Training & Education Programs

The UNM Center for Participatory Research provides training, education and consultation in community based participatory research (CBPR), participatory action research (PAR), and community and patient engagement, in on-line and in-person formats.

Based in our collective research with urban, rural and tribal communities from across the nation and globally, our trainings and consultations highlight knowledge and evidence we identified of best partnering practices, Freirian dialogue for action, and multi-level strategies for social change. We offer certificates, customized community training development, post training coaching, participatory planning and evaluation.

In Freire’s language, the purpose of education is human liberation, which “takes place to the extent that people reflect upon themselves and their condition in the world—the world in which and with which they find themselves . . . to the extent that they are more conscientizised, they will insert themselves as subjects into their own history” (Freire, 1971). To Freire, to be a good educator (or, for much of our work, to be a good ‘researcher’) “means above all to have faith in people; to believe in the possibility that they [we] can create and change things” (Freire, 1971).

For our educational programs, we also draw from decolonizing and indigenous methodologies, recognizing the grounding in Native self-determination; and from critical socio-cultural studies, as approaches to inquiry that are socially constructed, emancipatory and empowering towards goals of social justice.

Community Engaged and Participatory Research Education

NEW! For students/faculty/clinicians/practitioners/community members. Multiple ways to learn:

Annual “CBPR for Health” Summer Institute (core course for all certificates and minor)
Practitioner Certificate (Two Tracks) online or in person
Student Academic Professional Certificate or Minor (12 credits / 4 UNM graduate classes)
PhD in CBPR and Action Science (apply through SOPHAS)

Annual CBPR Institute

Since 2010, the UNM Community Based Participatory Research Institute weaves participatory research theory and practice with indigenous and critical methodologies through articles, presentations by community-academic partners, discussion, and self-reflection on our own research and practice. Participants will gain appreciation for advantages & challenges of this approach, and skills necessary for participating effectively in authentic partnered research and public health practice.

The annual week-long summer Institute, “CBPR for Health: Indigenous, Decolonizing, and Critical Methodologies,” welcomes students, faculty, staff, clinicians, practitioners, community members, patients and advocates from all areas and disciplines. CBPR Institute includes tools, resources, theory, in-depth case studies and networking and community-building opportunities and information with participants from across the world. Click here for the 2027 institute.

The CBPR Institute provides a systematic CBPR model to design implement and evaluate participatory research, public health programs, community based organization and coalition initaitives based in evidence based practices, evaluation indicators and pathways towards stronger partnerships.

Practitioner Certificate

There are two tracks for the Practitioner Certificate. Participants will learn to:

leverage best practices for engaging communities to improve services, programs or policies
provide grant-winning strategies for coalitions & partnerships with evidence-based practices
strengthen research capacities for CBOs, tribal programs, clinical and community research teams to develop authentic place-based partnering
develop cutting edge and well-tested methodologies for thriving community outcomes

Track One: Practitioner Certificate: CBPR Institute and Two Modules

CBPR Institute: The annual week-long summer Institute, typically held in early JuneCBPR for Health: Indigenous, Decolonizing, and Critical Methodologies

Data for Action: Evaluating and Improving Outcomes: This module uses data for action tools to create indicators for participatory evaluation of program, research project and community health outcomes.

Metrics for Evaluating and Strengthening Partnerships: This module embraces empowering partnering practices. Tools include a social eco-map of partners, construction of indicators and spider webs of current and desired partnering practices, and application of best partnering practices from NIH-funded “Engage for Equity” research.

Track Two: Practitioner Certificate: Four Modules: (3 ½ hours each)

CBPR Overview: This module provides a general overview of the histories, principles, definitions and approaches of participation and partnering practices from the Global South tradition of Paulo Freire. It introduces the CBPR model to guide participatory actions, strategic planning and evaluation. It grounds participants in the context of projects or shared issues through completing the River of Life of their journeys.

“Engage for Equity” Framework of Partnering Best Practices: This module presents NIH-funded CPR research, with national partners since 2006, to identify best partnering practices associated with system change, capacity and health. It provides applications of the CBPR model for participants to create a strategic and evaluation plan for their own project or health issue, identifying their outcomes, partners, actions and metrics in research and intervention.

