The Significance of Place: What changes when we work and research in shared spaces?

Drawn by the potential to cross-pollinate ideas and projects for greater impact, a growing number of universities are choosing to invest in satellite sites that allow their staff, students and faculty to work in an off-campus environment. From shopping malls, to community centers, each of these emerging spaces seeks to create connections between academia and a mixture of people and organizations in the city. Despite their diverse realities, these sites all pose a similar question: Once a university commits to an off campus space, how can the place and the potential it presents best be mobilized for the benefit of all involved?

In late 2015, Concordia became a key tenant in Temps Libre, a new co-working space in Montreal’s Mile End that seeks to unite individuals and groups who are committed to social innovation, urban ecology, city making and community life. Recognizing that it will take time and experimentation to figure out the most meaningful way to engage with this new partnership, this community of practice event encourages participants to begin considering the possibilities.

We will anchor our conversation in the lessons and experiences of Saskatoon’s Station 20 West.  Located next to a public library and fifty units of affordable housing, Station 20 West is a Community Enterprise Centre that opened in the fall of 2012.  It houses many services and organizations, including a branch of the University of Saskatchewan’s community engagement office. Together we will ask: What role can satellite sites play in bridging the divide between academia and the community at large? What kind of connections happen when we work in close proximity to community actors, service providers and entrepreneurs? What is the impact of the inevitable and unexpected intellectual collisions enabled by colocation? Which practices create and nurture connections between the diversity of players in these spaces? More than just people who happen to work in the same place, how can we become collaborators and co-conspirers?  

Guests:
Vincent Chapdelaine is the CEO of the social enterprise Espaces temps and co-founder of the Territoires cooperative. He is passionately committed to democratizing access to knowledge and culture. His interests include the social use of technology, the evolution of libraries, the emergence of new public spaces, the transformation of cities and territories and independent publishing. Vincent is also one of the co-founders of Temps libre Mile End.

Lisa Erickson is the University of Saskatchewan’s Manager, Community Engagement and Outreach. She works at the University’s satellite office at Station 20 West in Saskatoon’s inner city, which is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. Lisa leads a small community engagement team and office focused on strengthening community-university relationships aimed at building social, educational, economic and health equity through collaboration, experiential learning and research. The office serves as a doorway for the broader community to access the university and for university scholars, staff and students to connect and collaborate with community partners.

Prem Sooriyakumar holds the position of Knowledge Broker in Concordia University’s Office of Research. In this role, he advises, designs and implements knowledge mobilization projects and activities on and off-campus, identifies knowledge transfer opportunities for researchers and research users, and liaises with community partners accordingly. Often acting as a catalyst for partnered research collaborations, Prem is responsible for initiating and managing Concordia’s partnership with Temps Libre.
 

This is the first of four meetings of the Living Knowledge community of practice during the 2016-2017 academic year. The Living Knowledge community of practice brings together faculty and staff who share a passion for community engaged scholarship, with the goal of creating connections, sharing ideas and strengthening our collective practice. Students, community organizers and representatives from other universities are also welcome. For more information, or to RSVP, please email livingknowledge@concordia.ca.