News
Connecting communities and researchers.
The Community-University Partnership (CUP) for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families is a research centre in the School of Public Health that includes voices from across Edmonton and beyond, including researchers, nonprofit leaders, students, and community members who collaborate on real-world issues affecting children, families, and vulnerable communities.
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Focus Areas
Across our Focus Areas, CUP creates environments where researchers and communities collaborate to improve the lives of children, youth, and equity-deserving groups. Visit our Focus Area pages to learn more about our projects and initiatives.
Children and Families
CUP uses research and evidence to improve programs, practices, and policies that affect children and families. Our work contributes to early childhood development (ECD) and the early learning and child care (ELCC) sector.
Evaluation Capacity Building
CUP helps communities enhance their ability to perform effective, culturally relevant evaluations. We connect communities to research, resources, and students who participate in hands-on evaluation projects.
Newcomer Health + Wellbeing
CUP creates opportunities for newcomer and refugee communities to collaborate with researchers and students, leading to strengthened services, programs, and advocacy efforts.
Rural Community Development
CUP and our rural partners are building foundational knowledge about how to solve major challenges facing rural Canada, such as income inequality, employment precarity, and disproportionately low access to education.
Meet the Director
Welcome to the Community-University Partnership (CUP). For 26 years, we have served as a unique bridge between the University of Alberta and communities. Founded on a commitment to shared ownership, CUP has grown into a thriving hub of excellence in community-engaged research that supports the well-being of children, youth, families, and communities.
Today, CUP embraces five critical roles we play in the broader community to drive meaningful change: capacity builders, community connectors, systems thinkers, co-creators, and activators. This means we bring together community, government, and university partners to better understand issues that impact children and families across Alberta. We help community groups access university expertise and help researchers learn from the wisdom of the community. We also create opportunities for students to grow and learn as they work alongside community partners.
Together, we can better understand complex issues and create real-world solutions that inform decision making and ultimately improve wellbeing. We invite you to explore our work and reach out to get involved.
Karen Edwards
Director
26
years of excellence in community-based research
33
research projects*
96
organizational partners involved in CUP projects*
9,300
student hours applied to community projects*
*2025 reporting period (Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025)
Announcements
Resources
Follow the links below to access CUP resources, including our annual reports, a curated library of policy-related resources, and miscellaneous guides and tools: