Have your voice be heard
Research Cafés are designed to be facilitated by community leaders as a way to support and strengthen communities’ capacity to partner and participate in research within their community. If you are (or anticipate) working with a community on a research project, we suggest you follow the process outlined below:
1
Identify a community leader that would be a strong facilitator.
2
Share these resources and work with leader to hold a Research Café with his/her community.
3
After the Research Café, debrief with the community leader about what he/she thinks and how the findings can be applied to the research project/partnership.
4
Hold a follow-up meeting with the community and co-facilitated with the community leader, to foster open communication between the research team and the community.
What’s needed for a Research Café
A facilitator
or two
The facilitator’s guide and printed copies of our resources to share at the Research Café
A venue
People who are interested in sharing their experiences and discussing research in your community
An open and honest atmosphere.
We recommend that Research Cafés be held by the community without the presence of a researcher with a ‘research agenda’ in order to not present any bias. Researchers are welcome, but facilitators are the ones that run the café entirely.