Research Shop Project Summaries and Reports
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Environmental Demonstration Hubs: Orienting Concepts and Applied Examples
. This report provides a compilation of working models, central concepts, and promising practices related to environmentally oriented community hubs, designed to assist planners of the Yorklands Green Hub.
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Say "Yes" to Good Food Education: A Good Food Education Resource Guide
. This guide was completed as part of a collaborative project co-led with Sustain Ontario, and is aimed at educators or community organizers who are interested in helping connect children and youth to good food.
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Dance-Based Research: Process and Products of Collaboration
. This report outlines a collaborative project between IMAGEO artworks, Musagetes, and the Research Shop, aimed at exploring
'What is in transition?'
in Guelph using dance-based research. See also
video from a movement-based workshop
from this project.
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Soils & Organic Food Production
. Created in collaboration with the
Organic Council of Ontario
, the underlying premise of this research is the hypothesis that organic farming methods can support healthy soil systems, which in turn, produce healthy food without reliance on chemical inputs.
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Organic vs. Conventional Dairy: A Comparison
. Created in collaboration with the
Organic Council of Ontario
, this report examines existing research to compare the health benefits of organic versus conventional dairy products.
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Using Emergency Food Services in Guelph Wellington
. This report was created in partnership with the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination (PTF), and examines the experiences and opinions of emergency food service users.
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Accessing Emergency Food Services: A Review of Eligibility Strategies
. This report was created in partnership with the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination (PTF), and investigates both the literature pertaining to eligibility strategies and the types of eligibility practices currently used in Guelph-Wellington.
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Report for the City of Guelph: Community Engagement Policies in National and International Municipalities
. The Research Shop was engaged by the City of Guelph to examine policies, frameworks, and tools on community engagement from municipalities across Canada, Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.A. See also
more information from the City of Guelph
.
Appendix A:
Community Engagement Policies in Comparator Municipalities
Appendix B:
Community Engagement Policies in National Cities
Appendix C:
Community Engagement Policies in Australia, the UK, and USA
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Pathways to Withdrawal Management Services: Experiences of Service Users
. Carried out for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, this research investigated service users’ experiences of getting to withdrawal management (detox) services through thematic analysis of interview data.
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Food Security Scan of Dufferin County
.This examination of the current state of food security work in Dufferin county was conducted by the Research Shop in collaboration with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health.
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Farmer Foodbank Linkages.
Carried out in collaboration with FarmStart, this report presents the results of a study on opportunities for farmer-food bank partnerships in Ontario.
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Immigrants, Agriculture, and Settlement Outside the GTA
. Prepared in collaboration with FarmStart, this report focuses on settlement services for new Canadians in four municipalities in Ontario where there is significant potential for agricultural production: Durham Region, London and Middlesex County, Guelph and Wellington County, and Hamilton-Wentworth Region.
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Report for the City of Guelph: Community Engagement Policies in National and International Municipalities
. The aim of the project was to identify policies, frameworks, and tools on community engagement from comparator municipalities provincially, nationally, and internationally.
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Examining Organizations Supporting Positive Social Change: A Report Prepared for 10 Carden
. Based on interviews with representatives from seven non-profit organizations in Canada supporting positive social change and/or social innovation, this report examines how these organizations work in innovative ways with respect to governance, membership, decision-making, and power sharing.
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Teaching and Learning in a Digital World: A Developmental Evaluation of Virtual Learning Environments in the Upper Grand and York Region District School Boards.
This report summarizes the findings of a mixed methods developmental evaluation of a virtual learning environment (VLE) pilot program.
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Social Service Collaboration: Moving Towards Integration of Forms and Services.
This report reviews considerations underlying efforts for collaboration and integration in the field of social services including models of engagement, integration frameworks and challenges to integration.
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Community-Level Energy Efficiency Programs: A Literature Review of Best Practices for Promotion and Recruitment
. This review of the social science literature identifies successful and unsuccessful strategies for promoting community-level energy efficiency.
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Emergency Food Services in Guelph-Wellington: A Scan of the Current Systems and Thoughts on the Future
. This report presents the findings of a research team from ICES/the Research Shop on the emergency food service system in Guelph-Wellington. Strengths and weaknesses of the current system, local programs and services to improve food security, and best practices and new strategies in emergency food provision and food security are discussed.
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Collaboration: Priorities and Promising Practices. Collaborating for Community Impact Research Report
. The Research Shop was engaged to investigate examples and promising practices in collaboration. Based on a literature review, key informant interviews, and an online survey of collaboration needs and priorities among participating organizations, this report presents the highlights from the research findings, beginning with a definition of collaboration.
