Projects in Progress

2020/21 CBR Projects in Progress

#4874
Public Operating Trusts as Non-Political Economic Infrastructure for the Equitable Distribution of Non-Capital Public Funds

Transition Town Peterborough is a not for profit social enterprise focused on building both personal and community resilience through economic localization of life essentials including food ,water, energy, wellness and culture; squarely facing together, at the same time, the compounding Environmental, Energy, Economic and Equality crises that are upon us. The purpose of this research project is to lever local community financing to serve citizens of Peterborough City and County, locally -owned businesses, local charities and not-for-profit organizations in responding to the interconnected Energy, Economic, Environmental and Equity impacts of the Climate/Energy Crisis. The City and County of Peterborough have not yet faced the enormous costs of adapting to the worst effects of the Climate Crisis, nor do they have the non-political infrastructure to equitably distribute funds to build the local economy.

Research Theme(s): Culture, Environmental; Social; Economic

#4874
Public Operating Trusts as Non-Political Economic Infrastructure for the Equitable Distribution of Non-Capital Public Funds

Kawartha Land Trust is conserving the natural environment and enhancing quality of life in the Kawarthas. We do this by accepting donations of land and/or interests in land and engaging the community in support of this work to ensure that these lands are cared for, in perpetuity. Like you, the supporters, volunteers and staff of the Kawartha Land Trust value a healthy environment and are working to protect important natural spaces in the Kawarthas. The purpose of this research project is to better understand community use and experience of natural spaces in Peterborough County. Student researchers will work with KLT staff and volunteers to develop a community survey that can be delivered in person at trail heads in the Summer of 2021.  In addition to identifying key questions, students will pilot the survey with a select number of users to gain insight and improve survey design and methodology. Student researchers will also identify best practices for survey delivery, identify key survey sites across Peterborough County, review existing reports and strategies from municipal and land managers regarding natural area recreation, and consult with area land managers to identify what they want to know about natural area users locally. The research will assist KLT in creating new accessible nature reserves in our area.

Research Theme(s): Culture, Environmental; Social

#4909
Community-Based Researcher(s) in Residence 

Established in 1966, Arthur Newspaper is the Trent University and Peterborough-Nogojiwanong Independent Press that aims to produce a bi-weekly newspaper during the academic year. Our goal as a print publication is to be valuable, constructive, informative and critical of developments in the Peterborough-Nogojiwanong and Trent community. Arthur acknowledges its privileged position in being free from commercial and administrative controls. We strive to protect that position by defending our editorial autonomy, and inviting unique avenues of conversation on educational, social, economic, environmental and political issues.

The project will create opportunities for students to do research in the community about the community, whether that is in the university community or in the Peterborough-Nogojiwanong. These will build opportunities for connection and collaboration, as well as promotion of community happenings.

The Community-Based Researcher in Residence, will work with the Editors to identify a sub-project across the following areas: Sports, Politics- Municipal, Provincial, Federal, Student Affairs- Trent Administration, Trent Central Student Association, Trent International Student Association. Strong candidates for these projects are students in Journalism, Political Studies, Cultural Studies, International Development Studies, and Canadian Studies. 

Research Theme(s): Social, Economic, Cultural, Environmental

#4943
Economic Impact of Financial Institution Closures to Rural Communities 

 In the past number of years two townships in the County of Peterborough have been served noticed that the sole financial institution in the community will be closing its doors (TD in Millbrook, and RBC in Apsley). This project will study the social, challenges faced by residents of rural communities when they are left without a banking institution, as well as possible responses to these challenges. 

Research Themes: Economic, Social

#4945
Ayalik Fund 

The Ayalik Fund gives Inuit youth who would otherwise not have such opportunities a chance to build self-esteem and confidence through challenging outdoor adventure, meeting other young Canadians, and social-cultural exploration. It will be very meaningful and useful for us and the youth of Nunavut to have a well-documented, academically-based research study of the impact on Inuit youth of their participation in our programs. For this research, you will develop an appropriate survey protocol, with interviews and/or questionnaires for program participants.

