Announcing the Pan-Provincial

Announcing the pan-provincial

BRITISH COLUMBIA COALITION INSTITUTE

Established in 2003, the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (see: ) is a knowledge network promoting equity in health worldwide We are a member-based organization, representing global health students, researchers and practitioners across Canada and beyond. The CCGHR’s University Advisory Council (UAC) was launched in 2010 to foster greater collaboration among our 23 member universities for advocacy, capacity development (particularly of the “next generation” of leadership) and coordination (“harmonization”) of activities and resources.

Following the methods of its earlier Summer Institutes, the Coalition is pleased to announce an innovative and more localized model—the British Columbia Coalition Institute (BCCI). This is a collaborative venture involving several universities, all of whom are CCGHR institutional members. Currenlty, these include: the University of British Columbia (including the Okanagan campus), Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria. Others may be added. We are pleased to be partnering with Interior Health—a first step in connecting a Canadian health system with a capacity building initiative of the CCGHR.

Drawing upon the experience of a similar pilot event in Ontario (in September 2016), the BCCI is designed for “new” global health researchers—particularly graduate students and young faculty members. The intended outcomes include: global health researchers who can understand and use relevant principles; enhanced institutional capacity for mentorship; and strengthened regional inter-university collaboration within the larger national CCGHR (see second page for details).

The institute includes three components. The first is an intensive preparation phase extending over several weeks. Secondly, a three-day on-site event will consist of workshops, panels and open sessions focussing on particpants’ self-directed learning objectives. It will take place in Kelowna, with additional satellite components elsewhere in the province. Finally, the BCCI will culminate with a specifically-designed follow-up consolidation phase that will include capacity strengthening activities in the participating universities and regionally.

The overall theme is “Equity-Centred Practices for Connecting Knowledge with Action” using the recently published CCGHR Principles for Global Health Research as a framework. The six principles featured in this framework (authentic partnering, inclusion, shared benefits, commitment to the future, responsiveness to causes of inequities, and humility) offer tools for reflection and action in research and knowledge translation. The BCCI will provide a forum for applying these principles, with a special focus on building capacity to mentor and teach about equity-centred knowledge-to-action practices.

Through small group discussions, the principles will be analyzed and applied to specific projects and scenarios. The event will also include presentations and discussions with key global health research leaders, competency-oriented workshops and “open sessions” to share and debate specific topics and issues. There will also be allocated time for individual reflection and personalized mentorship and career guidance.

•Dates: September 28th (evening) to October 1st (noon)

•Location: Kelowna Community Health Services Centre (505 Doyle Avenue, Kelowna BC)

The registration fee is $250 ($200 for CCGHR members), to cover accommodation costs for those who require this, along with other costs. A bursary fund is available upon request for participants that require some assistance.

For further information, please contact, Madeleine Greig by email at .