Collaborations

  • Building better research through community partnerships

    Monday, March 01, 2021 | By

    Blog Contributor: Erica Harper

    On January 26th, 2020 Brock hosted a workshop called “Building better research through community partnerships”, which was the 11th event in the Building Better Research series – a collaboration between Brock’s Office of Research Services and the Library. The panelists included the following faculty and staff members:

    • Meaghan Rusnell – Director, Government and Community Engagement
    • Julie Rorison – Manager, Community Relations
    • Madelyn Law – Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning; Professor of Health Sciences
    • Sid Segalowitz – Professor Emeritus and Director, Centre for Lifespan Development Research
    • Ryan Plummer – Professor and Director, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC)

    All panelists detailed their experiences of conducting research through community partnerships, including Dr. Plummer who discussed the benefits of collaborating with the ESRC’s partners. The Centre now has over eight formalized agreements with partners such as the Trail Assets and Tourism Initiative with the Niagara Parks Commission, the Partnership for Freshwater Resilience with World Wildlife Fund-Canada, and the Brock-Lincoln Living Lab, to name a few.

    According to Dr. Plummer, here are three main benefits of working with community partners:

    • The ability to co-create knowledge in a way that honours and gives a voice to the partners in the community and bridges the gap between scientific knowledge and the needs of the local partners and communities. Dr. Plummer provided a recent example of how collaborating with partners is the key to meeting the needs of the community. He explained that the ESRC’s partners at Niagara Parks were dealing with a dramatic increase in tourism at the start of the pandemic due to the public wanting to get out of their homes and explore local greenspaces.

    Instead of having around 220,000 people visit the Niagara Glen per season, the added need for greenspaces led to over 300,000 visitors during the 2020 season. Dr. Plummer mentioned it was important to quickly pivot within the partnership to start responding to an acute community need to support people’s wellbeing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  This was possible due to a good working relationship with the partners at the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC), and they were able to create a video that showcased best practices for trail safety amid COVID-19 and beyond.

    • Every year (pre-pandemic), Master of Sustainability students go on a field trip to visit the ESRC’s community partners such as NPC, the Town of Lincoln, and Vineland, to name a few. During this trip, students have the ability to meet with partners and receive an incredible hands-on experience. This important fieldtrip can even inspire students to take on research related to the partners, which brings us to our last main benefit of engaging in community partnerships. To learn more about this engaging experience and how learning outside the classroom is beneficial for students, read this blog post.
    • Through meeting with partners and attending partnership events, thesis students within the MS program are able to look at concerns and needs that partners have and can tailor their research to address these needs. For example, Angela Mallette, a past graduate student, presented her research regarding Niagara Parks. Within two weeks of successfully defending her thesis, two Niagara Parks managers at the partnership’s bi-annual roundtable were able to implement her recommendations. Ultimately, student research related to partnerships has the power to impact hundreds of thousands of people in the community and beyond.

    All in all, engaging in community partnerships can lead to a number of impactful research projects and help our community by making a difference in the environment while also enhancing the student experience.

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Event, Innovative Partnership, Town of Lincoln

  • Assessing Higher Education Institutions (HEI) – Community Partnerships Performance, Monitoring & Evaluation

    Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | By

    Blog Contributor: Erica Harper

    Partnerships between HEIs and communities are becoming increasingly important worldwide. More focus is therefore being placed on how these partnerships are created, how they transform over time, and they can achieve. Assessing the performance of HEI-community partnerships is essential for understanding their value (social, economic, and environmental value), accountability and transparency.

    Brock researchers carried out a national study to understand HEI-community partnerships and their performance in Canada. All HEIs in Canada with an explicit mandate related to community relationships were identified. A questionnaire was distributed to their offices, with the results illuminating the present state of partnership efforts. The key findings of this first part of this study include:

    • 25% of HEIs do not employ any monitoring or evaluation of their community partnerships
    • 67% of HEI community-focussed offices have an operating budget of $50,000 or more
    • 67% reported having over 30 active partnerships at their institutions

    A second questionnaire, sent to individuals at HEIs who are involved in HEI-community partnerships, as well as community partners, looked at how performance of partnerships should be assessed. A three-fold framework (inputs, process, outcomes) of indicators and measures was validated. The key findings of this second part of the study include what the most important inputs, processes, and outcomes are for effective partnership performance:

    • Motivation is the most important input
    • Communication is the most important process
    • Learning is the most important outcome

    These results bridge an important gap in the literature and you can learn more by accessing the Assessing Partnership Performance, Monitoring, & Evaluation webpage or by the reading the most recent publication by the ESRC research team in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, The issue of performance in Higher education institution – Community partnerships: A Canadian perspective.

