News

In May of 2020, the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Guelph Chapter was awarded with the Ontario Council of CFUW Recognition Award.

In May of 2019, two students were hired to participate in a new-to-us model of engagement led by CESI Director Dr. Elizabeth Jackson and CESI Research Associate Dr.

CESI is very pleased to be a part of the new, seven-year research partnership Engendering Disability-Inclusive Development (EDID). Led by U of G political science professor Dr. Deborah Stienstra, the partnership will involve collaboration between researchers, governments, and advocacy organizations in Canada, Haiti, South Africa, and Vietnam.

For three years, the University of Guelph’s Certificate in Knowledge Mobilization has helped professionals in a variety of sectors gain skills in knowledge mobilization and evidence-based decision making.

This blog post was written by CESI Research Associate, Dr. Mary Ferguson

I have been working with CESI as a part-time Research Associate for the last 7 years, beginning my work here at around the same time as I began work on my PhD in Rural Studies, completed in 2018. I was attracted to CESI because it provides experiential learning for students and supports community-based non-profits and charities with research services that they would otherwise not have access to.

*This blog post is based on a conference presentation first offered at the 2019 Teaching and Learning Innovations Conference at the University of Guelph by Lindsey Thomson and Dr. Melissa Tanti. The content has been adapted by Lindsey Thomson.

A core part of CESI’s collaborative work is listening to and gaining a deep understanding of community partners’ priorities and long-term visions, in order to harness strengths and momentum to address a range of complex social issues.

Every year, the Improve Life Challenge brings together students from across the University of Guelph to develop solutions to challenges faced by businesses and organizations in the community. Over the course of a day, students work in interdisciplinary teams to analyze their community partners' problems, design solutions, and pitch them to judges. This year’s theme, "Hack the Farm," focused on challenges faced by the agriculture and food industries.

A local community-engaged research project recently led to an international adventure for Research Shop Assistants Sonia Zawitkowski and Brianna Wilson. In January, Sonia and Brianna travelled to Italy after winning an international knowledge mobilization competition by creating a video about their community-engaged research with the charitable organization WomanACT.

Knowledge mobilization – the process of sharing knowledge and information to create intellectual, social, and economic benefits – is key to community-engaged research. It ensures that the insights that arise from community-engaged scholarship jump off of the pages of research reports and become practically beneficial to communities. Through a growing partnership between CESI, the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (WomanACT) and psychology professor Dr.

For the first time this year, CESI is thrilled to join others on campus in organizing the Improve Life Challenge 2020: Hack the Farm!

The Improve Life Challenge: Hack the Farm is a one-day immersive experience where interdisciplinary student teams work together with community partners to tackle real problems and come up with possible solutions. At the end of the day, teams present their solutions in a pitch-style competition.