research in action 2016 · 2016-08-30 · 3 research in action 5 brian belcher real world research...

research in action 2016

life.changing

3 Research In Action

5 Brian Belcher Real World Research Makes a Difference

9 George Veletsianos Understanding and Improving Emerging Practices in Digital Learning Environments

13 Catherine Etmanski Leadership With Community at Heart

17 Diana Freethy Learning From the Past: Drawing on Rich Historical Skeena Collaborative Initiative Experiences

21 Carla Funk Private Aid Recipients Get a Voice in Tanzania

25 Jonathan Moran Climate Change and Migratory Pollinators

29 Carolin Rekar Munro Generation Y: Finding the Competetive Advantage

33 Michael Young A Cold Place to Live Outside: Homelessness in the Arctic

37 Solar Colwood Solar Project Shines Spotlight on Energy Conservation

42 Royal Roads University Teaching, Learning & Research

44 Research Grants

contents

Royal Roads University Research in Action 3

The Royal Roads University site is steeped in a tradition of life-long learning, and using new concepts to solve real world problems. As a traditional indigenous gathering place, a field-to-table farm and estate, a military college, and now a special purpose university, our vision is to “connect people, ideas and experiences to change lives and the world.” As we work towards and within this vision, we strive to continue the long established role of this unique place: that of serving the communities, people and

organizations that surround it. The student and faculty researchers portrayed here truly exemplify our model of Research in Action, driving the University towards a strong future built on action research that has positively impacted both society and the world.

The interdisciplinary approach of Royal Roads University positions its students and faculty to respond to some of the fundamental issues of our time: sustainability, leadership, technology, governance, and managing conflict human rights. However, RRU’s research does more than help to solve the problems facing organizations and communities. As Canada and the world cope with the challenges of emerging demographic shifts, RRU provides a place for hands on, relevant, life-long learning. Research at RRU is applied, action oriented, and involves end users such as community, Indigenous people, youth, industry, and government, in all aspects of the research. These aspects include

design, implementation, knowledge mobilization, and evaluation phases.

The research highlighted here furthers the university’s mission, which states that:

We are leaders and partners creating an enduring prosperity. Transformation in career and life results from our teaching and research applied to solve problems and create opportunities in the world.

I wish to extend my congratulations and gratitude to all of our student and faculty researchers who have advanced this mission through their research, and continue to make Royal Roads University a place where knowledge and answers can be propelled into action.

Sincerely,

Allan Cahoon, PhD President and Vice Chancellor

research in action

Real world research makes a difference

From climate change to resource management to poverty, researchers have banded together across disciplines to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time. The goal is to put knowledge into action - yet how do researchers know if their work makes a difference?

Royal Roads’ Professor Brian Belcher, a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Sustainability Research Effectiveness, has set out to answer this question. Belcher is the university’s first Tier I Chair, a role awarded to outstanding researchers acknowledged as world leaders in their fields. Over his seven-year renewable term, Belcher is seeking a deeper understanding of how to define, measure and enhance the impact of research.

“The relationship between science and society is changing, with greater engagement among researchers and civil society, and high emphasis on impact,” Belcher says. “Research effectiveness is about more than being accountable. The question is: how do we know we’re being successful so that we can learn and improve? We don’t have tools for evaluating it.”

Prior to joining Royal Roads in 2007, Belcher’s career focused on understanding and improving the contribution of natural resources to sustainable rural development. For a decade, he worked at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), based in Bogor, Indonesia, where he served as Senior Scientist, Leader of the Forest Products and People program, and Director of the Livelihoods program. Before that, Belcher worked with Canada’s International Development Research Centre, based in India. As part of his CIFOR work, Belcher led a large international comparative analysis of non-timber forest products commercialization and contributed as a lead scientist in an international multi-case study which examined the role and potential of natural resources in rural livelihoods. Belcher says the projects focused on understanding and helping to realize opportunities for people to build a better life without compromising the environment.

Belcher is a fan of large comparative analyses, which allow a more systematic understanding of patterns and trends, in contrast to more typical case-study approaches. He says the intention is that development and conservation organizations and governments can apply the principles beyond the specific situations of any one case.

