Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Conceptualizing The Urban Circular Economy: Understanding The Formal-Informal Continuum In London, Ontario, Canada, Martha Paiz-Domingo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research study delves into the contribution of formal and informal practices to the local urban circular economy in London, Ontario, Canada. The circular economy (CE) aims to foster a sustainable economy by closing resource, energy, and materials loops. While there is existing research on formal large-scale industrial activities within the CE, there still is a significant gap in understanding the role of informal CE activities in driving greater CE efforts. This study examined grassroots CE initiatives undertaken by local stakeholders and assesses their significance in promoting urban sustainability. A CE inventory captured a comprehensive overview, documenting 153 actors and …

Smartphones For Smart Eating: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Smartphone Applications On Improving Adolescent Food Knowledge, Heather A. Jantzi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Many Canadian adolescents have unhealthy eating habits which are risk factors for developing chronic diseases later in life. Food literacy plays a role in healthy eating habits but teens in Ontario currently lack sufficient nutrition education learning opportunities in home and school environments. Across health research, smartphones have been utilized as a novel medium to promote learning and alter behaviour. This thesis seeks to understand the effectiveness of smartphone applications at improving food knowledge in adolescents through (i) a systematic review of published interventions, and (ii) by investigating the efficacy of a novel location-based smartphone application. Findings from this thesis …

Understanding Urban Energy Landscapes Through A Territorialization Lens: A Comparative Case Study Of Energy Use In Two Eco-Districts - Parc Marianne, Montpellier And Olympic Village, Vancouver, Dominica Babicki

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To address the problem of transitioning to a lower-carbon energy system this dissertation, addresses energy use in eco-districts to provide insights into what a low carbon future could look like and on how it can contribute to the development of sustainable energy landscapes. To understand the role of energy in eco-districts, an Urban Energy Landscape (UEL) conceptual framework is used to investigate energy distribution and usage in two case study eco-districts, with one located in Montpellier, France (Parc Marianne) and the other in Vancouver, Canada (Olympic Village). To reveal how UELs can lead to the development of sustainable energy landscapes, …

Syrian Refugee Place Attachment And Place Making In Ottawa, On, Kiran Va Unger-Basappa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

How can Syrian refugees’ feelings of attachment towards places and spaces in Ottawa, ON be used to indicate their own sense of integration into Canadian society? Exploring research participants’ place attachments to the city of Ottawa enables a greater understanding of their lived geographies that either hinder or elevate their integration experience. The mixed-method data collection used in this research study include an online qualitative survey, in-depth interviews, and a mental mapping exercise. The analysis of the data is based upon five factors of place attachment used to define integration. These are comfort, security, relationships, involvement, and rootedness. …

For The Love Of A'Se'k: Piktukowaq's (Re)Assertion Of Autonomy In Pursuit Of A Healthier Community, Lands, Waters, And Future Generations, Serena E. Mendizabal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN) has experienced the impacts of being exposed to the effluent treatment facility for a pulp mill for decades, but in 2020, it was announced that the treatment facility would finally close. In my research, I will investigate and compare two sets of PLFN health data from 2014 and 2019 to answer the following research questions: 1) Does community health for the PLFN improve over time when community members have more autonomy over environmental decision-making?; and 2) Does Pictou Landing First Nation's relationship to place improve with more autonomy in environmental decision making? I will use …

Reclaiming Ancestral Territory In Biigtigong Nishnaabeg: Applying Strategies Of Environmental Repossession For Indigenous Decolonization, Elana Nightingale

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Relationships to land are foundational for nurturing knowledge systems, identities, and wellness among Indigenous peoples. As Indigenous peoples resist enduring structures of colonialism and rebuild self-determination, they are pursuing diverse strategies to reclaim and reconnect with their lands and land-based practices. While this movement is growing globally, few empirical studies have explored why particular strategies are developed nor how they are operationalized in place. In partnership with Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, this dissertation applies the concept of environmental repossession to document the spatial strategies being implemented to reoccupy, reconnect with, and reassert Biigtigong’s rights to its ancestral territory. Drawing from Indigenous and …

