On October 21, 2020, University of Alberta (UA) hosted a sold out virtual event on four funded knowledge mobilization (KMb) projects. In the Fall of 2019, UA was the successful recipient of $20,000 from the Future Skills Centre through our membership with Research Impact Canada. The funds were provided to support both KMb and the development of KMb skills. An additional $10,000 was also received from the Kule Institute of Advanced Studies (KIAS), UA Faculty of Arts.
The combined funds were used to create a competitive funding opportunity for our researchers. Grants of up to $3000 were allocated to support researchers and students to mobilize their research and to build expertise in KMb. Twenty-seven applications from across campus were submitted and eleven were successful. The four projects that were showcased during the event included:
Dr. Alexandra Fidyk discussed knowledge mobilization work for a body mapping research project she conducted with grade 6 girls. This project supported the emotional and mental health needs of these students and provided skills for pre-service and credentialed teachers to help them with the emotional needs of these students through a newsletter, developing a community of practice, and holding a workshop. The body maps created by the students were strong and striking visualizations of how the girls understand themselves and their place and status in the community.
Dr. Andrea MacLeod, Carolina Salinas Marchant, Sabah Meziane created one pagers in English, French, and Spanish for parents and teachers about pronunciation for children who speak more than one language. As part of this project, they worked with a graphic designer to develop these materials and their website. The information in it is useful and relevant, and the eye catching design done by graphic designer, Anna Chakravorty, is very appealing.
Dr. Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika is a community based researcher working with the African immigrant community in Alberta. She developed a resource guide for African women who are now living and adjusting to life in Canada. This project was a collaborative project done in partnership with the Edmonton Africa Centre.
Prof. Rob Shields spoke about the Activating Space Field Guide that supports the use of under utilized urban spaces. This guide providers urban planners, city leaders, and community groups with recommendations on how the reuse of empty spaces can turn a sense of public good into civic actions. Prof Shields emphasized how this guide is not prescriptive, rather it provides successful examples and resources to create something similar.
The session was recorded and you can view it here.
See below for a full list of all eleven projects
that were funded:
This project was funded by The Conference Board of Canada through the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre. Any omissions in fact or interpretation remain the sole responsibility of Research Impact Canada. The findings do not necessarily reflect the views of the Future Skills Centre, its funder, or its partners.
Future Skills Centre is a partnership of Ryerson University, The Conference Board of Canada, and Blueprint.