​Time zones:
7.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m. India
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. GMT
9.00 a.m. – 11 a.m. Colombia, EST Canada and USA
6.00 a.m. – 8.00 a.m. BC, Canada

 
It was in 1976 that a group of interested persons across North America first met to discuss Participatory Research (PR) as an alternative means of research and use of knowledge for social change. In 1980, the first international meeting on Participatory Research was held in Ljubljana (in former Yugoslavia), attended by early pioneers of this ‘movement’ (Budd Hall, John Gaventa, Ted Jackson, Helen Lewis, Orlando Fals Borda, Rajesh Tandon, to name a few). The discussions from this meeting, and of the practice and theorising of Participatory Research over the next decade, began to be circulated internationally and regionally in cyclostyled newsletters, articles in now-defunded journals, and documentation of conference proceedings. Knowledge produced by social movements, in civil society, political organisations and in academia was synthesized and presented in an array of forms – text, statistics, drama, poetry, video, learning games. Such locally created and owned knowledge, used as tools to build capacities of community and social organisations in the Global South, contributed to the steady spread and sustained development of the theory and practice of Participatory Research.
 
The origins and history of the development of the field of Participatory Research has largely remained undocumented, though it is a significant part of the oral tradition of its ‘elders’ who spearheaded the movement.

In a seminal event celebrating 40 years of PRIA, in partnership with the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research, we bring you the knowledge and experience of the ‘elders’ of Participatory Research. A lesson in history, along with explorations of its contemporary manifestations, spotlights the relevance of community-based, participatory research in a post-pandemic world. The symposium will explore the following questions:

• why is it important for researchers to make research relevant to and for the people,? We will learn from the experience of the 'elders' and pioneers of Participatory Research.
• what strategies, with leadership from the Global South, is required to re-energise similar and different others to overcome a tired-ness/co-option of using Participatory Research, and to build capacities to use research for social transformation?

​Panelists:

• Dr. Budd Hall, Senior Associate, Centre for Global Studies; Professor Emeritus, Public Administration, University of Victoria, Canada
• Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Founder-President, PRIA, India
• Dr. Edward Jackson, Adjunct Research Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, and Senior Research Fellow, Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, Canada
• Dr. John Gaventa, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK
• Dr. Patricia Maguire, Professor Emeritus of Education and Counseling, Western New Mexico University ‑ Gallup Graduate Studies Center, USA
• Dr. Yusuf Kassam, Independent Participatory Researcher, Canada
• Dr. Deborah Barndt, Professor Emerita, York University, Toronto, Canada
• Prof. Normando Suarez, Assoc Prof in Sociology Department, UNAL, Colombia

In conversation with:
Juan Mario Diaz Arevalo, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield, and Sumitra Srinivasan, PRIA, India
 
Translators:
Walter Vanegas and Delia Ballén. Service provided by Transmisiones Live, Colombia, with the support of the Strategic Research Support Fund, Department of Politics and IR, University of Sheffield.

Abstract
Context
Migration is one of the most politically pressing issues of the 21st century but migrant health remains an under‐researched area. The International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR) working group on migration developed this position statement to address opportunities and challenges in relation to migrant health. It aims to contribute to a shift from a deficit model that sees migrants as passively affected by policies to their reconceptualization as citizens who are engaged in the co‐creation of solutions.

Methods
This paper examines the opportunities and challenges posed by the use of PHR with migrants. It draws on a broad literature to provide examples of successful PHR with migrants and highlights critical issues for consideration.

Findings
Successful initiatives illustrate the value of engaging migrants in the definition of the research agenda, the design and implementation of health interventions, the identification of health‐protective factors and the operationalization and validation of indicators to monitor progress. Within increasingly super diverse contexts, fragmented community landscapes that are not necessarily constructed along ethnicity traits, inadequate structures of representation, local tensions and operational barriers can hamper meaningful PHR with migrants.

Conclusion
For each research context, it is essential to gauge the ‘optimal’ level and type of participation that is more likely to leverage migrants’ empowerment. The development of Monitoring and Evaluation tools and methodological strategies to manage inter‐stakeholder discrepancies and knowledge translation gaps are steps in this direction.
Patient or public contributionThis paper draws from contributions of migrant populations and other stakeholders to policymaking.

February 2, 2021
 
Morgan State University (www.morgan.edu) announces that beginning in February 2021 it will be hosting the Central Office of the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research.
 
Morgan State University is located in Baltimore, Maryland (USA), and was established in 1867. Morgan State is one of the United States’ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and is designated as Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University.
                                                                                                    
Morgan is a research institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. Morgan has a strong track record of international partnerships with China, Brazil, South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria, and beyond.
 
In June 2019, Morgan State University successfully hosted ICPHR’s 10th Annual Working Meeting, the first in the United States. The event was attended by more than 70 individuals from 12 countries around the world.
 
Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial community of students, faculty, and partners outside the university, seeking to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. In addition to maintaining the integrity of ICPHR, Morgan State plans to generate resources through U.S. federal and other grant opportunities so as to increase ICPHR’s organizational capacity.
 
Prof. Payam Sheikhattari (payam.sheikhattari@morgan.edu) and Ms. Gillian Silver (gillian.silver@morgan.edu), members of ICPHR’s Executive Committee, will lead the transition of the Central Office from Berlin to Baltimore. Contact either of them for more information.