ABSTRACT
This chapter offers critical reflections on three examples where a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach was integrated into international planning and design studios. CBPR methods are intended to limit knowledge and power asymmetries between practitioners and community members so that the goals and outcomes of any research project including research questions, methods, and outputs are co-designed and co-produced. In these courses, North American students and faculty at the University of Oklahoma (OU) worked with local communities in Zambia, through OU’s Gibbs College of Architecture Zambia Service-Learning Program (2014–2016), and in Uganda through OU’s Center for Peace and Development (2016–present). These programs sought to use CBPR to co-produce planning and design ideas with community members for improving local quality of life. The reflections show how faculty members evolved their approaches through critical reflection. The chapter concludes that (1) minimizing power imbalances is complex and dependent on commitments on all sides and (2) students and educators must commit to preparing for CBPR contexts by de-centering themselves and their own goals as they engage with local communities.