    To learn more we included some helpful links below:

    Categories: Applied Research, Blog, Collaborations, Innovative Partnership

  • NPC Speaker Series Wrap Up

    Wednesday, November 04, 2020 | By

    Blog Contributors: Allison Clark & Savannah Stuart

    NPC Webinar Screenshot

    Dr. Adam Shoalts was the last guest in the NPC Stewardship Speaker Series, and what an adventurous note to end on! Adam is well known for his novels and storytelling, detailing his incredible solo adventures through the Northern Canadian Wilderness. He brings with him a rare understanding and view of the vast landscape of the Arctic – one of the largest untouched wilderness areas left in the entire world. With a PhD in history from McMaster University and extensive experience orienteering and navigating wilderness settings, Adam has a keen sense of natural history and geography. Through his humorous and compelling talk, Adam translated knowledge and experiences to the viewers in a tangible way. 

    Adam’s most recent exploration was a solo adventure through the Canadian Artic, from East to West. He began this trip by foot in the spring, as rivers were still ice covered. His canoe was shipped to the Mackenzie River Delta and by then, the ice had melted and he was able to continue his journey by paddling and portaging. Near the end, he was racing to arrive at his destination before the Arctic winter took hold of the land again. Many questions were brought forth from viewers at home, such as food inquiries, how he was able to spend so much time in solitude, preparation, and lots of gear questions. Specific details of the trip are found in his novel, “Beyond the Trees”, which can be purchased on the Niagara Parks website. Judging by the captivity and engagement of the crowd, we can only assume that the novel will keep you on the edge of your seat!  

    With this last presentation, we are saddened to wrap up our speaker series. It has been a joy to come together (virtually) and learn about different aspects of the environment, stewardship, and sustainability. Our diverse selection of speakers brought an array of teachings to us and visited topics such as: Traditional ecological knowledge, adaptive capacity of communities, the current state of fresh water in Ontario, and the importance of wild spaces and connecting with nature. We feel that this series captured the transdisciplinary nature of environmental stewardship and sustainability and are hopeful that our audience took away inspiration and new ideas. Thank you to all who were able to join us! 

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Event, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor

  • Dr. Jessica Blythe’s presentation and an introduction to our next speaker, Elizabeth Hendriks

    Monday, October 19, 2020 | By

    Blog Contributor: Allison Clark 

    Niagara Parks and Brock University were delighted to have Dr. Jessica Blythe lead the second session of October’s Speaker Series. Dr. Blythe is an Assistant Professor at Brock University and her research is centered around transformations in sustainability, equitable ocean governance, and climate change adaptation. Dr. Blythe’s talk encouraged the audience to think critically about resilience and climate change at a local and global scale. Dr. Blythe explained that transformations towards a more sustainable future will require focus on both environmental systems and social systems. For example, the costs of environmental change are distributed unevenly across geographic location, race, income, class, and age. Therefore, resilience to climate change will require social and environmental action. 

    Dr. Blythe explained how transformation towards a more sustainable and equitable future occurs in three phases: diagnose, imagine, and action. The diagnose phase includes identifying the root causes of climate change, for example, increased greenhouse gas emissions. The imagine phase includes imagining a more just, fair, inclusive world, where people can work together towards an environmentally sustainable future. The action phase includes the actions needed to address climate change from a sustainable lens. Action will require people from every sector and every part of society and will involve both bottom up and top down interventions. The key take-away from Dr. Blythe’s talk was that a transformation – towards a more sustainable and equitable future – is already underway. Dr. Blythe concluded by stating that we each have a role to play in creating a more sustainable future and that while doing so, we must engage with compassion, care, and collaboration. 

    The next session in this speaker series will be led by Elizabeth Hendriks, and is titled: Connecting the Land, Water and Climate Impact to the Region. Ms. Hendriks is the Vice President of WWF Canada’s freshwater program, where she works in water policy. In 2017, Ms. Hendriks led the release of the Watershed Reports, which is a program assessing freshwater ecosystem health. Additionally, Ms. Hendrik’s leads Canada’s Freshwater team, working to address declines in freshwater ecosystems through innovative remediation techniques. In Ms. Hendrik’s talk, she will discuss impacts and threats to Canada’s freshwater resources. This talk will highlight some of the ways we, as citizens of Canada and the Niagara region, can help address and fight biodiversity loss and climate change across Canada, and in the Great Lakes. We hope you can join us on October 21st at 7pm for this online session. 