(Un)Contained Breasts: A Phenomenological Analysis Of Flesh, Femininity And Feelings, Brittany Davey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis offers an original examination of the affective relations between bodies, clothing, and space by examining women’s experiences and feelings towards their breasts and wearing a bra in public. Exploring participants' contained and uncontained experiences with their breasts provided an opportunity to interrogate how heteropatriarchy requires a fashioning or containing of both feelings and flesh in public. Drawing on feminist and queer methodologies including ‘dirty participation’ and autoethnography, I report on insights gathered from twelve walking interviews conducted in Edmonton in the summer of 2019. Walking interviews included participants navigating their everyday geographies twice: once while wearing a bra …

Understanding Changes To Human Mobility Patterns In Ontario, Canada During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ben Klar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Transportation research has shown that socio-demographic factors affect people’s mobility patterns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these effects have changed in accordance with changing mobility needs adapting to the pandemic, including restrictions on in-person gatherings, closure of in-person businesses and working from home. We investigate two gaps in current knowledge in this area of transportation research: to what extent the association between socio-demographic factors and mobility metrics have changed, and how these associations vary across geographic space. We also investigate how closely Ontario’s Public Health Unit boundaries, based on which pandemic restrictions were applied, reflect actual travel regions, and …

Uni·Cen Documentation Report 4: Early Postwar Census Tract Digitization Project, Zack Taylor, Christopher Macdonald Hewitt

UNI-CEN documentation

The Unified Infrastructure for Canadian Census Research, or UNI·CEN, is a comprehensive database of historical and contemporary Canadian aggregate Census data, digital boundary files, and ancillary material, all provided in modern data formats. The goal of the project is to liberate Canadian Census data so that it can be easily used by academic researchers, students, and the public.

The documentation describes the processes used to digitize the 1951, 1956, 1961, and 1966 Census Tract boundaries and associated datasets.

For more information, visit: https://observatory.uwo.ca/unicen/

To access the data, visit: https://borealisdata.ca/dataverse/unicen

Uni·Cen Documentation Report 3: Digital Boundary Files, Zack Taylor, Christopher Macdonald Hewitt

UNI-CEN documentation

The Unified Infrastructure for Canadian Census Research, or UNI·CEN, is a comprehensive database of historical and contemporary Canadian aggregate Census data, digital boundary files, and ancillary material, all provided in modern data formats. The goal of the project is to liberate Canadian Census data so that it can be easily used by academic researchers, students, and the public.

The UNI·CEN Digital Boundary Files series contains versions of all publicly available digital boundary files with shorelines harmonized, at five levels of Census geography.

For more information, visit: https://observatory.uwo.ca/unicen/

To access the data, visit: https://borealisdata.ca/dataverse/unicen

Digital Geographies Of Indigenous Health: Exploring Indigenous Mental Health Content From Turtle Island During Covid-19, Veronica Reitmeier

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The physical and mental health and wellness of Indigenous peoples is cultivated through interrelations with spiritual, cultural, community, and social practices: these practices strengthen identity and belonging. COVID-19 has disrupted many of these relational practices or shifted them to digital environments such as social media. Drawing on a thematic analysis of Tweets from March 2020-December 2021 (n=1137), I address the research question: How are Twitter users across Turtle Island engaging with Indigenous mental health content on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic? Within an Indigenous context, no exploratory research has been conducted on who is engaging with mental health content on …

Measuring The Exposure And Vulnerability Of Transit Riders To Cold Temperatures In London, Ontario, Armin Mahboubi

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Due to the expansion of suburban areas in many cities around the world, accessibility to public transit through walking has become a new challenge for riders. Considering the impacts of climate change in creating more extreme weather, such as extreme cold, heat, or flooding, transit riders may thus be at a higher risk of exposure for various weather-related illnesses (Fraser & Chester, 2016).

