Community Resilience Research Partnership Proposition 

This post is a call for expression of interest to partner with the University of Newcastle (Australia) “community resilience research project”. The principle researcher, Mr Jai Allison, has and is open to discuss collaboration possibilities. Our team hope that in reading the proposition details you see opportunities for your organisation and are encouraged to work towards making a research partnership. 

The writing in this post is targeted to research coordinators and staff who have experience working with researchers.  Please contact Mr Allison on the details below for any clarifications or further information. 

About the project

The proposed research project aims to investigate community development approaches to resilience in Vietnam, particularly Asset Based Community Development approaches. The project will partner with community development organisation(s) and use an action research approach to create a research agenda, define methods, roles and responsibilities that will realise insights for your organisation.

This opportunity is unique because our research team has flexibility in the thematic boundaries. We want to assist partner organisations to reflect and learn about their field work by using theories, 'tools' and capabilities from one of Australia’s leading Universities and development schools. It's expected that the research process will enable everyone involved to improve our practices and trial innovative approaches. 

What we seek in a community research partner organisation 

University of Newcastle team are seeking the following in a partner organisation : 

1.     The organisation has capability to work with an Australian researcher(s) in the field. Preferably experience of working with researchers, a research program or something similar;

2.     Experience  with projects/program with communities that  improve the resilience of the community; 

3.     Some experience of, or interest to apply, strength based approaches when working with communities, for example, Using theories of change or Asset Based Community Development (ABCD - link). 

These criteria are not exclusive but indicative. The partner The research host may be a university, government or non-government organisation, but they must have an interest and see value in the role of research and the research project and be suitable able to conduct administration for hosting foreign researcher(s).  

The research agenda is flexible in many ways, but we need to ensure that if a community partner organisation is not able to act as Vietnamese research host then we can secure an additional research partner organisation.

Research aims

This research project will enable your organisation to gain insights about methods and impacts of the community (resilience) development building aspects of your work. The project aims to:

• assist partner organisation(s) to better understand their work in the field.
• to investigate questions, opportunities and challenges relevant to the organisation h (e.g. to examine and evaluate previous work that your organisation has done)
• train staff in asset based community development, theories of change, program design Monitoring & Evaluation, networking, coordinating networks, communications  etc. 
• assist with tasks that the program/project and staff are dealing with, including research methods, communications (e.g. translations) and 
• assist your organisation with work related to the program/project. Such as reporting and stakeholder communications. 

For example, a rough and ready hypothesis might be: 

the inherently resilient properties of traditional village life in high context societies (e.g. Vietnam) are undermined by modernisation as it re-constructs the village arrangements and it's people through vulnerabilities. 

Therefore the project could demonstrate how asset based socio-economic development, e.g. adaptation to climate change, can be a resilience building exercise for communities. This could be tested and proven through case studies based on partner organisations work in the field. There is also a potential to compare these with resilience building activities in Australian communities. 

Please note that this proposition is only a guide, the research topic is community resilience, but we have the ability to change the scope of the research to suit partner organisations and needs of the specific project(s)

Timeline

The research is part of a three year PhD program. Timing considerations for the researchers are outlined below. 

The basic program time is flexible, but estimates are:

• November 2015 - March 2016 Mr Allison will be able to collaborate with your organisation remotely from Australia. Including (potentially) funding applications for project work, networking with other Vietnamese or Australia research partners
• March 2016 - Primary Researcher visit with partner organisation(s) in Vietnam to discuss research agenda create a project plan. Note that this could include training, field visits  
• June 2016 to January 2017 - Research supervisor (Dr Jason Von Meding) will be working from Hanoi on this (and other) research projects.  
• September 2016 to April 2017 - Mr Allison completing field and desk based research work in Vietnam in collaboration with your organisation's field and office staff it is proposed to implement development work, collect information about project outcomes and analyse then interpret what they mean. This would include [who would take part, partner too or just you?] taking part in Inaugural Vietnam Asset Based Community Development Conference, to which Research team member Associate Professor Jenny Cameron may attend. 
• April 2017 to September 2017 - Mr Allison working in Australia, analysing and refining outcomes with theories and writing results into Thesis
• September 2017 - December 2017 - Mr Allison working in Vietnam with your organisation, continuing field work, training and clarifying results with staff. Developing publications and outputs from research and associated project(s).  
• December 2017 - September 2018 - Mr Allison working in Australia to complete thesis. During this time assisting to produce associated outputs with your organisation via internet, such as reports, online communications. 

Mr Allison and/or other University of Newcastle project members may take additional field visits to Vietnam.  There is also potential for Vietnamese partner organisation staff to visit Australia for reciprocal field work. 

There is flexibility in this timeline and the definition of the research agenda, we expect these to be discussed with your organisation. 

Funding

The University of Newcastle researchers will fund their own expenses including activities such as translation, field work costs etc.  We aim to cover all associated research costs by raising funds in Australia (and elsewhere) as required.

We ask that research partner organisation be able to cover costs of their own staff for the research work, and the existing program expenses and host the principle researcher (or assist other partnerships). By hosting the researcher(s) we mean to complete the bureaucratic processes and be able to provide a desk, chair, internet connection and team for which the principle researcher will work with (as a volunteer for your organisation).  

There is potential to apply, in Vietnam or Australia, for funding to support the projects or program that is the focus of the research. If these applications were successful they could contribute to aspects of your organisations expenses. These funding applications will need to be made during the early stages of the project partnership. It is expected that your organisation would manage the funds for any successful applications and the UoN research team would focus on conducting research and supporting the work of relevant staff. 

It is expected that by joining the research partnership your  organisation will not be drained but will gain productively, for example through the skills and experience of the researcher(s) and networking with other organisations for further opportunities. The University of Newcastle research team has depth of experience in working with community partners, as per the details at the bottom of this post.  

About the University and team

The University of Newcastle is built on the principles of equity, excellence and engagement. The University of Newcastle has a reputation as a world-class research institution in diverse fields which make an impact within Australia and and our region. For more information about the University see - http://www.newcastle.edu.au/about-uon/our-university 

The project team includes:

• Mr Jai Allison (PhD candidate) - who brings over ten years of Community Development experience in various parts of Australia, including remote Indigenous communities and two years working with Engineers Without Borders in South Asia. Mr Allison has lead a diverse range of cross cultural, multidisciplinary research projects and will be completing this research as his candidacy for PhD.  
• Dr Jason Von Meding (Primary research supervisor)
• Associate Professor Jenny Cameron (Research supervisor) 
• Professor Kevin Hall (Research director)

Research progress and invitation

The research team are currently undertaking a review of literature across multiple disciplines including post development theory, diverse economies, Asset Based Community Development and community resilience.  Mr Allison is being guided by Dr Von Meding and Professor Cameron to explore epistemologies that appropriately position the project within existing research and theory. This process will contextualise possible research threads and justify the endeavours as innovative.

As per this proposition, the team are progressing partnerships to ensure the research is grounded in real world practices and experiences. If your organisation joins us in partnership, the actual research agenda will then be co-defined as we align theoretical and practical opportunities and requirements. The project has begun to develop Research ethics approval and progression relies on achieving human research ethics approval before field work can begin. 

Therefore if you are interested we would greatly appreciate the chance to further discuss these and other opportunities for collaboration.

Please contact Mr Jai Allison  - jai.allison[at]uon.edu.au  or  Skype: jai.allison