    To learn more about this speaker series, and Brock’s partnership with the Niagara Parks Commission, please click here.  

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor

  • NPC Stewardship Series: Teachings from Brian Kon, and an Introduction to Dr. Jessica Blythe

    Tuesday, October 13, 2020 | By

    Blog Contributor: Savannah Stuart

    Jessica Blythe

    The Environmental Sustainability Research Centre was thrilled to have our fall speaker series commence with Brian Kon, the chair of the Niagara Region Métis Council, renowned artist, and storyteller, among many other things. Brian offered the audience a change to engage with a different perspective of understanding and knowing the earth. He shared teachings and stories from his culture and explained how the translation of many words within the Métis language beautifully illustrate a deep connection with the earth. For example, “dancing” could be translated to “the Northern Lights”. 

    Brian also reminded us of the recent history of residential schools within Canada, the last one closing in 1996. He shared some of his journey in reconnecting with his culture- one that was taken away from many. Brian highlighted that it is important to educate on this history, as we can learn from the past to ensure a better future. Resources to further educate yourself on the discussed history include “Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada” by Chelsea Vowel and the “Indigenous Canada”- a free course available through the University of Alberta.  

    The evening ended with a call to action right in our very own backyards and neighbourhoods. Brian introduced us to different plants that are commonly found in our region and invited us to research further into the uses and characteristics of these plants. Having an awareness and understanding of the different organisms around us can have an impact on the way we relate to place and further, care for it.  

    The next speaker in the series is Dr. Jessica Blythe, a professor and researcher here at Brock University in the ESRC. Her background spans through disciplines as she connects social and ecological issues within her work. She is interested in resilience within communities and how resilience may relate to adaptation and transformation. Pulling from the grassroots film “Resilience: transforming our community”, Dr. Blythe will discuss resilience and climate change here in the Niagara Region.  Click here to register for the event!  

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor

  • Introduction to the NPC Stewardship Speaker Series

    Friday, October 02, 2020 | By

    Blog Contributor: Allison Clark

      Brock University and the Niagara Parks Commission are pleased to announce the upcoming Environmental Speaker Series, happening this October. This series will be entirely free and will take place online, every Wednesday at 7pm. Throughout this series, four speakers will discuss topics such as: traditional ecological knowledge, sustainability, climate change, and anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment. To register, please click here. You will be taken to the Niagara Parks Speaker Series website, where you can enter your name and email to receive your weekly links for the live stream sessions. 

    The first speaker of this series will be Brian Kon. Mr. Kon is a leader within the Indigenous Community, acting as the Chair of the Niagara Region Métis Council and sitting on the Niagara Indigenous Community Advisory Board, focused on reducing homelessness of Indigenous people. Mr. Kon is an ambassador for the St. Catharines annual Celebration of Nations and is the owner of a diversity management consulting company (Sterling Frazer Associates), dedicated to helping organizations better understand disabled and minority populations. Currently, Mr. Kon is a member of the organizing committee for the Landscape of Nations, dedicated to re-writing the history of the War of 1812 through an Indigenous lens to be incorporated in Canadian school curriculums. Furthermore, Mr. Kon volunteers his time in local schools, helping to educate students and staff on Métis culture and heritage. Mr. Kon is also a visual artist, internationally recognized for his Dot Art, which is a modern version of traditional  artwork created by Métis people. 

    On Wednesday, October 7th, Mr. Kon will lead his talk titled: Mother Earth – We Need Her, She Doesn’t Need Us. Here, Mr. Kon will explain how, for thousands of years, the Indigenous people of Turtle Island followed the notion of respecting and caring for Mother Earth. As modern day people grow aware of environmental and climatic changes, many are looking back on traditional knowledge and ways of life. We hope you can join Mr. Kon as he discusses this topic next week. 

    To learn more about the partnership with the Niagara Parks Commission, please click here.  

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor

  • Niagara Adapts Partnership Presentations at Brock University

    Wednesday, April 22, 2020 | By

    Niagara Adapts Team Photo

    Niagara Adapts brings together seven municipalities within the Niagara Region of Ontario — Grimsby, Lincoln, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Pelham, St. Catharines and Welland, as well as the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre at Brock University, to tackle climate change in the Region.

    Blog Contributor: April Sorenson

    On February 25th, representatives from municipalities within the Niagara Region of Ontario came together to present to the current Master of Sustainability graduate students about an innovative partnership called Niagara Adapts. Niagara Adapts is a partnership that works to reduce the risks associated with climate change and increase resilience in the Niagara Region. On the 25th, a representative from each of seven municipalities gave a presentation on the specific climate change issues their municipality is facing along with their adaptation efforts.  

