NipU profs get a million bucks to study poverty in Northern Ontario
Nipissing University News Release *********************** Nipissing University professors Dr. Katrina Srigley and Dr. Dean Bavington, Canada Research Chair in Environmental History, will be working with Laurentian University professor, Dr.
Nipissing University professors Dr. Katrina Srigley and Dr. Dean Bavington, Canada Research Chair in Environmental History, will be working with Laurentian University professor, Dr. Carol Kauppi to address poverty, homelessness and migration issues in northern Ontario. Kauppi was awarded $1 million by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and has assembled a team of researchers called the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) for the project. The CURA grant program aims to break down barriers that have historically existed between university researchers and citizens in local communities.
CURA will bring together a variety of partners: First Nations, First Nations service organizations, municipalities, health organizations and universities. Professors from Laurentian University, University of Sudbury, Nipissing University, Université de Hearst and the University of Western Ontario will take part in the project. Partners are Aboriginal Community Advocates and N’Swakamok Native Friendship Centre from Sudbury, Timmins Native Friendship Centre, Moosonee Native Friendship Centre, Ininew Friendship Centre and Ga Beh Shoo In Aboriginal Men’s Shelter in Cochrane, Good Samaritan Inn in Timmins, James Bay General Hospital, Sudbury and District Health Unit, CMHA Sudbury, Centre de santé communautaire de Sudbury, the towns of Timmins and Smooth Rock Falls, and three First Nations in the western James Bay region – Kashechewan, Fort Albany and Moose Cree.
Mobilizing communities and developing practices and programs to address poverty, homelessness and migration issues in northern Ontario are key goals for this team of researchers. The five-year project will examine the underlying causes of poverty, poor housing, homelessness, and out-migration in northern Ontario to gain knowledge on these issues, understand their impact on northern Ontario, and give communities the tools they need to ensure that the most basic human needs of their citizens are met.
"What makes this grant particularly exciting is its basis in research partnerships between universities and communities in the North and, as a consequence, its potential to collectively address the needs of northern communities in areas of housing, employment, and community infrastructure," said Katrina Srigley
The project partners will use traditional and innovative research methods in the communities, including design charrette, an intensive, hands-on workshop that bring people from different disciplines and backgrounds together to explore design options for housing within a particular area or site. The goal of the charrette process is to capture the vision, values, and ideas of the community while professional designers and architects sketch-out in real-time the visions expressed by the participants. Community members will also be given cameras and recorders to capture their environment through the use of photo-voice and digital story-telling techniques.
CURA grants, among the largest offered by SSHRC, support joint research projects between post-secondary institutions and community-based organizations.
