Community Scholars Fund celebrates successful first year
The Community Scholar Programme, where community scholars train to become mentors for Knowledge for Change (K4C) is run by long-time NCCPE colleagues and collaborators, Budd Hall and Rajesh Tandon - Co-Chairs of the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education.
As supporters of the programme, we were delighted to receive the first-year report outlining the successes so far, where all trainees have completed their mentor training or in the finishing stages, and are already working to provide learning opportunities for young people in their communities to be able to carry out community-led research on local and global issues.
The Community Scholars Fund supports community-based practitioners to further their knowledge of community-based research, scholarship, and action. The fund has played a pivotal role in supporting learners from the Global South, enabling them to participate in K4C. The programme trains mentors in a curriculum and pedagogy of global standards of community-based research to address locally pressing societal challenges, including UN Sustainable Development goals (SDGs).
The mentors then guide the next generation of young researchers in their communities. The first cohort of Community scholars are already making a significant impact by leading research on critical local and global issues such as climate change, gender justice, food security, and many more.
