番茄社区

Professional information & research interests

Walter Lepore was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration, and a co-founder of the Salish Sea Training Hub, a formal partnership between the 番茄社区, the Victoria Foundation and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, which provides training in community-based research and Indigenous research methodologies.

Before moving to Canada in 2010, he was an Associate Professor at the Division of Public Administration of Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico. Since 2014, he has been working closely with the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education coordinating and co-leading global research projects and training programs.

From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Lepore acted as the Coordinator of the Knowledge for Change (K4C) Consortium, an initiative of the UNESCO Chair that offers participatory research courses through a global network of training hubs ().

In 2019, he started a two-year post-doctoral research project in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University. His postdoctoral research was focused on the complex relationships among political, social, economic and environmental issues affecting coastal communities, and how to promote cooperative management of ecosystems. From 2019 to 2021, he was an Associate Faculty in the Schools of Leadership Studies, and of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University.

Dr. Lepore has experience conducting inter-disciplinary research on a variety of topics related to the public sector and government organizations, wicked problems, community-university research partnerships, capacity building in community-based research, and the incorporation of scientific and Indigenous knowledge systems for ecosystem conservation and sustainability purposes.

His scholarly work puts emphasis on multi-stakeholder engagement processes that contribute to sustainable development, and on promoting change at community and organizational level (via policy and institutional reforms, and devolution of decision-making authority) and at individual level (through research capacity building).

Dr. Lepore’s current research is focused on two major topics: i) integration of traditional and scientific knowledge systems for community wellbeing and environmental protection, adopting a participatory approach to knowledge creation; and ii) decision making on wicked sustainability problems, using a traditional empirical research design (experiments and statistical analysis). He is currently leading a SSHRC funded project, ‘Bridging Knowledge Cultures’, designed to strengthen community-university research and training partnerships. Using the Knowledge for Change (K4C) Consortium as case study, this global project involves 14 research team in 10 countries (Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Italy, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa).

Dr. Lepore has extensive experience actively teaching graduate courses online and face-to-face in Mexico and Canada, and delivering lectures and courses in professional certificate programs for public officials and practitioners. His teaching and training experience is focused on areas that are directly relevant to the field of public administration, such as quantitative and qualitative research methods, environmental and ecological economics, new public management, organization theory, policy design and evaluation, performance measurement, strategic planning, global leadership, and community development.

As an independent consultant, he has participated in more than 20 policy evaluations and consultancy projects requested by government agencies, arm’s length corporations, non-profit organizations, and international agencies. Dr. Lepore always looks for opportunities to include students as research assistants in his research projects and/or consulting work. In his experience, this is an effective way to expose students to applied and experiential learning that promotes their engagement and employability, and facilitates knowledge retention.

Walter Lepore holds a PhD in Public Administration from the 番茄社区 (2018), with specialization in applied policy evaluation and organizational analysis. He has a Master in Public Policy and Administration (CIDE, Mexico), and a BA in Economics (University Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina).

Research interests

• Wicked problems
• Decision-making and attention processes in the public sector
• Effects of cognitive biases on public administration decisions
• Integration of traditional, local and scientific knowledge systems
• Social-ecological sustainability and environmental governance
• Indigenous conserved and protected areas (IPCAs)
• Multi-stakeholder engagement processes

Selected publications

BOOKS

Tandon, R., Hall, B., Lepore, W. & Singh, W. (Eds.) (2016). Knowledge & Engagement: Building Capacity for the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers. New Delhi: Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). Available at

D. Arellano, W. Lepore, E. Zamudio & F. Blanco (2012). Performance Evaluation Systems for Public Organizations (in Spanish). Mexico City: CIDE.

MANUAL

Tandon, R., Hall, B., Lepore, W. & Singh, W. (Eds.) (2016). Training the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers. A Guide for Trainers. PRIA and 番茄社区.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Hall, B., Lepore, W. & Bhatt, N. (2018). The community-based university. In C. D Wang, M. Sirat, D. A. Razak (eds.), Higher Education in Malaysia. A Critical Review of the Past and Present for the Future, pp. 164-177. Pulau Pinang: Penerbit University Sains Malaysia.

Hall, B., Bhatt, N. & Lepore, W. (2017). Curriculum, Higher Education, and the Public Good. In F. X. Grau, J. Goddard, B. Hall, E. Hazelkorn, R. Tandon (eds.), Higher Education in the World 6. Towards a Socially Responsible University: Balancing the Global with the Local, First edition, pp. 236-245. Girona: Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi).

Tremblay, C., Singh, W. & Lepore, W. (2017). Mutual Learning and Empowering Support: Networks and Balance between Local and Global Demands. In F. X. Grau, J. Goddard, B. Hall, E. Hazelkorn, R. Tandon (eds.), Higher Education in the World 6. Towards a Socially Responsible University: Balancing the Global with the Local, First edition, pp. 391-401. Girona: Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi).