Research Theme(s): Social; Cultural; Environmental

#4947 National Database of Canadian Women's Anti-Violence Organizations, Services, and Programs

As part of the impact campaign being developed in association with the smallest steps, a documentary about violence against women activism, Nicole Bedford Films is conducting research on the best way to reach and engage new (and existing) activists. For this research, we would like to gain an understanding of the communications successes and pitfalls experienced by a geographically-representative sample of anti-violence organizations and activist-focused documentaries. Our goal with this project is to (a) Understand what types of successful techniques organizations and documentaries are using to increase and engage their supporters (2) What mistakes they are making that are potentially hindering their ability to reach new supporters, and (3) What techniques are scalable to different team sizes. We hope to share the final report with anti-violence organizations so they can learn from it and adapt their own strategies accordingly. Additionally, we plan to use the report to develop our documentary’s marketing strategy for our impact campaign.

The student will assist with data collection and complete a short case study/report on how anti-violence organizations use and can improve organizational visibility and audience engagement via digital platforms. This report will be shared on the smallest steps’ website and promoted among our partners.

Research Theme(s): Social

#4967 Ecological Assessment of KLT Conservation Properties 

Kawartha Land Trust relies on volunteers to assess, plan and implement the management of our nature reserves. Documenting and mapping ecological communities on a property can be important for conservation organizations when make management decisions, tracking and organizing species observations, submitting applications to government programs, and communicating with the public. In short – a system for classifying protected ecosystems can be a lens for viewing work that benefits the ecological features present, and engages the community in understanding our properties. Though this project we will perform ecological land classification on a number of already protected properties, and on properties that are in the process of being donated to the Kawartha Land Trust. This will be an important part of understanding and managing these properties. We will also target certain properties or ecosites for an inventory of plants important for indigenous traditional uses. 

Research Theme(s): Environmental

#4968 Teach Outside the Box Program Review 

TEACH Outside the Box is a participatory educational model that includes a 40 hour interactive workshop series and a 35 hour community placements. The TEACH program supports educators to become agents for change in their schools and communities. TEACH hopes to firmly unite theory and practice, as well as foster a network of educators engaged in social justice. TEACH is open to education students, community educators, and all those interested in social justice education. 

The purpose of the project will be a program review of TEACH Outside the Box. Since our program runs on a very small budget, we would like to assess the sustainability of the program. We hope that this will be a valuable opportunity for a student to engage in researching about a not-for-profit program that has strong ties to community, and has benefits for local organizations, students, and educators. The student will be sitting in our committee meeting and workshops to assess the program and committee for effectiveness and sustainability. They may be analyzing data collected by the Coordinator from participant evaluations.

Research Theme(s): Social; Cultural

#4970 The John Ball Legacy Project 

Mr. Ball worked for CGE in Peterborough from 1963 – 1997 in various departments. His acute memory and careful documentation of activities and meetings at the plant provide an unprecedented account for guidance in planning and policies for the future. The purpose of this project is to gather all of the work of John Ball and all of the work initiated in direct response to his determination to bring justice to workers and their families who developed occupational disease as a result of working in the GE Peterborough plant. This work and documentation will be gathered and documented in a website so that it is available for current and future generations. 

This project would necessitate contacting numerous groups and individuals to ensure a robust compilation of the information and materials was documented. The mind map above is the a very simple beginning of determining the scope of this project. It would also include being able to organize the information into a website.

Research Theme(s): Social; Cultural

#4972 John Ball Files Project 

In honour of the late John Ball August 25 1933 - May 12 2018. Following on the 14 year history of the OEHCP, our JBLP collective is determined to document and make available both to the Peterborough community and beyond, the legacy of the late GE worker/OEHCP mentor John Ball:  - GE worker/activist & Occupational & Environmental Health Coalition – Peterborough (OEHCP) mentor.

The purpose of this project is to create an archival digital documentation of the John Ball files. Over John’s 50 year commitment of to the health and safety of the workers at GE Peterborough, his documents regarding health and safety committee meetings, correspondence with provincial government, WSIB process for compensation, stories, observations and more.  Some initial sorting has been done. It’s 2020 and documents in boxes are no longer of use. Much of the history of the GE Peterborough plant would be lost if the files are not digitized and preserved for future research and reference. The student would make files accessible in an organized fashion by sorting, cataloguing, scanning, cross-referencing and compiling into a useful digitized resource for the future. All of this information would then be included in the John Ball Legacy website.

