The Chelsea Research Festival Model: Disseminating Research, Bridging Community and Academia, and Centering Youth

Researchers often fail to disseminate their results to the communities they study. Meanwhile, youth in historically marginalized communities face barriers that reduce their likelihood of becoming researchers themselves.

To bridge this research-community divide by creating the Chelsea Research Festival, an annual poster fair held at a public high school in the majority-Latinx city of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

The festival is co-planned by academics and community-based organizations. Posters may be either about Chelsea or conducted by Chelsea community members, including youth.

Buy-in from local organizations, especially the school district, has been key to success. Youth present their own posters alongside academics', and report that the experience is meaningful. Persistence and consistency will be necessary to increase participation in the festival and engage harder-to-reach groups.

Community events like the Chelsea Research Festival may be a useful model for strengthening trust and engagement between academia and communities.