The Faculty of Dakwah and Communication held a faculty capacity-building training on Participatory Action Research (PAR) on Thursday, July 2, 2026. The event took place from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room on the second floor of the Faculty of Dakwah and Communication. Attended by faculty members, the training was organized to strengthen academic capacity and deepen lecturers’ understanding of research approaches that actively involve communities in the process of social change.

In the first session, Dr. Agus Afandi, M.Fil.I., a lecturer at the Faculty of Dakwah and Communication of UIN Sunan Ampel, presented the key stages and the role of facilitators in PAR. He explained that PAR requires a social mapping process to identify community conditions, issues, potentials, and relevant stakeholders. This process is followed by community organizing, strategic action, and consolidation to strengthen the participation and commitment of all involved parties. According to him, these stages require facilitators not only to possess theoretical knowledge but also to be able to build and connect networks at various levels, including community members, local leaders, community groups, and relevant stakeholders. Therefore, facilitators need strong communication, mentoring, and community organizing skills.

The next speaker, Prof. Dr. Fajar Hatma Indra Jaya, emphasized that PAR must be oriented toward the interests of the community. He stated that research using the PAR approach should not merely focus on producing academic outputs, but should also encourage communities to identify their own problems, formulate their needs, and determine collective actions for change. In this approach, communities are not positioned as research objects, but as partners who are involved from problem identification and action planning to implementation and evaluation. Through this training, lecturers are expected to develop research that is more responsive to community needs and capable of generating tangible and sustainable impacts.