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Integrating a Sustainable Food Systems Framework into Guelph’s Official Plan
. This report discusses the process of integrating a sustainable food systems lens into Guelph's Official Plan. In partnership with the Guelph Wellington Food Roundtable, Research Shop interns conducted a literature review of sustainable and local food systems in order to gain a broader understanding of best practices in the policy realm. With these resources, a detailed set of policy updates were compiled and layered over the existing Official Plan framework (see Appendix I).
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Affordable Access to Recreation: Policies, Procedures and Programs in Wellington, Dufferin and Guelph
. Prepared for
in motion
in collaboration with the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this report presents results from a survey of service providers on policies and procedures related to affordable access to recreation. Implications for removing barriers to physical activity are discussed.
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Guaranteed Annual Income
. Prepared for the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this report examines Guaranteed Annual Income, a concept that has dominated social security reform dialogue in Canada since the 1960s. The report reviews two models of GAI, the negative income tax model and the universal demogrant model, and considers the benefits and downfalls of each.
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Report to Transition Guelph
. Research Shop interns developed and carried out an outreach campaign designed to help achieve a successful launch of
Transition Guelph
in the local community. This report outlines considerations underlying the campaign strategy, the campaign strategy itself, reflections on lessons learned, and recommendations for similar undertakings.
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The Cost of Poverty.
Prepared for the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this report summarizes current literature on the social costs of poverty. Major themes from the literature comprise costs related health care, crime, intergenerational poverty, and loss of productivity. An review of existing policy and programs is provided.
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Living Wage
. As requested by the Income Security Action Group of the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this report provides the reader a basic understanding of a living wage. Using examples from Metro Vancouver and Toronto, the report explores the advantages and barriers that a living wage creates for employers, employees, families and individuals.
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Report on the Task Force for Poverty Elimination "Success Stories" Project
. The rapid response project gathered success stories from representatives of the working/action groups of the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
. This report that outlines the methodologies used in the project, summarizes the major themes that arose from the responses, and provides suggestions for the continued collection of this data in the future.
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Final Report - The Community Research Project: Exploring Economic Hardship in Guelph
. This report outlines a community based research process that took place in Guelph and Wellington County during the winter, spring and summer of 2010. For this project, community members with lived experience of poverty were trained to work as community researchers in order to identify gaps in services and programs and issues with accessing services and programs for those living in poverty.
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Community Scan of Collaborations in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph.
Together with the Healthy Communities Ontario Fund, the Research Shop conducted a scan of the types of collaborations related to healthy communities that exist in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG). This comprehensive report provides insight into the current state of collaborations in WDG, including their key characteristics and strategic approaches, as well as an analysis of strengths and challenges of existing collaborations.
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Rapid Response Research
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Using tablets and assistive technology to support children and adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome.
This rapid response report carried out for
Centennial CVI
in Guelph contains a literature review of how iPad tablets and other assistive technology help to support children and adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome.
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Identifying the Optimal Multi-User Document Sharing Platform
. This report investigates solutions for an affordable multi-user document-sharing platform to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Local Food Systems Research Group.
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Getting to Withdrawal Management Services in Guelph-Wellington
. This rapid response report prepared for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy examines service providers' perspectives about barriers to clients “getting to withdrawal management services” and use of these services based on distance of client residence from the treatment facility.
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Children Services Integration
. This report examines outcomes of integration in children services using a review of the grey and academic literature, as well as informational interviews conducted with four Ontario child welfare agencies.
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Furniture Banks
. Prepared for the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this rapid response report by intern Rachel Schumann examines different furniture bank models, the impacts of furniture banks, and the need for a furniture bank in Guelph and Wellington.
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Youth Harm Reduction Programs in Ontario: Expansion Report.
This rapid response research addresses the ways in which programs and shelters in cities closer in size to Guelph manage harm reduction and/or needle exchange programs, as well as issues related to health and safety.
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Integration of Youth and Adult Addiction Services
. Prepared by intern Andrea LaMarre for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, this rapid response report investigates the question of whether youth and adult addiction services should be integrated or separated. An annotated bibliography is appended to the report.
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Older Adults Living on a Low Income
. Prepared for the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this rapid response report by intern Rachel Schumann examines issues for older adults living on a low income, including housing, transportation, social participation, and social inclusion.
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The Impact of Credit on Secure Housing
. Prepared for the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, this rapid response report by intern Rachel Schumann examines the impacts of credit checks on attaining housing for people living in poverty and what can be done to help those with poor credit.
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Rapid response research by intern Rachel Lau contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
Public Park Use and Low Income Neighbourhoods
.
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Youth Harm Reduction Programs in Ontario
. This rapid response research by intern Andrea LaMarre for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy explores barriers, tensions, and strategies related to providing harm reduction services to youth, with a focus on needle exchange programs. A summary report is available
here
.