Metrics for Evaluating and Strengthening Partnerships: This module embraces partnering practices that are empowering. Participants will create a social eco-map of their partners, a table of indicators and spider webs that reflect current partnering and empowering practices, and those that strengthen their projects from evidence of best partnering practices from the long-term NIH-funded “Engage for Equity” research.

Fee Structure:

CBPR Institute: Sliding Fee Structure for Faculty, Research or Agency Staff, Graduate Credit, Non-Degree Students and Community Partners: Tuition waivers available for UNM faculty and staff.

Practitioner Modules (3 ½ hours each): $200 per person per module or group rate negotiated with Center for Participatory Research

Additional Customized CPR Training Modules Available Upon Request

Power and Paulo Freire Praxis: This module deepens the theory and practice of empowerment and community power, with a review of Paulo Freire reflection/action praxis. Participants will practice Freirian facilitation as they work with dialogical codes.
Facilitation Strategies: This module is linked to the Paulo Freire Module and provides facilitation praxis for dialogue leading to action/reflection ongoing cycles.
Racial and Social Equity: To practice authentic CBPR, it’s important to identify strategies to accomplish goals of social and racial equity in the context of the United States and globally. Activities will focus on micro through macro-oppressions, and the importance of understanding how these play out in local communities to achieve equity goals in CBPR.
Structural Interventions: This module deepens approaches to analyze root causes of health inequities; and structural strategies to include in CBPR interventions to promote policy, organizational, narrative, and system changes that address root causes.
Indigenous Theory and Practice: This module enhances narrative structural strategies by delving into non-western decolonizing and indigenous strategies to broaden our capacities to incorporate diverse ways of knowing and acting within participatory research.
Data Ownership and Sharing Agreements: This module provides information on data ownership and sharing agreements that enable community partners to use data for their own goals to improve programs, policies, or practices.
Dissemination, Implementation and Sustainability: This module provides theories and tools to inform participatory dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of interventions. Participants will integrate implementation science within CBPR and evaluate these outcomes as they contribute to population impacts.

Student Academic Professional Certificate in Community Engaged and Participatory Research

Graduate Student Academic Professional Certificate (12 graduate UNM credits). Available now: 3 COPH courses and one elective across campus), Apply through COPH; contact Nina Wallerstein, nwallerstein@salud.unm.edu
Graduate Student Minor or Transcripted Certificate (currently in UNM approval processes)

Graduate Student Academic Professional Certificate:

Participants will learn to:

Collaboratively assess community context and readiness for change at the individual, interpersonal, community, institutional, socio-political, and policy levels;
Collaboratively apply appropriate research- and practice-based approaches for designing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating community interventions;
Integrate participatory research theory and principles for creating and sustaining partnerships across issues and disciplines;
Integrate self-reflexivity around their own positionality and power to act with cultural respect and accountability to promote community self-determination in engagement; and
Engage with multiple ways of knowing from diverse academic and community perspectives for application to policy, program, and practice actions.

The core course for the certificate/minor is the in-person week-long CBPR Summer Institute:

PH 556 CBPR for Health: Critical, Decolonizing and Indigenous Methodologies: which has operated since 2010, at the Center for Participatory Research, with over 750 participants to date, including UNM, New Mexico and national/global students, faculty, fellows, staff, community partners and practitioners

Core course: PH 560 Community Assessment and Ways of Knowing: Elise Trott Jaramillo, New Required Course for the MPH Community Health Concentration, as of Fall 2027

Participants choose one of the following COPH elective courses:

PH 558 Conducting Research with Marginalized Populations: Francisco Soto-Mas
PH 560 Indigenous Community Health Intervention Research: Lorenda Belone (spring 2027)
PH 560 Community Engaged and Participatory Research in Action: TBA, rotated COPH faculty

The 4th class, participants may choose from other COPH courses above or current approved list of courses provided by our campus partners below: (other courses may be added later)