Brian Belcher


Traditional disciplinary approaches have often failed to solve socially relevant problems because they could not adequately cope with complexity. Disciplinary research, however, has well established methodologies, and often implicit quality criteria. Belcher notes that research that crosses disciplinary and academic boundaries, and that aims to contribute directly to positive social and environmental outcomes, often lacks that kind of guidance. In his view, researchers, funding bodies, peer reviewers and publishers, and research organizations such as Royal Roads, need better tools to support informed decisions. “We need to adapt evaluation processes to research that operates in complex conditions, especially for transdisciplinary approaches that engage non-traditional stakeholders,” Belcher says. “We need a different way to assess if research is making a difference.”

In his role as a Tier I CRC, Belcher is working closely with other Canadian collaborators and an international consortium, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which focuses on agriculture and natural resources management for poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in less developed countries.

Belcher is designing and testing concepts and methods for evaluating research projects by investigating the intended and actual change process. He says this is done retrospectively, by developing explicit theories of change, identifying key stages in the results chain, and seeking evidence of change. One such project is evaluating CIFOR’s Global Comparative Study on REDD+, a program that rewards developing countries for reducing emissions and deforestation rates. The goal of the research is to give stakeholders evidence and tools to help achieve effective, efficient and equitable outcomes in payment schemes. Over the course of his CRC, Belcher plans to complete a series of similar retrospective evaluations of a range of research projects. His goal is to conduct 10 to 15 case studies, and to do comparative analyses, to better understand how research contributes to social and environmental change. Laying the groundwork for more effective research is crucial to Belcher, who also teaches in Royal Roads’ Doctor of Social Sciences program.

“This is cutting edge research. It’s important for Royal Roads because we have made an explicit effort to do research that makes a difference in the world,” he says. “With better concepts and tools in place, we can assess our own programs and our own

research to improve effectiveness, and help our students to make their research contribute the way they want it to.”

Belcher says an important early outcome of this work is that CIFOR has recognized the value of developing theories of change, including at the start of new projects. Their commitment, he says, will make it easier to learn from what works and why. “Perhaps more importantly, it helps individual scientists and project managers to appreciate and plan for how their research fits into larger development and conservation processes, which changes the way they work and who they work with,” Belcher says.

For Belcher, improving the lives of disadvantaged people and protecting the environment remain the core mandate of his research. He says the CRC position gives him the opportunity to help other researchers in their efforts to contribute more effectively to social and environmental goals. “There is so much need,” Belcher says. “If you do good work you have an opportunity to make a difference.”

6 Research in Action Royal Roads University


Dr. Brian Belcher

• PhD, Forestry (Economics and Policy), University of Minnesota, 1997

• Masters of Natural Resources Management, University of Manitoba, 1988

• BSc, Biology/Environmental Studies, University of Winnipeg, 1982

• Professor, Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences, 2007-present

• Senior Associate Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 2007-present

• Principal Scientist/Research leader, CIFOR, 1997-2007

• Principal Economist, IDRC/International Network for Bamboo and Rattan 1994-1997

Selected awards

Durham University Institute of Advanced Studies Fellowship. 2015

Canada Research Chair, Tier I, in Sustainability Research Effectiveness. 2013-2020

Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Research Fellowship in Agriculture. 1997-1999

Selected Books or Book Chapters

Finding Appropriate Definitions and Measures of Research Quality for Transdisciplinary and Applied Natural Resources Management Research: A Systematic Review Protocol. (lead author)

Communities, Forests and Governance: Policy and Institutional Innovations from Nepal. (co-editor)

selected journal articles

Forest-based livelihoods strategies conditioned by market remoteness and forest proximity in Jharkhand, India. World Development. (lead-author)

Forests, livelihoods, and conservation broadening of the empirical base. World Development. (co-author)

Environmental income and rural livelihoods: a global-comparative analysis. World Development.(co-author)

Website

sre.royalroads.ca

Selected Grants

Canada Research Chair, Tier I, in Sustainability Research Effectiveness. $1.3M. 2013-present

Center for International Forestry Research, CIFOR/FTA Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment. $420,950. 2008-present

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, What works in small-scale natural resource based enterprise development? $219,559. 2009-2012

contact

[email protected]

CV in brief


Understanding and improving emerging practices in Digital Learning Environments

Universities have transformed since Plato’s students gathered under olive trees outside ancient Athens to study philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. The Academy, although not a university in the modern sense, evolved into an exclusive hub for intellectuals, continuing to run some 900 years after its founder’s death.

