We spoke with Javier Ojer, Engagement Strategist at CMS, about the realities of community-based research and the “Co-Creation Circle” initiative.
Javier Ojer is an immigrant settler of Basque ethnicity with a Spanish colonial background, among other privileges. As the Engagement Strategist at the UBC Centre for Migration Studies, he focuses on building relationships and initiatives that address the intersections and contradictions of settlement and decolonization. His interests include inquiring about and looking at appropriate roles of settler-colonial individuals and institutions in relation to unceded territories, the land itself, and the experiences of Indigenous Peoples and Nations with ongoing colonialism. He supports CMS’s efforts to create inclusive research spaces that integrate diverse tools and methodologies—such as art and storytelling—as legitimate ways of producing, validating and mobilizing knowledge.
What observations about existing community-based research partnerships motivated the creation of the CMS-AMSSA partnership and your role?
A central challenge is the limited understanding that scholars and community organizations generally have of each other’s realities and contexts, and the need to take this work to the collective realm. There are also well-known tensions that are seldom acknowledged as shared, which prevent their collaborative addressing. Underlying it all is an awareness of the colonial “machine” in which we all work and live, which tends to isolate us and disconnect us from each other. In that regard, community engagement and decolonial practice share principles that, while being strong aspirations within community-based research (CBR) partnerships, often conflict with colonial expectations and modus operandi.
What challenges do researchers and community partners encounter when establishing connections?
The challenges are a “natural” consequence of the systems in which we operate. What is rewarded as success at times contradicts the ethical and relational requirements of community-based collaborations. The colonial “machine” dictates what is possible. Examples include community-based research not being part of the dominant approach to tenure-track reward system in academia (hence often discouraged by universities), or the extremely limited funding for applied research and/or community compensation in research projects.
All in all, the continuous and unavoidable challenge is how to close the gap between theory and practice, how to minimize the contradictions and tensions between the principles of community engagement and the imposition of colonial operation. An added layer to that challenge appears when this reality is denied or downplayed.
You’re launching the Co-Creation Circle as part of a broader initiative to facilitate connections and foster meaningful collaboration. What is it, and who can participate?
The Co-Creation Circle is a four-session, hands-on process in which participants work together to design, test, and refine practical tools that support research connections. This includes piloting a Research Connections Directory, developing an ethical onboarding approach based on community-based and decolonial principles, and clarifying how CMS and AMSSA can facilitate connections. The Circle is open to anyone working across academia and community practice in migration and newcomer-serving contexts—faculty, students, community organization staff and leaders, volunteers, and practitioners involved in research or knowledge mobilization.
What will participants actually do during the Co-Creation Circle sessions?
Participants will engage in collective work and hands-on activities. We will use opening and closing circles for participants to get to know each other and share their perspectives, ideas and experiences, as well as breakout group activities where simulations and creative activities will be proposed to design pertinent tools. It’s also a great opportunity for scholars and immigrant service organization practitioners to interact with each other, which provides, in itself, a good example of the type of connections we want to facilitate.
Can you tell us more about the Research Connections Directory, and how it supports—rather than replacing—relationship building and CMS–AMSSA’s existing initiatives?
The Research Connections Directory is intended to serve as a “light-touch” connective mechanism to make research and learning interests, capacity, and values visible to one another (affiliates and community organizations), to provide both an alternative/enhancement to word-of-mouth connections and a practical “onboarding” focused on putting ethical collaborations into practice. On the academic side, it is intended to be useful for students and faculty, and it aligns with CMS’s Engagement Continuum and Mutual Understanding frameworks, which can be found on our website. Simplicity and transparency are key priorities. Rather than a traditional database or matchmaking platform, the model is conceived as a space for connection that complements and is complemented by other CMS initiatives in practical ways, such as workshops, CMS-Sector Research Collaborations Day, and policy briefs.
When and how will the Co-Creation Circle sessions take place?
All Co-Creation Circle sessions will be held online via Zoom, and each session lasts about two hours. To make it easier to fit into busy schedules, every session is offered on two dates—participants need to attend only one.
Completed Sessions:
• Session 1 – Building a Research Connections Directory: March 17 (10–12 PM) and March 19 (1:30–3:30 PM)
• Session 2 – Onboarding Tools: Requirements & Accessibility: May 28 (1:30–3:30 PM) and June 2 (10–12 PM)
Upcoming Sessions:
• Session 3 – Piloting the Research Connections Directory: September 17 (1:30–3:30 PM) and September 19 (10–12 PM)
• Session 4 – Roles, Maintenance & Networking Spaces: November 3 (10–12 PM) and November 5 (1:30–3:30 PM)
Detailed instructions and Zoom links will be shared with participants ahead of each session.
