Project Confluence: Reflections on Addressing Environmental Justice Challenges Through a Hybrid University- and Community-Managed Research Approach

Background: Collaborations between community groups and academics within a university-managed research model (UMRM) can sometimes negatively impact a community, whereas community-owned and -managed research (COMR) can ensure collaborations remain committed to addressing issues of environmental injustice. Methods: Project Confluence leveraged the benefits of UMRM (i.e., access to research grants, interdisciplinary networking) to support the design of COMR projects. We take Project Confluence as a case study to explore the experiences of participants within this hybrid research model project. In this article, we detail iterative steps taken in Project Confluence to facilitate collaborative processes needed to address environmental justice challenges. We then reflect on participants' feedback on this hybrid research model through qualitative data analysis of 12 semistructured interviews. Results: Participants' feedback can be grouped into three main themes: flexibility versus structure, face-to-face versus virtual interaction, and interteam connections. Participants argued that flexibility presented its own challenges and hoped for more structure to guide the activities. They also agreed that while virtual meetings were necessary during the pandemic, the collaboration would be more successful if they were in person. Finally, they enjoyed being within an UMRM umbrella, but wanted to ''see how collaborations could collaborate.'' Conclusion: For future deployment of hybrid research models, we suggest that the UMRM umbrellas provide more structure around the mechanics of collaboration, but be adaptive to the needs of the community groups that lead the COMRs. In addition, although COMRs can organize online, we suggest UMRM meetings take place in person to facilitate better interteam collaboration and support.