The great philosopher’s work is still studied, but Plato would recognize little in higher education today, especially when it comes to technology. From the popularity of online learning to the rise of social media, technology has transformed the ways students and academics interact with and relate to the venerable institution of higher education.

As a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Innovative Learning and Technology, George Veletsianos has dedicated his research to understanding the effect of technology on students and scholars. A former Fulbright scholar and early-career fellow of the European Union’s Network of Excellence in Technology Enhanced

Learning, Veletsianos designs, develops and studies digital learning environments. “If the role of the university is to contribute to a better society, we need to explore new ways of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and community engagement,” Veletsianos says. “My research tries to understand student, researcher and instructor experiences and practices with emerging technologies, pedagogies and approaches to education.”

Veletsianos’ research pushes past aspirational talk around change, drilling down to what happens on the ground when students and scholars use technology, when they try new approaches to education and scholarship. His work as a CRC, has focused on two fronts: academics’ participation in social media and online networks; and the evolution of the scholarly field of open teaching, learning and scholarship.

“My goal is to understand people’s experiences and practices, to understand and improve digital education in emerging environments, and through that to improve people’s experiences and learning,” he says.

Last year, Veletsianos organized Royal Roads’ first massive open online course, Networked Scholars, which explored how

George Veletsianos


academics use social media to share, improve, and reflect on their research and scholarship. He says social media is at an early stage of adoption in academia and today’s scholars need to understand how digital participation relates to their teaching and research, and explore opportunities and pitfalls associated with emerging mindsets regarding openness.

“There’s a lot of talk of how digital technologies and openness could transform education and research, and my goal is to try to understand whether that’s actually happening and if so, how and why” he says.

Veletsianos is writing a book called Networked Scholars, which will explore academics’ experiences and activities online. News articles that highlight professors admonished for breaching copyright law or educators punished for inappropriate behaviour on Twitter are only part of the story. Veletsianos says academics have used online networks to develop learning communities, launch research projects, and share deeply personal stories, making digital environments a place of bonding. “The ways that social media are used and experienced by academics are not well understood and the evidence

describing the experiences of scholars engaged in scholarly practices online is limited and fragmented,” he says.

Veletsianos is trying to make that picture clearer. In a recent paper, he examined academics’ online practices and described the types of scholarly activities currently enacted in open spaces. He writes: “The image of the ‘lone scholar’ tirelessly working on his or her research in a dimly lit office is in stark contrast to the connected and visible scholarly practices enacted online by the scholars that I have encountered.”

In a separate study which analysed the number of papers published about Massive Open Online Courses, Veletsianos found research in the field is becoming more interdisciplinary, a positive trend he thinks will help researchers cope with the ever-increasing scientific complexity of the field of digital learning.

Before joining Royal Roads, Veletsianos held appointments at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Manchester in the U.K. His work has been incremental and has roots back to the University of Manchester. One project he is particularly fond of is focused on improving how computer science is taught

in high schools, a collaboration with University of Texas researchers.

In all his research, and much like the digital world, Veletsianos wants to transcend institutional barriers. Two post doctorate researchers and a graduate student are employed under the CRC position, and Veletsianos is partnering and collaborating with researchers from Stanford University, Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Idaho to lay the foundation for the study of emerging technologies and new approaches to teaching and learning.

Today, Veletsianos says, is an opportune time for universities. While higher education is facing numerous challenges, opportunities for improving the ways that education is organized and experienced are endless. Technology provides some solutions, but some problems can be solved by changing our practices, such as the ways we teach and the ways we prepare future scholars and problem-solvers. Skepticism and the pursuit of knowledge: The Academy would be impressed.


