The Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games will be both a major stimulus and a wonderful showcase for our region. I’m delighted that Brock University is a key partner in the preparations and hosting of this remarkable event.

Tim Kenyon

Brock University Vice-President, Research

Brock has long been an active and engaged partner in the community. As a regional leader, we’ve established fruitful relationships with those around the corner and around the world, making a difference in the lives of those around us and producing ground-breaking results in the process. 

Aiding us in this work are the information and insights we gain from our research collaborations. From this perspective, the upcoming Games can be seen as a very exciting “living laboratory” of sorts. 

This enables Brock to take the lead on something highly innovative and unprecedented: creating the first “academic” Canada Summer Games. 

Research-wise, we’re in a position to document and study the process of planning and hosting a major sport event, something that hasn’t been done on such a large scale in the past.  

There are amazing opportunities to investigate the athletic, economic, political, social and cultural impacts that hosting a major sport event such as a Canada Games have on the immediate community and surrounding area.  

These and other diverse, multidisciplinary research areas will involve researchers from all areas of the University, from Humanities to Business to Social Sciences to Education to the Sciences and Applied Health Sciences.  

In these early days, we’re discussing ideas for research projects and ways to support these activities. We’re also calling on the community to become researchers and storytellers!  

The time leading up to, during, and after the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games provides a brilliant snapshot of this moment in our history.  

Data collected by the community – videos, photographs, journals, essays, reports, etc. – over the next two years can form a baseline for future research not only on the Games but on Niagara’s political, economic, social, cultural and other development. 

The Library is working on creating a depository for these community data that researchers can potentially tap into. More details of this “community research” will be announced in the coming months. 

The Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games is Niagara’s chance to create a legacy for generations to come. I look forward to seeing the results of our community’s creativity and commitment to give, and get, the most out of this very special moment. 

Jonathan Younker

Chair, Head of Library Systems and Technologies

Welcome to the Research subcommittee page, chaired by Jonathan Younker, Head, Library Systems and Technologies.

The committee is examining the ways faculty and students can leverage the Games for research purposes, and, in turn, provide the Games organizers with data that will help them in the future.

The Research Committee, chaired by Jonathan Younker, Head, Library Systems and Technologies, is examining the ways faculty members can leverage the Games for research purposes, and, in turn, provide the organizers with data that will help them in the future.

The Research Committee is looking at funding options to provide researchers with some backing to take on Games-related projects. For example, one of the big arguments for regions and municipalities to take on the challenge of hosting major games is the economic impact of doing so. This makes the analyzation of economic data before, during and after the games extremely important.

Another example of related research would be examining historical results data to see how athletic performances have changed over the years and what may have played a role in those changes.

We have a wonderful opportunity to provide students, researchers, faculty, and members of the public a wealth of information about the Games: peer-reviewed research, data from the Games themselves, stories from the athletes, spectators and community members, etc.  It’s exciting for all of us on this Research Committee to be able to be involved in this project at this early stage, and to be able to support researchers with funding opportunities, digital infrastructure, and a showcase for Games-related research to be shared with the public.