Using ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap software, and data collected from City of London’s Open Portal, the United States Geological Survey, Open Mobility Data, and Statistics Canada, the exposure and vulnerability of transit riders to cold temperatures in …

Digital Road Safety Education Intervention For Children: A Pilot Feasibility Study, Julia Pham

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Over the summer, the Active School Travel (AST) Digital Road Safety Education Pilot Feasibility project was developed as part of the School Travel Plan (STP) study, which aims to improve children’s AST behaviour, physical activity, and reduce air pollution around schools. The Pilot Feasibility study will be evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of an online educational intervention that teaches Grade 4 to 6 students about the rules and skills involved in walking and wheeling to and from school (and around their community) daily. The curriculum is broken up into four modules that will consist of readings, an audio/visual resource, …

Plant Closures In Ontario Over The Last Twenty Years, Wenxi Dong

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Manufacturing is an important part of Ontario's economy, and the closure of manufacturing plants has a very large impact on the economy and society. This research project is done by conducting primary research through news articles gathering method to find out the news articles that related to plant closures, production cuts, and layoffs in Ontario. By going though the news from 60 different local news publishers in Ontario, there are about 1156 news articles related to plant closures happened in Ontario over the last twenty years. After that, I undertook a content analysis for each related news article to examine …

Planning For Micromobilities In Canada: Transportation Policy Review, Nathaniel C. Frisbee Ba, Jason Gilliland Phd, Jinhyung Lee Phd

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Canadian municipalities face a complex decision on how they tackle the ‘wicked problem’ of climate change over the next decades. One form of sustainable transportation that municipalities could pursue is light electric vehicles (LEVs), commonly referred to as e-bikes and e-scooters or referred to as a Power Assisted-Bicycle by Transportation Canada. Transportation-related policies and plans of Canadian municipalities were evaluated for their consideration of LEVs. Municipalities were selected based on having a university campus within their boundaries, as this is where the highest density of Canadian population resides. The analysis spreads across all 10 provinces in Canada.  There are significant …

How Urban Outmigration From Toronto Is Going To Impact Rural Ontario, Amanda M. Gutzke

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

These articles examine the outmigration of people from urban Ontario to rural Ontario during the Covid-19 pandemic. These articles use census data from Statistics Canada to explore population growth rates across CMAs and CAs. In addition, data from Statistics Canada is used to demonstrate the impact of intraprovincial migration on small towns and rural Ontario. Moreover, these articles touch upon semi-structured interviews with local elected officials, local administrative officials, and community leaders to showcase the impact of urban outmigration on rural Ontario. These articles argue that housing affordability is one of the most salient consequences of urban outmigration. These articles …

Sustainable Development Goals Within Canadian Universities, Kavanagh S.A Lambert

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created for all countries by the United Nations in 2015 with the aim of transforming the world for the better. Each country is responsible for working towards achieving these SDGs. Within Canada, fifteen research universities known as the U-15 make up the majority of private-sector research and innovation. About 65% of these U-15 institutions have developed their own SDG report/plan, illustrating a high level of initiative and involvement when it comes to the SDGs. Research indicates that as countries continue to improve their efforts towards the SDGs, there will be a need for …

Constructing Scale, Eroding Responsibility: The Politics Of Scoping In Canadian Energy Project Reviews, Yanqi Li

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This project investigates the practice of strategic boundary drawing in energy and resource project reviews. Focusing on applications to Canadian federal and provincial review bodies over the past 20 years, we ask: to what extent have proponents of oil and gas projects, hydroelectric dams, mines etc. used two strategies: 1) ‘slicing’ complex projects into multiple parts and filing separate applications for each, or 2) ‘splicing’ multiple actions together into a single application – with what outcomes for regulatory approval? This study contributes to three areas of scholarship: 1) theoretical work on the relational nature of space and scale; 2) decolonial …