CV in brief

Dr. George Veletsianos

• PhD, University of Minnesota, 2008• MA, University of Minnesota, 2006• BA., Macalester College, 2004• Associate Professor, School of Education

and Technology, 2013 to present• Assistant Professor, University of Texas

at Austin, 2010-2013

Selected Awards

Information Age Publishing Distance Education Book Award: Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, 2013

STELLAR European Union Fellowship, 2011

Outstanding Achievement in Innovative Instructional Design and Development Association of Educational Communications and Technology, 2011 (co-awarded)

selected books or Book chapters

Learner Experiences with MOOCs and Open Online Learning. (editor)

Emerging Technologies in Distance Education. (editor)

Online learning: Emerging Technologies and Emerging Practices. (author, editor)


Digging deeper into learners’ experiences in MOOCs: Participation in social networks outside of MOOCs, Notetaking, and contexts surrounding content consumption. British Journal of Educational Technology. (co-author)

The fragmented educator 2.0: Social networking sites, acceptable identity fragments, and the identity constellation. Computers & Education. (co-author)

Open practices and identity: Evidence from researchers and educators’ social media participation. British Journal of Educational Technology. (author)

Website

veletsianos.com

Selected Grants

US National Science Foundation Project Engage. Training secondary teachers to deliver computer science and engineering instruction. $457,287. 2014-2017 (collaborator)

Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology. $500,000. 2012-2017

US National Science Foundation. Adventure learning through water and MOSS. $248,699. 2011 (co-applicant)

contact

[email protected]

Leadership with community at heart

Community is at the heart of Catherine Etmanski’s teaching and scholarship.

A passionate advocate for social and environmental justice, Etmanski is changing the way we think about leadership. As an Associate Professor in Leadership Studies at Royal Roads, Etmanski works to build meaningful connections between academe and the community. Her research focuses on enquiring into teaching as a practice, with key areas of scholarship being: mindful, conscious leadership; arts-based research, teaching, and community engagement; and leadership and learning in the small scale organic farming movement.

For Etmanski, leadership is more about empowerment than power. A desire to make meaningful contributions to the world, wherever we live, drives her approach. Etmanski makes a conscious effort to impart these reflective, purposeful values into her teaching at Royal Roads.

“Leadership is not just about the position one occupies. Leadership is a capacity that can be developed in all of us,” Etmanski says. “I’m particularly interested in approaches to leadership that foster more collaboration

and create a more compassionate, sustainable, and just society.”

Her book, Learning and Teaching Community-Based Research: Linking Pedagogy to Practice, published in 2014 by University of Toronto Press, has been praised for making a significant contribution to engaged scholarship. Etmanski says that community-based research (CBR) is an action-oriented and participatory approach which puts community at the heart of the research process. CBR methods can be used to create meaningful opportunities for mutual learning for people working both inside of academia and out. Etmanski, who holds a PhD in leadership studies with a focus on adult education from the University of Victoria, and an MA in community and international development planning from the University of British Columbia, has long embodied the values of community-based research.

“I feel like I’ve been teaching my whole life,” she reflects. “I have been drawn to facilitating in various communitysettings and other ways of being an educator prior to teaching at universities.” As a graduate student, she organized a well attended monthly Social Justice Film and Speaker Series which served as an opportunity for community dialogue on a range of topics

Catherine Etmanski



affecting the community. Before joining academia, Etmanski worked as a youth employment counsellor at the YWCA and a development education coordinator for Canadian Crossroads International. Since arriving at RRU in 2012, she has strengthened the university’s ties with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia and has led extensive community consultations for the co-creation of two new degrees. She now serves on the board of directors for the International Institute for Child Rights and Development, and the Greater Victoria Community Social Planning Council.

Arts-based inquiry is an approach Etmanski uses to engage her students in deep, reflective practice. For example, when she teaches research methods, she encourages students to communicate using arts-based methods such as photography or theatre. Etmanski suggests more rational ways of thinking are often given precedence over creative and emotional ways of knowing.

“Integrating arts-based techniques into the classroom helps us to open up different ways of perceiving the world around us that were previously unavailable or unnoticed,” Etmanski says. “For most people it’s a new way of learning. A lot of people might

think the arts are fun playful activities that add levity, but actually the arts can be surprisingly powerful.”

A research project that brings Etmanski’s interests together is leadership and learning in the small scale organic farming movement. The case study on Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands will examine ways in which farmers demonstrate leadership and learning, and how this supports the creativity needed to address complex socio-economic and environmental issues.

Etmanski says that small-scale organic farmers have been pioneering innovative, ecologically sustainable models of agriculture and collaborative business. This in turn generates new knowledge on farm-related topics such as growing practices or soil health, and on larger socio-political topics such as localizing the economy.

