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What is the Baseline Project?

The Baseline Project is a multi-year community engagement and research initiative that aims to monitor and map the state of human rights across British Columbia. 

Drawing on one of BCOHRC’s key guiding principles—  ‘nothing about us without us’ — this project aims to center the perspectives of people with lived human rights experience and the organizations that support them.

Through networks of Community Connectors, this project aims to bring together those working to advance human rights in our province.

Photo of BCOHRC staff and Community Connectors in Cranbrook, B.C.

The project is designed around the 4 R’s of a ‘rights based’ approach to research:  responsibility, reciprocity, relevance to communities, and reflection among those involved in the research. 

Our approach aims to capture a broad provincial perspective through surveys and indicators as well as an in-depth community perspective through interviews and focus groups.  

From 2022-2024 we plan to do in-depth research in fours communities. Each cycle of community research involves focus groups led by our network of Community Connectors. These Community Connectors are organizations and groups like First Nations governments, community organizations and public institutions. In addition to this, we will conduct interviews and launch a province wide survey for community organizations and service providers working across the province. 

Collectively, these tools establish a baseline of human rights in B.C. which allow us to better monitor and evaluate change over time. As the project evolves in response to what we hear, our methodological approach, timeline and number of communities may also shift. Find out more information about our project methodology.

The goals of the Baseline Project are:

  • To identify human rights issues facing individuals and communities in B.C. and any solutions they have found and tried. This will help us to:
    • Enhance public understanding about the state of human rights across the province, and empower individuals and communities in their own advocacy work
    • Educate decision-makers and leverage opportunities to make systemic change
    • Inform BCOHRC’s priorities and create the baseline against which to assess our work
    • To build relationships within the network of human rights actors in B.C. to enhance the network’s capacity and strength

    Our project will develop two main resources:

    • Community briefs

      • Community briefs will provide in depth analysis of human rights issues, contexts and solutions in each of the four communities participating in the project.
      • These briefs help us to understand pressing human rights issues in these communities.
      • The first four communities we are working with are Cranbrook, Chetwynd, Chilliwack and Terrace.

    • Provincial human rights report

      • This report will provide a broader overview of human rights trends and dynamics across the province by drawing on province wide surveys, polling and interview data.
      • This report aims to monitor progress on key human rights indicators to better evaluate the impact of human rights work.
    Smiling Asian elder

    Who is the Baseline Project for?

    The Baseline Project is a collaboration between BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and passionate individuals, community advocates, researchers and organizations who want to better understand and work to improve the state of human rights across British Columbia. 

    Whether you are an individual who wants to speak about your human rights priorities and solutions, a community organization who can help conduct focus groups or interviews or a researcher with relevant work to contribute, we want to hear from you.

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