Research Theme(s): Social

#4980 Accessing Queer Needs in Peterborough-Nogojiwanong

The Trent Queer Collective strives to build and strengthen an active, visible and inclusive Queer community at Trent University and in the wider Peterborough area by connecting people to each other, to supportive networks, to information resources, and to Queer media.  The goal of this project is to better understand the needs and expectations of 2SLGBTQ+ folks in the Peterborough-Nogojiwanong area related to community needs, so organizations like the Trent Queer Collective may better provide for them. Research questions may include, but are not limited to: What is the community looking for from the organizations that represent them?; How can community organizations provide support for queer folks?; Which community organizations are already providing supports for queer folks, what do those supports look like, and where are the gaps in support? Students may be expected to participate in bi-weekly meetings with the TQC, complete a program evaluation, develop a survey, and conduct interviews to answer these questions.

Research Theme(s): Social, Cultural

#4981 ReStore Customer Research 

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region is a non-profit that works to provide affordable housing solutions for low income households.  To date we have built and provided a hand up into homeownership to 39 local families.  Currently we are embarking on our biggest project ever, a 41 unit fully universal design condo building in Peterborough. The purpose of the project is to understand our ReStore customers by exploring attitudes, needs, motivations, and behavior as it relates to our business.  The goal is to help our organization identify, understand, analyze, and retain our customers.  The more we understand our customers, the better we will be able to market to them and create products and services that meet their needs and grow our business.  

The stronger and more successful our ReStores become, the more social impact we will have in terms of building and providing more safe, secure, and affordable homes for local low-income households.  We will also be able to make a bigger environmental impact if we can continue to divert more unwanted materials from landfill.  Anther major social impact we can improve on is providing low cost options for building and household materials,  appliances, furniture and clothing – there really isn’t any other entity that is providing the low cost options the way ReStore is able to.  ReStores also offer employment and work experience opportunities for students, those with disabilities, those on OW or ODSP and seniors.  ReStores also offer volunteer opportunities to community which can have a profound impact for those that are socially isolated, retired or in need of upgrading/gaining skills.

And obviously the stronger and mores successful our ReStores can become, the more we can help our local economy, not only by offering more employment opportunities, but also by us purchasing more good and services through our ramped up home building program.

Research Theme(s): Social, Cultural

#4986 Assessing the Social Impact of the Clean Slate Enterprise Model

Clean Slate Enterprises is pursuing the establishment of a (multiple) social enterprise(s) in the Peterborough area. We anticipate that our ability to obtain initial and ongoing grant and loan monies including approaching government departments will be greatly determined by our ability to demonstrate the social outcomes of those enterprises. There are various tools out there to measure social outcomes. This includes several federal ministries that have started implementing pilot programs to accomplish a number of tasks including measurement models to support the direction of social value outcomes. Clean Slate Enterprise is looking for a student to undertake research to look into methods for measuring social outcomes and developing a research ‘tool’ that tracks and measures those.

Research Theme(s): Social, Economic

#4987 Updating the Research into the Feasibility of a Social Enterprise model for a Temporary Employment Service Provider in Peterborough 

Clean Slate Enterprises is pursuing the establishment of a (multiple) social enterprise(s) in the Peterborough area. A report was issued in December 2016 on this model for the Social Planning Council. The report was commissioned to explore the “prospects of establishing a social enterprise that helps people get back to work with temporary and transitional jobs, acting as a bridge to full-time employment. This non-profit temporary employment provider would serve the Peterborough City and County. In this scenario the temporary employment model is seen as an alternative employment solution that would gradually yield to better job prospects for local job-seekers, as well as supplement incomes for those in receipt of ODSP or OW, while improving upon the temporary employment industry standards and the working conditions for those using for-profit temporary employment services.” The report concludes that there is room for a non-profit temp staffing provider in the area and there are numerous ways a new and improved model can address some of the concerning issues in the temp employment services and laid out a series of recommendations.

