Engaging with the past : reflecting on resilience from community oral history projects

Community oral history projects provide an opportunity for engaged research that brings together academics and a broad range of community members. These projects are primarily built on trust and the quality of the relationships that are formed between those involved. This chapter reflects on learning from two separate community oral history projects and highlights how such approaches can be used to capture the voice of local communities and to build community capacity. The chapter highlights community learning on a number of levels and emphasises that learning and resilience are founded on building relationships which are ethical, respectful and based around community need.