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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.

The Guelph Lab at CESI is hiring two graduate students for projects this winter: 

Hungry for Knowledge - Student Food Insecurity Project: the student hired for this position will analyze 2019 survey data on food insecurity amongst university students.

A new report produced through a Community Engaged Teaching and Learning partnership is drawing attention to an often-overlooked form of intimate partner violence: financial abuse. The report, titled “Hidden in the Everyday,” is the result of collaboration between CESI, the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto, and psychology students Sonia Zawitkowski, Emma Currie, and Brianna Wilson under the supervision of Dr.

One year after presenting a plan to evaluate the Targeted Walk-In Service (TWIS) program at the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, the Research Shop was invited back last week to present the final results. The project began in a Program Evaluation course supported by CESI's CETL program, where students worked to create an evaluation plan for the TWIS.