Experience with this type of partnership has generated an appreciation for its rewards and challenges. Interactions with individuals from a diversity of experiences, and abilities provides regard for other perspectives and sensitizes one to the needs of others. The skills learned through these partnerships can be carried over into subsequent collaborative endeavours. Many find that the final product benefits from a process that combines socially relevant issues and community input with the theoretical and methodological expertise of academia. This type of partnership produces more relevant research for both respective constituents.

   Although the collaborative process is an exciting learning experience, it can present with some challenges. Partners’ needs may differ as community and academia often have divergent concerns, priorities, and expectations as to the projects process, meaning, or utility. Clarification of needs and expectations through open communication prior to project commencement is recommended. A continuous dialogue between partners should be sought for a successful partnership to emerge. Respect for research partners and for the project itself, and a willingness to compromise are important aspects of any cooperative effort.

   We have been partnering on projects since 1995 and have found that the rewards surpass the challenges. Benefits have included: acquiring new research and interaction skills; appreciation for the quality of work and dedication each of us contributes; and a greater understanding and respect for the issues that need to be addressed at the community and academic levels. Part of the mark of our partnerships’ success is that we obtain enjoyment from our work together and have developed a strong basis of respect, trust, and esteem that helps us to overcome conceptual and technical research problems. We have come to appreciate our differences and realize that they are less numerous and less important than our similarities.

   Further, our partnership mirrors the work we pursue. One of the basic principles of many family violence programs is to honour individual talents and differences. Opportunities are created for them to recognize the benefits of a synergistic family. Partnerships in general require commitment to a common goal and vision, one in which the collective goodwill of participants is preferred. In doing so we all strengthen our sense of humanity and circle of communities.

   Congratulations to Lisa Murdock, the first winner of the Carolynne Boivin Bursary Award. The Bursary is awarded annually to a graduate student at the University of Manitoba conducting research in the area of family violence. Lisa is a Master’s student in the Department of Sociology doing her thesis on anger and violence among Aboriginal women. Her research is being conducted at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata with the assistance of Sharon Perrault, and the project is affiliated with RESOLVE. On January 27, RESOLVE staff were joined by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dr. Robert O’Kell, to present the award and wish Lisa all the best in her research..

   On December 6th, 1999, members of the Alliance for Five Research Centres on Family Violence gathered in Ottawa to remember the 14 women slain at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique in 1989, and all the women who lost their lives to violence. The Alliance released a report for Phase I of a project on Violence Prevention and the Girl Child, funded by Status of Women Canada. The report is a synopsis of one year of national research which included focus groups, a literature review, and a national inventory of services. The report concludes with twenty-five recommendations for service providers and policy makers. Reports are available from RESOLVE in English and French.

   RESOLVE is conducting an evaluation of the programs and services offered by l’Entre-Temps des Franco-Manitobaines Inc., a Winnipeg second-stage facility. A final report will be completed in March, 2000.