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COMMUNITY–UVIC RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

CanAssist is just one of the innovative mid-Island research projects involving the University of Victoria. Additional projects in the Nanaimo area include:

Grandparents being parents
Grandparents raising grandchildren is a growing phenomenon in BC. According to Statistics Canada, in 2006 there were more than 65,000 children across Canada being raised by grandparents without a parent in the home, and here in BC, there were nearly 10,000 children. What kind of legal questions arise for taking on the task of parenting a second time around? On April 1, the University of Victoria’s School of Social Work and Parent Support Services of BC released Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Legal Guide—the first guidebook of its kind in Canada—to help grandparents understand the legal complexities involved in raising grandchildren. Researchers visited seven Vancouver Island communities including Nanaimo and Parksville-Qualicum as well as other BC locations to collect stories and survey specific needs through focus groups. Not all the grandparents involved are seniors: many are in their 30s, 40s and 50s. To obtain a copy of the guide, or for more information, email grg@parentsupportbc.ca.
Media contact:
Dr. Barbara Whittington (UVic School of Social Work) at 250-721-8044 or bwhittin@uvic.ca

Food security, mill closures
UVic geography professor Aleck Ostry (Canada Research Chair in the Social Determinants of Community Health, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar) has explored how small communities can fare in tough economic times amidst financial blows such as mill closures. Ostry’s research focuses on community resiliency and improved population health. Nanaimo and the surrounding region have been confronting temporary or full-scale resource industry closures. What does this mean to workers, their families and support networks, and how can they best ensure that food still gets on the table?
Media contact:
Dr. Aleck Ostry (UVic Geography) on cell at 250-721-7336 or ostry@uvic.ca

Engineers for the environment
Blowing in the wind: The University of Victoria and members of the university’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) including Drs. Andrew Rowe, Peter Wild, Curran Crawford and Ned Djilali (Canada Research Chair in Energy Systems Design and Computational Modelling) are helping lead the way with alternative energy generation. Nanaimo is the industrial gateway to mid- and northern Vancouver Island, and the tip of the Island is a potential site for future wind farms. UVic is the only BC university involved in a national Wind Energy Strategic Network (WESNet). IESVic along with UVic environmental economist Dr. G. Cornelis van Kooten (Canada Research Chair in Environmental Studies and Climate) will play a major role in WESNet by modeling the technical and economic aspects of feeding wind energy into Canada’s utility grid system. Crawford is also looking at blade designs for the cold Canadian climate.
On the grid: IESVic researchers are investigating the impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on power distribution to homes. If one in three Nanaimo homes has a plug-in vehicle in the future, what will that do to the overall power load on the region’s transmission corridors? This is the type of question that IESVic is exploring.
Racing through water: IESVic is also diving deep for renewable energy sources: a water turbine driven by tidal power is already in place off the Race Rocks Marine Protected Area near Victoria, with possible implications for sustainable energy possibilities on any coast. IESVic is involved in research and development with the Pemberton-based ocean-energy company SyncWave in converting the power of waves into power to run appliances and light homes.
Media contacts:
Dr. Peter Wild (UVic Engineering) at 250-721-8901 or pwild@me.uvic.ca
Dr. Curran Crawford (UVic Engineering) at 250-721-7960 or curranc@me.uvic.ca

Homelessness & binning
UVic geographer professor Dr. Jutta Gutberlet and UVic graduate student Crystal Tremblay have documented the day-to-day lives of informal recyclers or “binners”—those who make a life from collecting bottles and cans from recycling bins and dumpsters. Binners are often homeless or socially isolated themselves and suffer from stigmatization. The two researchers’ inspiration comes from the desire to unravel the many facets of informal recycling and to help point toward a community model that allows for social and economic inclusion. UVic’s Communities-based Research Laboratory, headed by Gutberlet, has played an instrumental role in the development of a unique portable shelter project: a collapsible cart unfolds to support a built-in tent with an elevated cot, for use by binners and others. It’s a living accommodation and livelihood all rolled into one, and it has possible implications for helping alleviate homelessness up and down the Island.
Media contacts:
Dr. Jutta Gutberlet (UVic Geography) at juttag@uvic.ca
Crystal Tremblay (Communities-based Research Laboratory) at crystaltre@gmail.com
Please note: Dr. Gutberlet and Ms. Tremblay are only available via email.

Needle exchange sites
In December 2008, UVic nursing professors Drs. Joan MacNeil and Bernie Pauly released a report on the state of needle exchange programs on Vancouver Island. Their findings demonstrate that fixed-site needle exchange services are crucial for the health of vulnerable groups and can open the door to other services such as health care, income, housing and counselling. The six-month collaborative research project was conducted in consultation with AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI). Although not all needle exchanges on the island were included in the study, the implications of this research include that needle exchange services are part of an integrated approach to responding to substance use and when services are not adequate the health and well being of the whole community can be jeopardized.
Media contacts:
Dr. Joan MacNeil (UVic School of Nursing) at 250-721-7965 or joanm@uvic.ca
Dr. Bernie Pauly (UVic School of Nursing) at 250-721-6284 or bpauly@uvic.ca
Please note: Drs. MacNeil and Pauly are only available via email on April 15.