkit Workshop Series. This series, held quarterly during the fall and winter semesters, consists of affordable half-day skills training workshops offered to students, community organization staff and volunteers, and the general public. In past years, we have offered workshops on: fundraising, volunteer engagement, learning to use social media, event planning, board governance, research & evaluation techniques, intro to graphic design, grant writing, and more.
• Making connections between community organizations and university partners for initiatives and requests other than research projects.
• Mentoring a Faculty of Arts graduate student member of the CERC board of directors: this enriches our board of directors and gives graduate students an opportunity to learn how to be a valued member of a non-profit board of directors.