Centre for Community Engagement and Social Change Year End Report 2024-2025
“(2) WE WILL CULTIVATE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN GOVERNANCE & INITIATIVES TO CO-PRODUCE PRIORITIES THAT ADDRESS THE URGENT NEEDS OF COMMUNITIES”
Introduction to the goal
CCESC values align directly with Queen’s University Strategic Research Plan (2024-2029) that was collaboratively built to “reimagining our relationship” with community (p. 5). Within the Office of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor there is a vision that the most urgent challenges will only be addressed in collaboration. The need for collaboration, a central feature of community engagement, aligns with the broad vision outlined in the Queen’s Strategy, recognizing many permeations of community engagement ranging from community-based learning to community service, outreach, and training.
CCESC embodies Queen’s mission of connecting scholarly and human resources, linking teaching, research, and community through a “thread of curiosity and understanding” (p. 2). The mission of CCESC aligns directly with Queen’s University Research Mission to:
- Advance societal knowledge through discovery and discourse that is founded on equity and diversity,
- Enhance societal values, social mobility and inclusion through scholarship,
- Translate knowledge into practice and innovation, and
- Increase global engagement and presence.
CCESC leadership is involved in supporting community engagement within the University. This involvement includes collaborating with Dr. Wendy Craig, the Special Advisor to the Principal on Community Engagement, and participating as active members on the Council for Community Engagement to support the development of a curriculum for a Community Engaged Learning Certificate (Dr. Douglas’ contribution) and framework. The framework, collaboratively authored by Dr. Craig, with Drs. Cooper and Searle recognizes that when universities engage with the community, they create a dynamic environment that promotes learning, collaboration, and growth. The framework for community engagement supports student to enhance their education by applying knowledge within real-world contexts, fostering deeper understanding, empathy, and responsibility. Faculty also gain insights that enrich teaching and research, while community partners collaborate to co-create impactful solutions. Together, the efforts in the framework, and in the CCESC address diverse challenges, strengthen relationships, and drive lasting change.
Bringing the goal to life
Council Membership
When the Council for Community Engagement was established in November 2023, Drs. Amanda Copper, Michelle Searle and Patty Douglas accepted invitations to join. Subsequently, each has taken up a leadership role within one of the council’s working groups to assist with developing the framework, curriculum, and assessment/evaluation.
Framework Development
To date, there have been iterations of the framework led by Drs. Craig, Cooper and Searle with engagement from the council and a plan for April 2025 to gather feedback beyond the council. The CCESC is aligning our strategic planning activities and evaluation approach with the broader university framework.
Attending to SDGs
Attending to the SDGs has been a growing priority for the CCESC to better align with the University’s strategic vision. Much of the SDG work this year has been pushed forward by the CCESC-funded work through our Six CERCs which will be articulated under goal 3. Centrally, CCESC has focused primarily on SDG goal 4: Ensure Inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. We are focused on Goal 4.
Future directions for Goal 2
Looking ahead, we plan to continue developing relationships across the university with community-engaged researchers to address the need for intersectional and multidisciplinary work on Sustainable Development Goals and Queen’s strategic research priorities, seeking research collaborations with scholars working to enhance inclusion, reduce poverty (SDG 1), work for climate action (SDG 13) and achieve gender equality (SDG5), for examples.
These steps include but are not limited to:
- Developing relationships across the university to further CE
- Participating in the launch of the Framework for Community Engagement for Queen’s University
- Ongoing contributions to curriculum and evaluation aspects of Community Engagement at Queen’s