Hall, B., Tandon, R., Lepore, W., Singh, W., Easby, A. & Tremblay, C. (2016). Theoretical Pedagogical Framework for Community-Based Research. In R. Tandon, B. Hall, W. Lepore and W. Singh (eds.), Knowledge & Engagement: Building Capacity for the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers, pp. 7-39. New Delhi: PRIA.

Lepore, W. (2016). Global Survey on Training Community-Based Research in Higher Education Institutions and Civil Society Organizations. In R. Tandon, B. Hall, W. Lepore and W. Singh (eds.), Knowledge & Engagement: Building Capacity for the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers, pp. 40-53. New Delhi: PRIA.

Tandon R., Hall, B., Lepore, W. & Singh, W. (2016). Conclusions. In R. Tandon, B. Hall, W. Lepore and W. Singh (eds.), Knowledge & Engagement: Building Capacity for the Next Generation of Community Based Researchers, pp. 288-298. New Delhi: PRIA.

Lepore, W. & Herrero, M. A. (2015). It Takes Two to Tango: Community-University Research Partnerships in Argentina. In B. Hall, R. Tandon, C. Tremblay (eds.), Strengthening Community University Research Partnerships: Global Perspectives, pp. 53-72. Victoria, BC: 番茄社区.

PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES

Lepore, W., Hall, B. & Tandon, R. (2021). Knowledge for Change Consortium: A decolonising approach to international collaboration in capacity-building in community-based participatory research. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, special issue: Next-Generation Models for Improved Collaboration in International Development, vol. 42, no. 3, September 2021, pp. 347-370.  

Lepore, W., Tandon, R. & Hall, B. (2016). The Next Gen project: A global study on training, teaching and learning community-based research (CBR). Proceedings of the 35th CASAE/ACÉÉA Annual Conference, May 29-31, 2016, University of Calgary, Canada, pp. 191-197.

Arellano, D., Hernández, J. & Lepore, W. (2015). Systemic Corruption: Limits and Challenges of Anti-Corruption Agencies. The case of Argentina (in Spanish). Revista del CLAD Reforma y Democracia, no. 61, pp. 77-106.

Arellano, D., Lepore, W. & Aguilar, I. (2012). Administrative sanctions as anti-corruption mechanism: the case of Mexico at federal level, 2005-2008 (in Spanish). Revista de Gestión Pública, vol. I, no. 2, pp. 189-216.

Mariscal, J. & Lepore, W. (2012). Innovations in the use of information and communication technologies to reduce poverty: the case of Mexico (in Spanish). Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Project document. Available at: , pp. 7-23.

Arellano, D., Lepore, W. & Guajardo, M. (2011). Performance evaluation system: dilemmas for an effective implementation (in Spanish). Revista Internacional de Estadística y Geografía, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 6-17.

Arellano, D. & Lepore, W. (2011). Transparency reforms in the public sector: Beyond the New Economics of Organization. Organization Studies, vol. 32, issue 8, pp. 1029-1050.

Arellano, D., Zamudio, L. & Lepore, W. (2011). Conflicts of interest and the importance of the organizational variable: A comparison among Canada, the US and Mexico. The Open Law Journal, vol. 4, pp. 1-14.

Arellano, D., Lepore, W. & Guajardo, M. (2009). Towards a comprehensive performance evaluation system? Current situation of Mexican federal regulation for the construction and use of performance indicators (in Spanish). Revista Legislativa de Estudios Sociales y de Opinión Pública, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 109-149.

Arellano, D. & Lepore, W. (2009). Power, Path Dependence and New Institutional Economics: Limits and Restrictions of the Contemporary Literature (in Spanish). Gestión y Política Pública, vol. XVIII, no. 2, pp. 253-305.

Arellano, D. & Lepore, W. (2009). Transparency reforms: making organizational transparency endogenous. The case of Mexico (in Spanish). Foro Internacional, vol. XLIX-2, no. 196, pp. 312-341.

Arellano, D. & Lepore, W. (2008). Economic growth and institutions: The influence of external actors. Journal of Regional Studies and Development, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 1-42.

W. Lepore (2008). Virtual Research Networks: A methodological proposal for their evaluation (in Spanish). Estado, Gobierno, Gestión Pública, Revista Chilena de Administración Pública, no. 11, pp. 135-155.

RESEARCH REPORTS

Lepore, W. (2015). Global Trends in Training Community-Based Research in Higher Education Institutions and Civil Society Organizations. Survey Results - July 2015. UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education.

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Lepore, W. (2018). Government attention on wicked problems. 番茄社区. Available at