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tags: hub
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# Value-based research hub

[Name ideas: (Valor Hub? Valeur Hub? Valeurh? Confluence? Bridge?)]

### Motivation

The purpose of the hub is to increase the amount of values-based research projects in Canada. Such projects could include (but are not limited to) collaborative projects in science, social science and other disciplines in which some aspect of the project would advance values - e.g. justice, sustainability, etc.

We feel that in order to advance true research initiatives which focus on values, a new model of research is needed. Decisions on such projects must be decentralized. Current research agencies tend to be discipline-specific but values-based research problems are not. For this reason, some structure is needed to gater funding which advance such projects.

### Long term goal

To change the system to make it easier for those who are doing value-based research, interdisciplinary research to be able to get credit/funding/support for the work they are doing. Changes to both recognition and steep activation costs for this kind of research. Break the tri-agency silos. Change the way research is done.

### Structure of the hub

We propose a hub which collects values-based research project proposals and diverse groups of researchers. The hub will include staff who help connect proposals to researchers who are enthusiastic about participating, and who help to connect teams (once formed) to funding opportunities.

The hub staff will have expertise in grant-writing, fundraising, industry engagement and project management. A significant part of the initial activity will be fundraising: gathering interest from private donors and corporations which want to support this type of research.

The hub will incorporate a research board which will approve project proposals for inclusion in the hub. (Should this research board include an ethicist?)

### Membership in the hub

Anyone can join the hub and they will be invited to participate in teams that they express interest in. However, before a team is formed (and connected to funding) the team must go through psychological training to ensure that team collaborations are safe for all researchers involved in the project.

The Hub founders will recruit new members. Benefits of membership include:
* Values-based research projects may incorporate work that researchers are currently doing off the side of their desks - such as EDI work.
* Participation in the Hub may help some researchers to overcome a deactivation energy that many underrepresented people face.

Projects and teams which are invited to be included in the hub will provide reports to the hub on a regular basis - reports must reflect continuing check-in with the team's values. These reports should reflect open-research principles - one challenge we have is to find a way to share these reports with the community in a way which is accessible and inviting. (Perhaps through a virtual event, or series of events, or MOOC, or Ted Talks, or.... etc.)

### Governance of the Hub

In order to add gravitas to the hub - to indicate that it is *real* research we will insist that we recruit people who help us with messaging - such as:

- [Autum Peltier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Peltier) (Youth Anishinaabe advocate)
- [Timnit Gebru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timnit_Gebru) - - [DAIR](https://www.dair-institute.org)
- [Donna Strickland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Strickland)
- [The 51](https://the51.com)
- [Maria Klawe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Klawe) (advocate for technical women, Microsoft board)
- [Severn Cullis-Suzuki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Cullis-Suzuki) (Nature of Things) /[Suzanne Sinard](https://suzannesimard.com) (Tree ecologist)
- [Shari Graydon](https://www.sharigraydon.com) and [Informed Opinions](https://informedopinions.org/about/team-2/)
- [Jay Ingram](https://www.jayingram.ca)/[Marie-Ann Moser](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmoser1/?originalSubdomain=cahttps://) (Science communication, Beakerhead)
- [Ed Burtynsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burtynsky) - an example of an artist who brings fields together to advance a cause
- Dolly Parton

We will need a board of governors - to be modelled on distribute institutes (e.g. PIMS, TRIUMF, CanCode, Mitacs). The board of governors will need:

* Government Relations (Imogen has connections; John Alho)

### References

What is values-based research? Here are some examples/references which help to define the concept.

- Isaias Ezequiel Chachine, ["Values-based participatory action based research in developing ethics"](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90769-3_16)
- [The DAIR Institute](https://www.dair-institute.org)
- [VBO Definition](https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/whatdoesitmeantobeavalues-basedorganization.aspx) Can we use this, replacing "organization" with "research team" and "research outcomes"?
- [The collaborating centre for values-based practice R&D in Health and Social Care](https://valuesbasedpractice.org/more-about-vbp/research-and-on-going-development-2/the-theory-of-values-based-practice-partner-profiles/)
- [The Tavistock Institute](https://www.tavinstitute.org/who-we-are/)

We note that there are a number of institutions/groups already doing this kind of work (like DAIR) and we need to figure out how to both incorporate those research groups and have something which can enhance their work.

### To-Do

- Define values-based research [[From the web:](https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/values-based-research/79101) A research stance where professional researchers strive to facilitate the development of some sharedness of visions in the social fabric, with a focus on also including marginalized visions towards developing social change which is experienced as increasing social (and ecological) justice.]
- Develop real/imagined case studies to use to help us figure out what the added benefit of the Hub is
- Look for New Frontiers or other funding opportunity (Mackenzie Scott?)
- Consult with teams who are already doing values-based research (to seek endorsement, see what they need that we might be able to provide)
- Is there room for an IKT model, co-creation, community-engaged model of research in our proposed hub? More broadly - what does community engagement look like for what we are doing?