On March 7, Downtown Eastside (DTES) community members, organizations, journalists, filmmakers, university researchers, students, gathered at SFU Woodwards for a community panel discussion and launch of the Empowering Informed Consent card and Research 101: A Manifesto for Ethical Research in the Downtown Eastside.
The conversations that led to the development of the card and manifesto started in May 2017, when DTES members started meeting at the Hives for Humanity Bee Space to talk about how to ensure that community ethics are a respected part of the process of cultural production (see the image for definitions of these terms). These conversations grew into the wallet-sized resource now known as the Empowering Informed Consent card. As described at the March 7 event, this card is designed to encourage conversation and empower informed consent about participation in cultural production projects.
Panels from the Empowering Informed Consent card. Click image to view full card.
The Research 101 manifesto grew out of a series of six weekly workshops in February and April 2018, where six to 13 representatives from several DTES organizations met each week to discuss their experiences and expectations for more ethical research practices. The manifesto was drafted by Scott Neufeld, an SFU PhD student, based on notes taken by Lindsay Deane, an SFU research assistant. The draft was revised and reviewed by the workshop participants at the last session, and all participants who consented to being identified are listed as the co-authors: Louise Boilevin, Jules Chapman, Lindsay Deane, Caroline Doerksen, Greg Fresz, DJ Joe, Nicolas Leech-Crier, Samona Marsh, Scott Neufeld, Steven Pham, Laura Shaver, Patrick Smith, Martin Steward, Dean Wilson, and Phoenix Winter.
The card and Manifesto projects were connected through the SFU Vancity Office of Community Engagement and are now the components of a broader ‘Community Ethics in Cultural Production’ project. The UBC Learning Exchange, a partner of the STOREE project, has been pleased to provide convening support and helping to amplify this community-initiated and community-driven project to the regional research ethics boards, while the STOREE project was happy to contribute to the printing costs of the cards and manifestos shared at the March 7 event and beyond.
You can read the Community Report Back from the March 7 event here. We look forward to seeing what’s next for this work!