The data and findings are now about four years old. The purpose of the proposed research is to determine if the current circumstance continue to dictate that such an operation would be viable. Specific questions might include:

1.            Are there any changes since the report was published within either the local temporary agencies, the job seekers’ market or the industry’s need which would impact the matter of the viability of the proposed operation? What are those changes? How would they impact the question of viability?

2.            Are there other factors that currently exist or are projected to come into play (for example, social procurement policies/infrastructure money combined with community benefit agreements) which might impact viability?

3.            What industries are more likely to hire staff from this operation and can those industry players be specifically named?

Research Theme(s): Social, Economic

#4988 Peterborough Indigenous Peoples' Court - Best Practices and Evaluative Criteria

The purpose of the project is to provide best practices in the creation of an IPC for Peterborough along with criteria which can be used to evaluate its effect on an ongoing basis. The project will take into account Gladue and alternative practices in the Criminal Court. Research questions to be considered include 1) What are the best practices currently being used in IPCs both in Ontario and around the world? And 2) What metrics are most useful in assessing the success of such a court? The student will conduct a literature review/environmental scan, speak with local First Nations about goal-setting, conduct an electronic survey or formal interview with existing Ontario IPCs, and create a program evaluation measure.

Research Theme(s): Social, Cultural

#4990 Impact Assessment of the Happy Wanderers

The Happy Wanderers runs under the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. Free tax clinics are a crucial service in the Peterborough area, yet over the last few years, volunteers have run into trouble when running these tax clinics at certain venues where issues of insurance arise. Furthermore, they often receive calls from individuals who missed the tax clinics in the area that they were from. Issues such as these have hindered the organization from reaching the amount of people who need the service. The organization is hoping to learn from other free tax clinics in Canada, particularly others working through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program in Ontario. By comparing best practices through a literature review and targeted survey, the research collected will benefit the organization and the community members it serves through an enhanced program delivery model.

Research Theme(s): Social, Economic

#4991 Examining Service Delivery Enhancements for High-Risk Individuals with Serious Mental Illness 

The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) Regional HSJCC functions to identify and influence system wide pressures and/or changes that support the decriminalization, deinstitutionalization and de-stigmatization of people who experience mental health, addiction and related conditions who come into contact with the Justice System. 

Those with Serious Mental Illness (schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder) and personality disorders (anti-social) as well as Dual Diagnosed individuals and those with intellectual disabilities continue to be the hardest to treat, house and engage with. This occurs across all systems from hospital, housing and mental health and substance use organizations. What we have is a policy issue that continues to fail to effectively intervene with this population until they have seriously harmed themselves or someone else. How can our current models of care, create atmospheres where we learn to view the behavioural issues of SMI populations as a symptom of mental illness rather than a cause? How do our organizations view and respond to those with SMI who pose as high risk?  How can our community, or across the Four Counties, equip our systems to better respond and interact with the SMI population who will continue to have interactions with the police and prison system as a result of the failure of all other systems? To answer these questions, the student will partake in a literature review and survey or interview process to identify appropriate best practices for delivery of services to SMI clients across the service region and/or drawing on provincial, national, or global models.

Research Theme(s): Social 

#4996 Identifying Best Practices for a Resource Approach to Complex Client Populations Within HKPR 

The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) Regional HSJCC functions to identify and influence system wide pressures and/or changes that support the decriminalization, deinstitutionalization and de-stigmatization of people who experience mental health, addiction and related conditions who come into contact with the Justice System. The HKPR Region covers Peterborough City and County, City of Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton and Northumberland Counties.

The Peterborough regional HSJCC is looking to better understand the resourcing needs of the complex client populations in order to identify best practices for supporting these individuals. The current delivery of services and resources to the complex client populations is often intensive, despite which many individuals continue to struggle to live safely and independently. The fundamental question being asked: ‘Is there a better way to provide resources and supports to complex client populations in the HKPR service area?

Research Theme(s): Social

#4998 Identifying Housing and Support Strategies for Incarcerated/Substance Abuser Clients

The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) Regional HSJCC functions to identify and influence system wide pressures and/or changes that support the decriminalization, deinstitutionalization and de-stigmatization of people who experience mental health, addiction and related conditions who come into contact with the Justice System. The HKPR Region covers Peterborough City and County, City of Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton and Northumberland Counties.