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Rapid response research by intern Rachel Lau contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
Emergency Food: Expiration & Best Before Dates.
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Youth Substance Misuse Prevention Programs
. This research brief was prepared by intern Andrea LaMarre for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. Compiled from literature reviews created by a third-year course on corrections and penology, the report outlines findings on peer-led prevention programs for drug and alcohol misuse among youth.
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Rapid response research by intern Maria L. Cabal Garces contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
An Ontario Housing Benefit: A Proposal for Low-Income Ontarians
.
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Developing a Communication Strategy for the Guelph Wellington Food Round Table
. This rapid response research brief by intern Petrina Aberdeen for the Guelph Wellington Food Round Table (
GWFRT
) provides a literature review and environmental scan of communication strategies used for promoting food security in Ontario, identifying methods that have been found to be useful.
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Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy
Housing First
Research
. This short research brief was conducted by intern Andrea LaMarre for the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy Committee. Housing First is a strategy focusing on providing non-contingent housing to chronically homeless and the traditionally hard-to-house including individuals with mental illness and/or addictions. The following report outlines existing Housing First programs across the country, detailing their service delivery, depth and, where applicable, funding sources.
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Withdrawal Management Services and the Effect of Distance.
This short rapid response research brief was conducted by intern Andrea LaMarre for Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy Committee. It investigates the effect of geographic proximity of withdrawal management services on treatment for addictions. Distance is examined as a barrier to accessing addictions treatment in general and withdrawal management services in particular in the following report. Potential solutions for mitigating this barrier are also presented.
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Rapid response research by intern Jane Robson contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
The Intersection of Health, Transportation, and Poverty.
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Rapid response research by intern Maria L. Cabal Garces contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
Energy Poverty
.
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Rapid response research by intern Jacqueline de Guzman contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research profile on
Warming and Cooling Centres
.
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Rapid response research by interns Jane Robson and Maria L. Cabal Garces contributed to a
comparison chart
about where the four main federal parties stood on key poverty issues in the May 2011 election. This information was collected from party platforms for the the
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
, as a companion to their
voter’s guide
.
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Rapid response research by intern Amanda Peters contributed to a
Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination
research report on the
Impact of Public Transit Fees on Low Income Families and Individuals in Guelph
.
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Other Research Shop Documents
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Qualitative Assessment of Green Impact Guelph's Efficiency Home Visit and Retrofit Pilot Project
. This community based research project draws on data collected by University of Guelph students as part of a Winter 2012 course in qualitative methods to conduct an assessment of the Green Impact Guelph “Efficient Home Visit and Retrofit” Pilot Program.
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Guelph-Wellington Food Charter Toolkit
. This Food Charter Toolkit aims to help facilitate action towards the six principles outlined in the Guelph-Wellington Food Charter by providing tips and region-specific information and resources. This toolkit was prepared by Research Shop interns Ryan Hayhurst and Kelly Janz, in collaboration with the Guelph-Wellington Food Round Table’s Food Policy and Charter working groups.
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Mentoring as Inclusion Strategy for Racialized Faculty
. Resulting from a collaborative research project involving the Rights and Equity Office (HREO) at the University of Guelph and the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship/Research Shop, this report examines the value of mentoring as a strategy for inclusion for racialized faculty members at Canadian universities.
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The Canadian Index of Wellbeing: Measuring What Matters
. This presentation to the Research, Learning and Evaluation Action Group of the Guelph Wellington Taskforce for Poverty Elimination reviews the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, including some implications for its adoption as an indicator of quality of life or community wellbeing.
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Program Logic Models
. This presentation provides an overview of why program logic models (logical frameworks) are useful, their constituent pieces, and describes a practice exercise for creating a logic model.
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Guaranteed Annual Income: Developing Goals and Motivation to Address Work Disincentive
. This literature review explores the concept of a Guarenteed Annual Income (GAI), including outcomes of GAI programs, barriers to GAI adoption, and potential educational and motivational solutions.
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The Research Shop: Negotiating Ethics in Collaborative Community Work.
This presentation to the CAREB-Ontario (Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards) conference reviews how ongoing relationships between Research Shop students, staff, community partners, faculty, and the REB facilitate agile project development and collaboration while maintaining ethical requirements.
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The Research Shop.
Originally published in the
May 2011 edition
of the
International Journal of Community Based Research
(
http://www.scienceshops.org
), this article by ICES and Research Shop director Linda Hawkins provides an overview of The Research Shop and its approach to community engagement and community-based research.
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Perceptions of Educators Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation of a Behavior Analysis Approach
. Supported by the Research Shop, this survey of educators evaluated the impact of an outreach team providing training in applied behaviour analysis. This poster was originally presented at the
Association for Behavior Analysts International
conference in May 2011.
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