The ENGHUM project has developed decolonizing and participatory strategies of research and collaboration with minority/indigenous communities that have significantly expanded and refined previous endeavors and practices. The project has made it possible to bridge significant gaps in current research in the humanities, including its relatively limited impact on the broader society, the lack of connection between research and its practical applications, restricted access to generated knowledge and the division between linguistic and cultural studies. The ENGHUM responded to these challenges by developing and testing solutions for collaboration and knowledge-transfer gaps between academics, members of local communities/ethnic minorities and non-academic organizations. The project has shown the potential both of networking between academic and non-academic partners and of creating ‘communities of practice’ for efficient language revitalization and heritage management activities. This way of working directly impacts the empowerment of Indigenous researchers and community members, and the decolonization of the academy by recognizing the value of community-based and community-driven research. It demonstrates that this kind of collaboration and empowerment carries the potential for abolishing inequalities in researcher-participant relations because it creates spaces where Indigenous people assume greater control over their role in research endeavors and their relationships with external scholars.
In terms of documenting language and creating opportunities for revitalization, ENGHUM has contributed to the awareness that collaborative, engaged research empowers native speakers, preparing them to perform different roles inside and outside their communities, and situates them as agents of the research process, free to pursue Indigenous ways of generating knowledge. The project has successfully mobilized documentary materials for teaching, revitalization activities and community-oriented programs and developed teaching curricula and methodologies for minority/endangered languages. It has successfully disseminated knowledge about linguistic diversity and contributed to more positive attitudes in the broader society toward endangered languages and the preservation of multicultural and multilingual heritage. ENGHUM has also fostered the dissemination of knowledge about economic opportunities linked to linguistic-cultural heritage by providing useful, practical solutions and know-how to scholars, students, educators and community members. By constructing bridges between the academy, ethnic/linguistic minority communities, language activists and NGOs, ENGHUM paves the way for other innovative, socially engaged and collaborative projects in its participating institutions and communities and beyond.
