The INSPIRE! program at Washington State University is a great example of how a university can help to develop capabilities within individuals to participate in shared decision-making in HIBAR projects. The program supports all facets of community engaged research and creative practice through programming that provides training, education, and funding opportunities.
Like HIBAR research, community engaged research emphasizes shared and reciprocal relationships, focused on addressing societal needs. This type of engaged research by definition is higher risk because it takes a lot of time to build relationships, with no assurance that the project itself will succeed. The INSPIRE! program at Washington State University (WSU) focuses on the research process, and was expanded beyond a seed grant program to include training and mentoring related to community engagement, to make researchers better able to achieve sustainable and implementable results.
The program has multiple tiers, set up to support faculty members who have not previously done community engaged research and are just getting started, as well as also those who are already engaged in such projects and need support to take their work to the next level. The program offers:
As highlighted by the INSPIRE! program description, community engaged research is set apart by its methodologies and practices that emphasize working with communities not working on communities. This work requires practices of mutual accountability, reciprocity, and engagement, all grounded in the fundamental principle that the research is mutually beneficial to everyone involved in the relationship.
Co-leadership and shared decision-making are essential elements of community engaged research, as highlighted by these best practices:
Research Excellence
HIBAR projects enable university-based researchers and non-academic researchers as well as practitioners to work together on projects that strengthen commitment to research excellence. The collaborative nature also greatly accelerate progress toward solving society’s critical problems, since co-produced research outcomes are more likely to be translated to benefit society in the long term.
Community Engagement
HIBAR projects involve deep partnerships with individuals in external organizations, often in locally-based industries, governments, non-profits, and communities. This inclusion helps build long-lasting relationships with people and organizations holding diverse knowledge and perspectives, and increases future community-engaged activities and solutions.
Talent Development
HIBAR projects offer experiential opportunities that lead to many different career paths. This creates a positive feedback loop: as more HIBAR-experienced researchers enter the workforce, they can help co-create and co-lead more university HIBAR collaborations that in turn create new HIBAR research opportunities for another generation of faculty and students.
