CBR: Luxury or Necessity? An Environmental Scan of the British Columbia Community Based Research Capacity Building Needs, Capacities and Challenges.

This document is a report of an environmental scan on community-based research capacity building that was conducted in British Columbia between September 2003 and March 2004. The focus of the scan is to assess the capacity of community-based organizations to engage successfully in community-based research and evaluation initiatives. This environmental scan is one of the first steps in setting up a community-based research capacity building program in BC. The general purpose of the program is to provide training education, technical support, partnership facilitation, and promote evidence-based decisions for organizations that work with HIV/AIDS. The report includes definitions of 'community-based research' and 'capacity building,' the methodology, activities, timelines and population of the environmental scan, finding and interpretations, and recommendations for capacity building, implementation of programs, training workshops, communication and coordination. Also included are three case studies and a brief inventory of community-based research interests in BC.