Environmental Influences On E-Cigarette Use Among Young People, Zoe O. Askwith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

E-cigarette use is a recent phenomenon that is growing in prevalence among young people. The devices often contain various substances, such as nicotine, tobacco, cannabis, and/or flavouring and other chemicals, which may lead to addiction, respiratory issues, and impact brain development. Recent studies have identified various features of neighbourhood environments that may be associated with e-cigarette use. This thesis explores elements of the neighbourhood environment that may be influential in e-cigarette use. It includes a systematic review that examines how neighbourhood environments influence e-cigarette use among young people. It also includes a geospatial analysis of how e-cigarette retailers are distributed …

Community Attitudes And Wind Energy Development Types: A Comparative Study In Ontario And Nova Scotia, Sara M. Wilson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wind turbines will continue to be an important part of the green energy transition in Canada. However, opposition to onshore wind projects from potential host communities has increased over time, and install rates are flattening. Dimensions such as NIMBYism, place, distance from turbines and connections to landscapes have proved relatively inadequate for explaining community attitudes. The value of community-based development models over developer-led models has had recent traction, however limited empirical investigation has been done. I used a mail-out mail-back survey in Ontario (n=192) and Nova Scotia (n=170), to communities with (n=172) and without (n=190) a community-based development model. Using …

Climate Change Vulnerability And Perceived Resilience Among Smallholder Farmers In The Upper West Region Of Ghana, Evans Sumabe Batung

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Globally, observed climate change has become a major barrier to agricultural productivity. At the same time, present and projected climate impacts are disproportionately affecting smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where smallholder agriculture constitutes the predominant source of livelihood. Due to the vast agricultural potential of SSA, climate change resilience has been central in several multi-level deliberations over the past few decades. However, existing policies aimed at improving the effects of climate change on food security have overwhelmingly focused on the climatic dimensions of vulnerability, resulting in a lack of knowledge of the role non-climatic factors also play in shaping …

Ontario Active School Travel Policy Qualitative Survey, Erika S. Romanelli-Baird

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Early in 2021, the HEALab worked with Green Communities Canada and Ontario Active School Travel (OAST) to conduct a policy scan of existing by-laws, regulations, programs and policies at school board and municipal level to better understand how they affect students ability to travel actively. The results of this policy scan were used to create a qualitative survey to ask parents, community members and other professionals their opinions on where current gaps exist and how they propose that they can be filled. The results were coded and will be used to guide interviews with key stakeholders and provide further recommendations …

General Transit Feed Specification (Gtfs) Data In Transportation Research: A Review Of Applications And Methods, Stanley Ho

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research falls under the discipline of Urban Geography/ Geographic Information Science (GIS). The objective of this research is to sharing knowledge of a public transportation dataset named General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). Transportation research using GTFS and other open source data can be easily reproduced in many cities and to answer many urban geography questions that involves public transportation. Readers can find that GTFS and related research are conducted globally through the selected collection of journal articles. The demonstration aims to showcase that research using GTFS is feasible and easy to learn by public with little amount of open …

Impacts Of Climate Change On Food Security And Smallholder Livelihoods In Northern Ghana, Kamaldeen Mohammed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change and food insecurity threaten the livelihoods of smallholder communities in the Global South. In the Ghanaian context, climate change and food insecurity are particularly crucial challenges in the northern regions, where most people are engaged in diverse activities in the agricultural sector. Despite tremendous efforts to curtail food insecurity and climate change vulnerability of smallholder households in northern Ghana, food insecurity and climate change remain pervasive in the region, indicating that smallholder adaptive capacities and resilience to the impacts of climate change are not commensurate with the severity of the problems. Emerging literature has indicated that livelihood diversification …

