Community Engagement Grants Awarded

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute has awarded grants to 11 new community engagement projects.

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute supports collaborative research between academics, members of community organisations, policymakers and people with lived experiences which helps build fairer societies.

In  2020, the Institute announced a new series of grants aimed at University of Melbourne researchers with an idea to test, explore and develop in partnership with members of disadvantaged or marginalised communities.

We are delighted to announce 11 projects have been awarded Community Engagement Grants, each receiving funding of up to $3000.

The funding will enable the researcher to develop interdisciplinary and community-engaged networks within and external to the University.

The scheme also aims to support research ideas that may lead to a proposal for future rounds of the Institute’s Seed Funding Program or the Community Fellows Program.

The  inaugural Community Engagement Grant recipients are:

Professor Farah Ahmed
Melbourne Law School

Collaborating with Muslim Women Australia to review family violence case data and conduct roundtables to document and better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Dr Ashley Barnwell
School of Social and Political Sciences

Gathering evidence on the success of storytelling and creative writing programs at Lotus Place in Queensland, a service for Forgotten Australians and survivors of childhood institutional abuse.

Dr Candice Boyd
School of Geography

Collaborating with Headspace to explore the experience of young people living in areas of regional Australia that will be the most affected by climate change to understand how ‘eco-anxiety’ creates further impacts on their mental health.

Dr Tania Cañas
Victorian College of the Arts

Building a partnership between the Victorian College of the Arts and cohealth Arts Generator to develop a community engaged research module for researchers in the creative arts, design and media fields.

Dr Liz Dean
School of Social and Political Sciences

Developing a digital archive of the 3CR radio program Beyond the Bars, a series of prison broadcasts facilitated by 3CR’s First Nations’ Australian Community Radio broadcasters for NAIDOC week.

Professor Adrian Hearn
School of Languages and Linguistics

Working with the Yoruba Heritage and Cultural Association of Victoria to understand youth engagement with its program and activities.

Dr Claire Loughnan
School of Social and Political Sciences

Mapping the gaps in legal assistance to imprisoned people facing visa cancellation in partnership with the Visa Cancellation Working Group, a national network of legal organisations.

Dr Troy Potter
Melbourne Graduate School of Education

Exploring youth popular culture texts to better understand how they inform boys’ understanding of gender inequality and gender-based violence.

Dr Catherine Phillips
School of Geography

Developing a research partnership with Cultivating Communities, connecting academic research with the broader food systems movement and beyond, addressing issues including sustainability, culturally appropriate food, food security and social justice.

Dr Katrina Raynor
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning

Addressing barriers to secure and affordable housing for older women by working with community groups to build networks and establish a co-learning process between older women and housing providers to build a shared understanding of women’s housing preferences, assets and options.

Dr Michael Santhanam-Martin
School of Agriculture and Food

Building a research relationship with St Paul’s African House in Shepparton and supporting the Centre’s Working for Victoria COVID-19 recovery data gathering projects.