The HSJCC finds that clients living with addiction and clients who have been released from incarceration often experience greater difficulty in securing housing and accessing community supports. We are looking for a student researcher to examine the historical context of mental health stigma and mental health institutions, along with the closure of mental health institutions and the emergence of the community-based mental health approach.  We would like to know what the current methods of housing and level of support these clients receive? Looking across Ontario, what are the current best practices in the delivery of the community-based mental health approach?

Research Theme(s): Social 

#5003 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Audiences 

Since its founding in 1948, The Arthritis Society has been the largest non‐government funder of arthritis research in Canada, investing more than $200 million in projects that have led to breakthroughs in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people with arthritis.  The mission of the Arthritis Society is to invest in cutting-edge research, proactive advocacy and innovative solutions that will deliver better health outcomes for people affected by arthritis. 

As the Arthritis Society moves towards a larger digital focus rather than in-person program delivery, our aim is to meet the needs of all 6 million Canadians living with arthritis.  This involves identifying barriers to arthritis-related information and care that individuals may face, particularly equity-seeking and under-served communities.  There are staged goals to this multi-year project. In Year 1 (2020-2021), through literature reviews and consultation with key community leaders, we aim to identify best practices in conducting a community health needs assessment, begin to identify barriers to arthritis- or other health-related information and care, as well as identify best practices in addressing these barriers.            

For the purposes of this project, under-served and equity-seeking communities may include, but are not limited to, people who self-identify as one or more of the following:  Indigenous; racialized; 2SLGBTQIA+; living with one or more disabilities; newcomers to Canada; English/French language learners; low-income; seniors; homeless or street-involved; living in remote or rural communities; incarcerated/institutionalized; as well as under-represented cultural and/or faith communities.  This initiative will take an intersectional approach, being mindful of how the numerous interwoven elements of an individual’s identity impact how they experience the world and their arthritis journey.

#5003 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Audiences 

The “magneto” project is a long-running endeavor aiming to produce high-quality scientific data in digital format for a large corpus of historical analog magnetogram records from Ontario. The data was recorded and stored by the precursor to the National Resources Canada Geomagnetic Laboratory, and they are the sponsor of this project. The research involved in this project is the completion and development of algorithms for the successful digitization of analog magnetic field traces from over 100 years of historical daily records. This has been completed as a proof-of-concept (2014-15, Queen’s University), extended as part of Masters thesis work (2017-19, Trent University), and pushed forward in a summer research project (2020, Trent University). What remains is the finalization of testing and implementation, and then execution of the algorithms on the large corpus of images available (approximately 26,000 daily records).

#5007 COVID-19 vaccination readiness in the Peterborough Region

Peterborough Public Health works with partners to promote and protect the health of communities in Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations and the County and City of Peterborough.  Through community programs and by developing better health policies, Peterborough Public Health works to improve the living conditions of those in need for the benefit of all. The goal of this project is to determine the extent to which local residents of Peterborough City and County are supportive of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, which public officials they trust, and what are the best ways to communicate with them. It is hoped this information will enable PPH to better target its marketing efforts when a vaccine comes available, and strategize the best way to address local anti-vaxxers. Through more effective marketing, it is hoped to increased vaccination rates that will protect more of the local population and prevent the wider spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Themes: Social

Search our collection of local research reports, research posters, books, periodicals and reference materials through the Digital Collections at Trent University.

Our library is for you!

Located at the TCRC office, our library is the place to access 400+ local research reports on a broad range of topics identified by community groups since 1995. We also have a selection of books, periodicals and reference materials on community-based research, community service-learning, community development and experiential education.

Other local collections
Researchers may wish to access other local library collections. Some suggestions include: Trent Valley Archives, Trent University Archives, Peterborough Museum and Archives and the Peterborough Public Library.

Calling all past TCRC researchers!

Often, work done for an individual organization can contribute to other projects or make up a portion of a larger body of work. It is in these connections and the availability of the information that the greater good of the community may be served. If you have completed a CBR project, please make sure that the TCRC Library has a copy of your report and/or final products! It will help future researchers and community members!

To view completed CBR project resources in Haliburton County, visit the Haliburton County Collection or drop by the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research office.