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This paper explores collaborations between community organizations and STARlab (Systems Transformation Action Research Lab), a university-based research unit focusing on inclusive social innovation and entrepreneurship, specifically with marginalized communities. Using a cross case analysis methodology, this paper draws from the author's prior research with two community organizations that engaged in community-based social change initiatives to support inclusive entrepreneurship in Aotearoa New Zealand. Cases like these which examine how researchers establish community partnerships in systems change work are critical to explore how collaborations can be nurtured over time for impactful results. The first initiative, Iti Rearea Collective, was co-designed to support former refugee and migrant founders of small businesses. Using a collaborative governance model, IRC provides services and address systemic barriers for resettled refugee entrepreneurs in Auckland. The second case, Startup Dunedin, is a university-community incubator and entrepreneurship hub that worked with researchers to map systems of service providers and act to create inclusive entrepreneurial spaces. Each of these cases is an example of an action research initiative that addresses complex systemic issues. Using these cases as illustrative stories, this paper offers insight into one approach to community collaboration for equitable and sustainable systems change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory action research has the goal of democratizing knowledge to inform individual and collective action. Photovoice, an arts-based method within the broader PAR landscape, provides a lens for exploring community strengths and needs with the purpose of social change. Research demonstrates photovoice's utility in inciting social change with and for communities, yet concerns arise over the lack of participant voices in the analysis, writing, and dissemination of the projects leaving us to question, "Is our research for the institution or for the community?" This conceptual article extends PAR scholarship about conducting an anti-oppressive research praxis by drawing on the lived experiences of two uni-researchers and two co-researchers and their use of praxis across two separate photovoice research projects. We describe three key principles in conducting an anti-oppressive research praxis and conclude with implications for practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the role of community practice in addressing global crises such as natural disasters, war and dislocation, climate change and poverty. It emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary education and interprofessional work to improve collaboration between professionals and enhance quality of life in crisis situations. It acknowledges the need for community practice, policy practice, and research to guide structural changes in response to these crises.

Professionals such as social workers, public health officials, cultural networkers, researchers, and community leaders, who are designing and implementing programs and policies, can look to youth to gain a unique perspective on promoting community health. Across the United States, many communities experience inadequate access to nutritious foods that exacerbate poor health outcomes for marginalized populations – people of color, older or disabled adults, and those with lower education or income. To address food access disparities, providing youth voice and building youth empowerment may offer creative strategies to encourage community change. The Youth CAN (Change.Activity.Nutrition) project aimed to engage and empower adolescents to become agents of change for health within their community. Youth became active researchers through participatory action research (PAR) using socially engaged art platforms such as photovoice (photography), street art (graffiti-style art), and spoken word (poetry) to explore their environment and identify facilitators and barriers to healthy eating within their community. The World Café activity facilitated conversation among youth and adults to generate ideas to improve community food access. Collaboration between adult and youth researchers, and community leaders led to proposed solutions for improving access to healthy foods within an urban, low-income neighborhood. The Youth CAN project demonstrated how engaging and empowering youth through PAR is fundamental in promoting positive youth development and enabling youth to become advocates for equitable food access in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study explored the evolution of a mutual aid network founded through virtual mediums and using digital technologies in response to the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Boston, MA area. We collected qualitative interviews with the network's founders and focus groups with active members. We assessed findings through a framework provided by Nelson, Ochocka, Griffin, and Lord which identified four key characteristics of mutual aid: learning as an ongoing process, supportive relationships, empowerment, and social change. We discuss the implications for using mutual aid as an approach to community organizing and activism in contemporary times and in the context of a public crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers are expected to serve and advocate for marginalized communities, including but not limited to transgender and nonbinary communities (TNB). However, the extent to which social workers meet this expectation is unknown. Using data from a 2019–2020 survey of students who were enrolled in U.S. social work programs (N = 725), this study examined the predictors for engaging in TNB activism, including interaction effects between subdomains of the adapted Ally Identity Measure and students' personal endorsement of a Critical Orientation to Social Justice. We found that both students identifying as LGBQ and having more TNB people in one's social network were associated with an increase in engaging with TNB activism. Among our social work educational variables, we found that students who have a mixed micro/macro focus, those who had taken a course on power, privilege, and oppression, and those who had engaged in intergroup dialogue were more likely to engage in TNB activism. Finally, we found that the interaction effects between the Critical Orientation to Social Justice Scale and two of the adapted Ally Identity Measure subdomains were significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergroup contact theory has received much quantitative support. However few efforts have attempted to apply qualitative methodologies to understand the perceptions of individuals who experience these contacts. we conducted 19 interviews to explore the perceptions of stakeholders of a community-based fitness program whose goal was to increase intergroup contact among its stakeholders. Participants reflected on the program reducing their social isolation, increasing opportunities for engagement outside one's own group, and expanded world views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]