UWinnipeg student Victoria Grisdale was one of about 30 people who had the chance to attend this year’s Community-Based Research Summer Institute, a two-day training event hosted in late May by UWinnipeg’s Community-Based Research Training Centre (CBRTC).
“I’m a Human Rights major, so a lot of my work is in people’s rights and how we can make sure that those rights are realized and implemented in practice instead of just theory,” Grisdale said. “So this (training) really goes hand in hand with that.”
It’s about making sure that we are living with ethics rather than just talking about them.
Victoria Grisdale
Now in its fourth year, the Summer Institute provides hands-on workshops, presentations and panel discussions for UWinnipeg students, community groups, and community researchers. The Institute helps participants better understand what CBR is, the core principles of CBR, and the ethics of conducting research in communities.
“It’s about making sure that we are living with ethics rather than just talking about them,” said Grisdale. “Really building them into all aspects of research and ensuring that communities have the final say and control over what research is being done about them.”
Community-based research (CBR) takes a different approach compared to other types of research. Traditional research usually stems from an inquiry posed by an academic, but in CBR the inquiry comes from community members or an organization identifying a need.
“In CBR you’re often thinking about change from the very beginning,” said UWinnipeg Urban and Inner-City Studies Associate Professor Julie Chamberlain. Chamberlain organizes the CBR Summer Institute along with Holly Scotland and Shauna MacKinnon. MacKinnon established the CBRTC in 2020 as a joint initiative of UW and the Manitoba Research Alliance.
Students, researchers, and community members gained new skills at the 2026 CBR Summer Institute.
This year, Summer Institute participants also gained practical skills to support knowledge mobilization, which included a session on policy advocacy and media training with guest speaker Marcy Markusa from CBC Radio Manitoba.
“These are very common needs in community-based research and there’s not necessarily a ton of training available on how to do those things.” Chamberlain said. “We focused the hands-on workshops on the connection between the results of what you learn from CBR and how you can use that to make change in the community.”
Ultimately, the goal is to see more community organizations and community-based researchers who are comfortable and confident talking to media or meeting with an MLA.
“There’s also this aspect of making political change accessible and participatory and inclusive at the same time, and not treating it as something that just experts do at the end of a research project.”
Grisdale hopes to use the skills she learned to help with her work advocating for Indigenous rights.
“I think this organization and these trainings are very important to also make learning about this more accessible for people,” Grisdale said. “Allowing people from community organizations and other places outside of academia to also come into these spaces and learn about the way in which research should be done and can be done in a good, collaborative way.”
The Community-Based Research Training Centre (CBRTC) provides accessible resources, training, and supports for getting involved in community-based research. The CBRTC expands local capacity for community-based research (CBR) by offering a range of free events and workshops. These are open to post-secondary student, faculty, or community members interested in learning more about CBR.