SOC 595 Community-Engaged Research: Participatory Approaches for Health & Social Justice
SOC 595 Crimmigration
AMST 400/509 Climate Justice and New Mexico: Community-Based Approaches
CRP 531 Foundations of Community Development
CRP 474/574 Culture, Place and Power
PUBP 501-001 Craft of Policy Analysis
PUBP 502-001 Policy and Evaluation Lab (two semesters required)
GEO 589 Qualitative Methods
GEOG 426 Critical Cartography
CJ 555 Culture, Disparities, and Health Communication
PH 651 Critical Methodologies and Social Justice Interventions for Health (PhD level).
PH 657 CBPR Mentored Research Lab (PhD level)
NATV 667 Action Research in Indigenous Communities (PhD level)
PSYCH 508 Research with Diverse Populations (PhD level)
HIST 690 Women's Rights in Latin America (PhD level)

PhD in CBPR and Action Science

The concentration in “Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)” is based on a foundation of community empowerment and participatory approaches to research to promote social justice and equity in health. This concentration is based in behavioral-psycho-social and cultural theories and methods so that students establish a specialty focus in community health and community intervention research. Students will complete course work in the conceptual and theoretical foundations of CBPR, community and patient engaged research, and multi-level health interventions, from behavioral and community through structural and policy strategies. Course content covers rigorous quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, including indigenous, decolonizing and critical methodologies; and examination of research design, power dynamics, and implementation in community, academic, health systems, business and policy contexts, among others. This concentration offers a mentored and tailored approach to students who can choose their substance area of community health focus, ie., in nutrition/food systems, environmental health, mental health, substance abuse, reproductive health, etc. Opportunities for interaction with community members and other relevant stakeholders include field schools and participating in research mentored by faculty and community members at local, tribal, national or global levels. We seek to support CBPR in community health research across the lifespan, across geographic and social identity diversities, across distinct health issues, and across socio-political policy contexts.

PhD in CBPR and Action Science concentration in Health Equity Sciences through College of Population Health (apply through SOPHAS; advising available through COPH)

Consultation and Evaluation Services for Research Grants and Programs:

Available for university programs and colleges, community-based organizations and agencies (negotiated with Center for Participatory Research).

CPR consultation can include customized community training development, post-training coaching, and participatory strategic planning and evaluation. Contact Nina Wallerstein.

The Center for Participatory Research offers practice and research co-learning workshops and curriculum in community based participatory research and participatory action. The workshops draw from Engage for Equity best practices to strengthen partnerships, Freirian liberatory education, and empowerment principles and strategies with goals of enhancing health, social, and racial equity. In multiple versions since 2000, produced with Latin American colleagues in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, currently on line is the 2008 version 2. Version 3 was published in Portuguese by a Brazilian public health publisher in 2024 and is available on Amazon, The English third edition is under contract and available in 2027 Contact Nina Wallerstein at nwallerstein@salud.unm.edu for opportunities specific to your project or site.

NM CBPAR) is the newest education project developed by the UNM Academic Health Department team. The goal of this training is to share best practices around engaging with communities as research partners. Seven modules were created to allow for a hybrid approach of in-person and online learning. The CBPAR curriculum was piloted from December 2022-April 2023 with 70 participants working on health issues existing in New Mexico, collaborating around the culture and history of the state. The second iteration of this training will begin in the fall of 2023 in partnership with NMSU and the southwest region health council and health promotion teams. Select modules form part of the practitioner certificate program.

Educational Materials

Training in Community Based Participatory Action Research and Empowerment: The Center for Participatory Research offers practice and research co-learning workshops and curriculum in community based participatory research and participatory action. The workshops draw from Engage for Equity best practices to strengthen partnerships, Freirian liberatory education, and empowerment principles and strategies with goals of enhancing health, social, and racial equity. In multiple versions since 2000, produced with Latin American colleagues in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, currently on line is the 2008 version 2, Version 3 was published in Portuguese by a Brazilian public health published in 2024 and is available on Amazon. The English third edition is under contract and available 2027. Contact Nina Wallerstein at nwallerstein@salud.unm.edu fo opportunites specific to your project or site

The New Mexico Community Based Participatory Action and Research Training (NM CBPAR) is the newest education project developed by the UNM Academic Health Department team. The goal of this training is to share best practices around engaging with communities as research partners. Seven modules were created to allow for a hybrid approach of in-person and online learning. The CBPAR curriculum was piloted from December 2022-April 2023 with 70 participants working on health issues existing in New Mexico, collaborating around the culture and history of the state. The second iteration of this training will begin in the fall of 2023 in partnership with NMSU and the southwest region health council and health promotion teams. Select modules form part of the practitioner certificate program.