    Deanna Allen, the Climate Change Coordinator for the Town of Pelham, said that her municipality is predicting many challenges related to climate change. Some of these challenges include summer droughts leading to water supply shortages, more frequent episodes of rain resulting in severe washouts and flooding, a higher likelihood of experiencing heat stress, freezing rain events that could damage hydro lines, and an increased demand for municipal services. Many of the other municipal representatives presented similar concerns. Olivia Groff, the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for St. Catharines, said that there have been 56 extreme weather warnings in the past two years alone.  

    Fortunately, several municipalities have already taken steps to adapt to climate change. James Sticca, Manager of Environmental Services at the City of Niagara Falls, outlined the steps they’ve taken to adapt to climate change, including a Rain Barrel Purchasing Program, a Low Flow Toilet Rebate Program, and a Water Monitoring Device Rebate Program. Many of the presenters were hopeful that through continued collaboration with Niagara Adapts and local communities, real progress will be made in adapting to climate change.  

    Municipal governments are at the front lines of climate change. Many are stepping up to ensure the safety and well–being of their residents. The Town of Lincoln, the Town of Pelham, St. Catharines, Welland and The City of Niagara Falls have provided more information about their climate change adaptation efforts and their contribution to Niagara Adapts on their websites.  

    These presentations are available online via the ESRC YouTube Channel. 

    Links to the climate vulnerability fact sheets can be found on the Niagara Adapts Website

    Categories: Blog, Collaborations, Innovative Partnership, Niagara Adapts, SSAS Student Contributor

  • Researchers Investigate the High Seas with the help of Virtual Reality

    Friday, March 20, 2020 | By

    If you walked through the newly opened Rankin Family Pavilion on March 10th and 11th, you likely noticed Virtual Reality stations that were set up in the atrium. What you may not have realized is that these stations were part of an ongoing research project led by Brock professors Dr. Jessica Blythe, Dr. Gary Pickering and Dr. Julia Baird.  Their research is enabled by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant they received in 2019 worth $74,970.

    With colleagues from around the world, Drs. Blythe, Pickering and Baird are exploring whether virtual reality can shape knowledge of and attitudes towards the high seas (which refers to the open ocean beyond national boundaries). The idea, Dr. Blythe mentioned, is to see whether being immersed in a future scenario, that shows what the ocean might look like in the year 2050, changes how people feel about the issues that are currently affecting the high seas, including overfishing, pollution and inequitable access to marine resources (including genetic material and oil).  Ultimately, they aim to understand if virtual reality can boost public support for oceans that are normally “out of sight and out of mind”, which might encourage better protection of what has been called Earth’s final frontier.

    As virtual reality becomes increasingly popular for a wide variety of purposes, the ESRC is honoured to have home unit faculty members Drs. Blythe, Baird, along with ESRC Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Gary Pickering, leading this cutting edge research!

    Categories: Applied Research, Blog, Collaborations

  • Affirming Stewardship in Niagara Parks

    Wednesday, March 18, 2020 | By

    Blog Contributor: Bridget McGlynn

    This past week on March 12th, 2020, the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) ratified the stewardship plan “Nurturing environmental stewardship in the Niagara Parks: Strategic plan 2020-2030”. The ratification of the stewardship plan at the recent Commission meeting marks another accomplishment for the Excellence in Environmental Stewardship Initiative (EESI), a 5-year partnership between the NPC and Brock University. The co-creation of the stewardship plan by NPC and Brock University’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) began in April 2018 when the Memorandum of Understanding creating the EESI was signed. The goals and objectives in the 2020-2030 Stewardship Action Plan dovetail with the overarching NPC Strategic Plan. The stewardship action plan also incorporates operationalizing monitoring and evaluation strategies and will continue to push forward efforts for the co-creation and mobilization of knowledge.  

    At the commission meeting, both NPC’s Steve Barnhart, Senior Director, Parks, Environment & Culture, and the ESRC’s Dr. Ryan Plummer spoke to the ongoing success of the partnership. To date, the partnership has been invaluable for furthering quality environmental stewardship research and for closing the research to action gap. Multiple Master of Sustainability students have completed thesis research within the partnership and a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (Drs. Julia Baird, Marilyne Jollineau, Ryan Plummer) was secured to investigate approaches in monitoring and evaluating and the effectiveness of environmental stewardship initiatives in Niagara Parks. The partnership is committed to ensuring academic research is transformed into action, as demonstrated by the inaugural EESI partnership round table in Fall 2019, where Angela Mallette, a Master of Sustainability graduate, discussed her research findings with NPC staff and leadership. The partnership also seeks to broaden engagement with stewardship initiatives through continuing to enhance student learning through experiential education opportunities and increasing community participation and learning opportunities.  