Working Within Constraints: Examining The Effectiveness Of Local Network Governance In Addressing Complex Social Challenges, Merlin R. Chatwin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite sustained efforts, the pervasiveness of complex social challenges continues to confound governments at all scales. While the local manifestations are unique to socio-political and geographic context, issues such as homelessness, poverty, and food insecurity are global in nature. The centrality of local government in identifying and addressing complex social challenges is at the forefront of global agendas like the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is broad agreement on the importance of local governments, yet, how to equip them with the resources and autonomy required to meet complex social challenges remains contentious. Indeed, governance …

Participatory Knowledge Of Motion: Ezhianishinaabebimaadiziyaang Mii Sa Ezhianishinaabeaadisokeyaang. The Way In Which We Live, That Is The Way We Write Stories., Erin E. Huner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This is a dissertation based upon the Customary Ways Dataset, which is comprised of 50 interviews given by Elders from Walpole Island First Nation, in 2010. The over-arching, community-designed research question that guided this dissertation was: How do the Elders of Walpole Island describe their relationship to the land? To answer this question, I co-designed a mixed-methods analysis that included traditional methods from the Social Sciences, including Grounded Theory, to establish emergent themes, and some simple statistical analysis using Chi-square and crosstab analysis. I also utilized methods closely related to the Humanities, deploying Story Mapping, Close Reading and a …

Pollinator People: An Ethnography Of Bees, Bee Advocates And Possibilities For Multispecies Commoning In Toronto And London, On, Rebecca A. Ellis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is growing scientific evidence showing that many important pollinator species are in decline around the world. Bees are the most important pollinators in many parts of the world, and the combination of population declines in wild bees and widespread health problems among domesticated honey bees have potentially devastating impacts on both ecosystem health and agricultural prospects. Some scientists, native bee advocates, and beekeepers argue that cities can provide a refuge for bees from pesticide-laden rural landscapes, which has contributed to an increase in urban, hobbyist beekeeping and pollinator gardening.

This dissertation employs a multispecies ethnography in two cities in …

From Stateless People To Citizens: The Reformulation Of Territory And Identity In India-Bangladesh Border Enclaves, Md Rashedul Alam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation analyzes nation-building in hitherto ungoverned territories of two Indian chhitmahals in Bangladesh and explores the transformation of their residents from stateless Indian nationals to citizens of Bangladesh. Chhitmahals comprised nearly two hundred enclaves located along the Bangladesh-India border that belonged to one country but were located inside another’s territory. Chhitmahals came into existence with the partition of India in 1947; their non-contiguous locations kept them without state administration and citizenship rights. People developed political councils and adopted illicit practices to survive in the absence of the state, but the impossibility of exercising sovereignty in chhitmahals led Bangladesh and …

Spatial Thinking, Gender And Immaterial Affective Labour In The Post-Fordist Academic Library, Karen P. Nicholson

FIMS Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use spatial thinking (space-time) as a lens through which to examine the ways in which the socio-economic conditions and values of the post-Fordist academy work to diminish and even subsume the immaterial affective labour of librarians even as it serves to reproduce the academy. Design/methodology/approach – The research question informing this paper asks, In what ways does spatial thinking help us to better understand the immaterial, invisible and gendered labour of academic librarians’ public service work in the context of the post-Fordist university? This question is explored using a conceptual approach …

Immigrant’S Personal Network In The Integration Process: A Case Study Of Ghanaian Immigrants’ In The Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, Emmanuel Kojo Kyeremeh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation focuses on the integration of recent immigrants in receiving societies by analyzing their personal networks' contribution to this process. Although migration studies have stressed the importance of relationships or im/migrant networks in different spatial contexts, gaps exist in understanding this phenomenon. Specifically, studies on immigrants' networks' structure and composition that indicate their integration level in the host society is missing within the literature. This research, therefore, contributes to our understanding of personal networks. It considers the structure of immigrants’ network by examining the role of their migration project and context of reception towards developing ties in the host …