We thinkthe term Capacity Bridging, once understood, may help to break down research barriers byacknowledging that one person may bring many things to their position on a research team.

This concept was introduced during the Visioning Health project, and further built upon by AHA Centre Co-Director, Dr. Charlotte Loppie. Initially, the term Capacity Bridging came from a desire to do the work of Visioning Health from a strengths-based approach to research.

The term capacity building is seen to be paternalistic, often referring to non-Indigenous academics ‘teaching’ Indigenous peoples about research. Capacity bridging more appropriately represents our reality — Indigenous communities, collectives and organizations possess numerous capacities to plan, to organize, to operationalize and to lead. Communities simply require supports and opportunities to bridge those capacities in the context of research and within what Indigenous scholar Willie Ermine refers to as the Ethical Space, where Indigenous worldview, knowledge systems and practices are valued, acknowledged and used to ground research (Ermine, 2007).

Capacity Bridging Resources

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Capacity Bridging Fact SheetDownload
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Capacity Bridging PosterDownload

Janice Duddy (Pacific AIDS Network) and Sherri Pooyak (AHA Centre) Discuss Capacity Bridging | Pacific AIDS Network Vlog