Throughout the world, civil society, universities and governments are building partnerships and leaning towards participatory and community- based models of inquiry in the construction of a more equitable and sustainable future. [...] These partnerships and networks have the capacity, as stated in a recent UNESCO (2009) brief, “to co-create knowledge, mobilize it to inform practice and policy, and enhance the social, economic and environmental conditions of people, communities, nations and the world” (p.1). [...] This type of community- based planning takes the form of citizen participation and is contested to be more likely 1 Social cohesion can be defined as the interactions among members of society, characterized by a set of attitudes and norms that includes trust, a sense of belonging and the willingness to participate and help, as well as their behavioral manifestations (Chan et al. [...] It begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities. [...] The Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR)3 adds to this description by describing CBR as community situated (begins with a research topic of practical relevance to the community and is carried out in community settings), collaborative (community members and researchers equitably share control of the research agenda through active and reciprocal involvement in the research design, implementati