    This commission meeting also included the signing Memorandum of Understanding between NPC, Brock University and Ontario Trails Council, demonstrating a continued commitment to innovative partnerships.  

    Categories: Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor

  • Brock and Niagara Parks expand partnership to study trail network

    Monday, March 16, 2020 | By

    THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 | by

    Greg Finn, Provost and Vice-President, Brock University, and Sandie Bellows, Niagara Parks Chair, sign the additional collaboration agreement between Brock and Niagara Parks. Garrett Hutson, Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University (left) and David Adames, Niagara Parks CEO (right), look on.

    A partnership built on the mutual goal of environmental stewardship is taking another step forward.

    Two years after signing an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Niagara Parks Commission and Brock University signed an additional collaboration agreement on Thursday, March 12 at Niagara Parks’ public Commission Meeting that will help the Parks assess and sustainably grow its extensive trail network.

    To be known as the Trails Assets and Tourism Initiative, the new partnership involves Brock and Niagara Parks, along with the Ontario Trails Council.

    Trails are an important natural asset of Niagara Parks. From the world-renowned Niagara Glen, which houses some of the province’s most sensitive plant and animal species, to the Niagara River Recreation Trail, which provides 53 kilometres of paved trails along the Niagara River from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Fort Erie, trail networks allow guests to connect with nature, learn about the unique environment here in Niagara and embrace healthy physical activities.

    “Over the past few years, we have seen a huge growth in trail use and demand for trail and cycle tourism in Niagara Parks,” said Niagara Parks Chair Sandie Bellows. “This initiative will allow us to work together with our community partners to respond to that growth and demand while respecting our shared commitment to the environment.”

    The agreement will include a needs assessment to help Niagara Parks with the trails master planning process, as well as experiential education opportunities for Brock students and initiatives led by Brock faculty members and grad students. Annual public events are also being planned to help pass along the results of the partnership to the community.

    Ontario Trails Council (OTC), a not-for-profit organization that promotes the development, preservation, management and use of recreational trails in Ontario, will bring its expertise in managing and operating recreational trails to the project.

    “The Ontario Trails Council is very excited to be working with the Niagara Parks Commission and Brock University, two national leaders in outdoor recreation and conservation,” said Wayne Terryberry, President of the Ontario Trails Council. “These organizations have a very successful history of cooperation, and the OTC can add it’s trail management expertise in a joint effort to enhance and develop the trail economy and healthy active living in Niagara Parks and the Niagara Peninsula.”

    The Trails Assets and Tourism Initiative builds on both the current MOU between Niagara Parks and Brock University, as well as the recent initiative to establish a binational trail network within the Niagara River corridor. In an MOU signed in August 2019, Niagara Parks joined the Niagara River Greenway Commission and the Buffalo Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority to officially connect the recreational trail networks on both sides of the border.

    This second MOU between Niagara Parks and Brock University is also part of Brock’s ongoing commitment to being a good community partner. In the past two years, it has signed similar collaborative agreements with Niagara Health, the Town of Lincoln, Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold, Niagara Folk Arts, Pathstone Mental Health and others.

    Brock Vice-President, Academic Greg Finn said the partnerships meet Brock’s Strategic Plan priorities of expanding research capacity, offering a transformational academic experience for students and enhancing the life and vitality of the local region and beyond.

    “These collaborations are not just photo opportunities — they make a difference to people and the planet every day,” said Finn. “We are particularly pleased that Brock and Niagara Parks are working together in an area that is crucial to us all — the sustainability of our environment.”

    The 2018 MOU between Brock and Niagara Parks has been an unquestionable success, with highlights noted in the infographic attached to this media release.

    Known as the Excellence in Environmental Stewardship Initiative, the partnership has allowed Niagara Parks to access Brock researchers to further improve its sustainability and environmental stewardship goals, while giving Brock faculty and students an iconic landscape to actively engage in sustainability science.

    “We had high hopes when entering into the MOU with Niagara Parks two years ago and those expectations have continually been exceeded,” said Ryan Plummer, Director and Professor of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre. “We’ve had a vibrant and engaging partnership with meaningful impacts for both parties. It is exciting to see this second collaboration taking shape with a broader constellation of partners and I have every confidence it will be equally successful.”

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    Categories: Collaborations, Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Innovative Partnership

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