Fall 2021 Participants

SFU Research Lead: Alexandra Lysova, Assistant Professor, School of Criminology 

Community Partner Organization: The Canadian Centre for Men and Families in Vancouver

Family violence is a pervasive criminal justice and public health issue that affects many women, children, and also men. Male victims often suffer in silence and are less likely than female victims to seek help. Working with the Canadian Centre for Men and Families (CCMF) in Vancouver, the aim of this project is to examine the potential barriers to men’s help-seeking, including norms of traditional masculinity and very few resources in the community. It is important to increase social awareness of men’s experiences of family violence and encourage men to look for support and use the available services. 

CERi will provide funding to support a student researcher and community engagement through interview and focus group participant honoraria. 

SFU Research Lead: Belen Febres-Cordero, PhD Student, School of Communication

Community Partner Organization: Fundación El Churo

Words that Heal is a research and communication project that collaborates with diverse women who have migrated from rural parts of Ecuador to Quito, the country's capital city, and with local community media to explore and share alternative experiences of wellbeing in the context of migration, and to collectively consider their relation to structural factors shaping women's lives and health in this location.  

CERi’s funds will offer crucial support for knowledge mobilization activities and community training, which will contribute to the sustainability of this and future community-led projects. 

SFU Research Lead: Daniel Gan, Postdoctoral Researcher, Gerontology Research Centre

Community Partner Organization: Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver

Preventive mental health implementation science is an emergent field. Potentially relevant concepts (Cohesion, At-homeness, Playfulness) were drawn from various disciplines, including community psychology, environmental gerontology, and occupational therapy. Inputs from older adults help to narrow down relevant CAP factors and questions to be tested. 

Older adults will be presented with "data probes" on (1a) CAP factors, (1b) brain health components,  (2a) possible paths between them, and (2b) personas for whom to design activities. These "probes" will be generated from systematic review and survey data. Older adults are "collaborators" by determining the analytic framework, and collecting and interpreting the survey data.

CER funding was sought to enable the introduction of a new activity based on participants’ inputs, and support pilot program post-test through a research survey.

SFU Research Lead: Jaimy Fischer, PhD Student, Faculty of Health Sciences

Community Partner Organization: Cowichan Valley Youth Services

Data show that marginalized communities tend to have poorer access to safe and reliable transportation, and that individuals from these communities experience disproportionate transport burdens, including from a lack of safe infrastructure and the inability to access essential services. Using a mobility justice framework, this project will examine community experiences of transportation and street safety, with a focus on youth and other community members accessing community social and health services. 

CERi funding will provide critical support for conducting a literature review, initial community engagement, and honoraria for interview and focus group participants. 

SFU Research Lead: Robyn Ilten-Gee, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education

Community Partner Organization: Vancouver Technical School 

The purpose of this project is to create a pathway for excellent youth-produced journalism stories to reach mainstream audiences, and investigate the learning opportunities, and community transformation that take place along this pathway. With new media courses now offered in secondary schools (BC Curriculum, 2016), opportunities for media consumption and production are increasing. Yet, this production often lacks authentic audiences and connections to real-world impact.  Young journalists can help hold systems accountable.  This project initiates a partnership between teacher-researcher teams implementing journalism curriculum in BC secondary schools, and local news outlets. 

CERi funds will assist in website design and production, food and transport for collaborations, and stipends for professional journalists.

SFU Research Lead: Skye Augustine, PhD Student, Faculty of Environment, School of Resource & Environmental Management

Community Partner Organization: Hul’q’umi’num’Lands & Resources Society

Nine Hul’q’umi’num’ and W̱SÁNEĆ communities have been working together on a landscape-scale clam garden restoration experiment, using a social‐ecological systems approach that weaves western and Indigenous knowledge together. 

This project will support the creation of a Hul’q’umi’num’ designed art piece that depicts clam garden social‐ecological dynamics. By centering Indigenous worldviews and methodologies, this artwork will communicate the key components, interpretations, and interactions of these clam gardens, that are difficult to capture through western box and flowchart diagrams; offering a powerful and unique alternative.

CERi funds will allow for the creation and reproduction of this artwork, so that society at large can benefit from the teachings of this community-engaged research.

SFU Research Lead: Travis Salway, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences

Community Partner Organization: No Conversion Canada

Our project will utilize design-based research methods to ensure that conversion therapy survivors’ voices, experiences, and needs are centered throughout our work. We will engage with 12-15 Canadian survivors identified by our community partner organization, No Conversion Canada. Our student research assistant will present participants with a prototype of a subpage of NoConversionCanada.com outlining recovery-oriented resources for survivors of conversion therapy and elicit feedback through structured interviews. Based on our previous experience working with survivors, we will give participants the option of group or individual interviews—acknowledging that some survivors feel safer in 1-on-1 interviews.

CERi funds will fund a research assistant which will enable us to connect with and include survivors throughout the project. This funding will ultimately enable the development of a web directory of resources, specific to SOGIECE survivors. 

SFU Research Lead: Zafar Adeel,  Executive Director, Pacific Water Research Centre, Faculty of Environment

Community Partner Organization: Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation

Like many Indigenous communities in Canada, the Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation has been reporting food insecurity for years. The lack of readily available nutritious, fresh and high quality food can be linked to negative health outcomes, such as diabetes. In collaboration with Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation and other diverse First Nation communities in BC and Alberta, N-EAT is working to achieve food sovereignty while ensuring sustainable access to water and energy.

With CERi’s support, the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation will have access to gardening and traditional plant harvesting resources designed specifically for their territory, supplies for educational community garden engagement events, repairs to their greenhouse, and a much needed community garden shed.