Collaborating Across Communities and Continents: Community Engagement in Rural Ireland
Diane Doberneck (Michigan State University)
Abstract
Since 1998, village leaders and community development practitioners associated with the Tóchar Valley Rural Community Network, Co. Mayo and students and academics from Michigan State University have collaborated with one another in a networked approach to community engagement at the grassroots.
The focus of our collaboration has been rural community and economic development, based upon agricultural, natural, and cultural resources present in the Tochar Valley. Over the past ten years, our collaboration has taken different forms at different times—ranging from rural development consulting, study tours and learning exchanges for community development practitioners from Ireland and Michigan, dissertation research, summer study abroad placements for university students, community-based action research programmes, and organizational capacity building activities.
To inform our approach to engagement, we have drawn upon innovative ideas from leading scholars and practitioners, such as:
• Networked development at the grassroots (Bradshaw, 1993; Carmen, 1996; Fear et al., 2005; Fraser, 2005; Gilchrist, 2004; McIntosh, 2008; Murdock, 2000; Pigg & Bradshaw, 2003)
• Asset-based community development (Emery, Fey, & Flora, 2006; Green & Haines; 2002; Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993)
• Continuous learning and dialogue (Cornwall, 2008; Senge, 2006; Smit, 2007; Wheatley, 2002)
• Action research (Heron, 2001; Reason & Bradbury, 2006; Schon, 1995)
• Capacity building (Banks & Orton, 2005; James & Wrigley, 2007; World Neighbors, 2000)
As part of our reflective practice, TVN members, MSU students, and MSU academics have considered these key questions: How do we engage one another in authentic, generative, and transformative ways? How do we respectfully collaborate with one another across cultures, across continents, and across generations? What is it we need to learn (and teach) so that we may impact communities in meaningful and lasting ways? How can we help one another develop shared capacities to support a vibrant citizenry in a tremendous time of global change?
This practice paper explores our answers to those questions and our shared commitment to listening, dialogue, action, and reflection; narrates the Tochar Valley Network—Michigan State University story of collaboration, discovery and community engagement; and explicates mindsets and practices that help us to open our hearts, minds, and souls in the service to the greater good (Williams, 2004).
To tell our story, we draw upon insights from Irish and American community members, students, and academics, gathered through evaluations, focus groups, interviews, and document review to illustrate what we have learned through the process of collaborating with one another at the engagement interface (Fear, et. al., 2005). Through their voices, we reveal the importance of readiness, the unexpected, patience, emergence, co-discovery, listening, and dialogue.
Session participants will come away with 1) a thorough understanding of the main philosophies behind this collaboration, 2) practical ways in which to implement these ideas, and 3) an appreciation for the impact of this type of community engagement on community partners, students, and academics alike.
