Knowledge Democracy / Participatory Research Hub

Based at the University of Victoria (UVic) and the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education is directed by Dr. Budd L. Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon. The Chair advances North–South–South and South–South partnerships, contributing to the growing global consensus on knowledge democracy-the principle that knowledge, in all its diverse forms, must be accessible, inclusive, and oriented toward the public good. It recognises that knowledge is co-created not only within universities but also by communities, civil society, and social movements, and calls for open, value-based, and decolonised knowledge systems.

The Chair addresses attainment of the UN SDGs and the Pact for the Future. It collaborates with UNESCO’s Higher Education section, It’s Futures of Education work, the Recommendation on Open Science and the UNESCO Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Through partnerships among global higher education networks, universities, communities, and policy makers, it supports the co-creation of knowledge that builds new capacities, addresses pressing challenges related to sustainability, inequality, cultural exclusion, and conflict, and advances both the scholarship of engagement and the social responsibility of higher education.

This repository, also hosted by PRIA at knowledgedemocracydspace.com, is part of that broader vision. It brings together the rich legacy of Participatory Research (PR), from its early origins in the 1970s to contemporary practice, into an open-access digital platform. The repository is organised into three main sub-communities, each with curated categories of resources. In addition to individual materials, users are encouraged to explore the “web links and resources” documents, which provide access to a wider ecosystem of relevant content.

By digitising rare writings, reports, and audio-visual materials previously dispersed across personal and institutional archives, and making them searchable and globally accessible, the platform serves as a living resource for researchers, students, practitioners, and communities. In alignment with global Open Science frameworks, it contributes to making knowledge more transparent, inclusive, and accessible across borders and generations.