“They are formally and informally sharing and co-creating this knowledge with other farmers, neighbours, and consumers,” she says. “They’re developing a deeper appreciation of the interdependency between the environment, economy, society, and culture at both local and global levels.”

The organic farming study is an example of the kind of research that Etmanski models to her students. In the classroom, Etmanski encourages students to conduct research projects that can effect change in their organization, and as those organizations change, this has a positive impact in the world. “This is about making a difference through our scholarship. What we’re doing at Royal Roads University is exemplary. My own work, in particular, is about encouraging students to make a meaningful contribution to their community through their learning,” she says.

This kind of conscious leadership, Etmanski adds, is increasingly important when it comes to addressing the complex, interconnected challenges of our times.

“As Albert Einstein said, we can’t keep doing what we’ve always been doing,” Etmanski says. “We need to figure out new ways to approach the challenges we’re currently facing. Mindfulness and creativity can help us with that.”


CV in brief

DR. Catherine Etmanski

• PhD, University of Victoria, 2007• MA, University of British Columbia, 2003• BA (Honours), Simon Fraser University, 1999• Associate Professor, School of Leadership Studies• Program Head, MA Leadership, RRU, 2013-2015

Selected Awards

Award for Excellence in Teaching for Sessional Lecturers. University of Victoria. 2012

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. 2006

selected books or book chapters

Learning and Teaching Community Based Research. (lead co-editor)

Creating the learning space: Teaching arts-based research. In C. Etmanski, et al. (eds.), Learning and Teaching Community Based Research. (author)

The dance of joyful leadership. In K. Goldman Schuyler, et al. (eds.), Leading with Spirit, Presence, and Authenticity. (lead co-author)

Inch by inch, row by row: Social movement learning on Three Oaks organic farm. In B. L. Hall, et al. (eds.), Learning and Education for a Better World. (author)


The paradox of transformative learning among midcareer professionals. International Journal of Adult Vocational Education & Technology. (co-author)

A critical race and class analysis of learning in the organic farming movement. Australian Journal of Adult Learning. (author)

Making pedagogy explicit in ecological leadership praxis. Action Learning & Action Research Journal. (lead co-author)

Teaching participatory research through reflexivity and relationship. Action Research. (lead co-author)

Selected Conference Presentations

Teaching leadership through the arts. International Leadership Association.

Innovation in learning and teaching for community-university engagement. Engagement Scholarship Consortium. (lead co-presenter)

Institutional challenges of learning and teaching CBR. Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences. (lead co-presenter)

contact

[email protected]

Learning from the past: Drawing on rich historical Skeena collaborative initiative experiences

Steeped in beauty, natural resources, and cultural significance, the Skeena River watershed is one of BC’s jewels. Flowing into northern Pacific coastal waters near Prince Rupert, this breathtaking waterway is home to steelhead, five species of salmon, and a myriad of other aquatic species.

The Skeena River is home to many First Nations who depend on this misty river. There are also a number of groups with diverse interests in this watershed that include environmental interest groups, the commercial fishing industry, recreational fishers, local residents, businesses, and the public. It is world renowned as a top sports-fishing destination. Complicating the Skeena picture are jurisdictional responsibilities that involve both the provincial and federal governments. Fishery-related management in the Skeena River is complex, and, at times, controversial.

Doctor of Social Sciences candidate Diana Freethy knows this well. Freethy, a trained biologist, worked for the federal Department of Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO) for the

past 12 years, living in Prince Rupert for eight of those years, and working in the watershed she researched. As a result of experiences with DFO, Freethy became interested in how she might help to improve communication in resource management through an MA degree in Professional Communication at Royal Roads. Despite being driven by an interest in practical research, her thesis took a methodological focus. Communication and collaboration continued to pique her interest, and she decided to delve into doctoral research through RRU’s Doctor of Social Sciences program with a case study focused on two historical Skeena fishery-related collaborative initiatives.

She finds that the diversity of groups interested in the Skeena River has historically stoked conflict and public debate on fisheries-related issues and fishery management. And historically, Freethy says fisheries-related collaboration has been tumultuous. “When it comes to fishery resource access,” she says, “you get some fairly heated debates. It’s an emotional topic, especially in years when there are lower returns.”

“In light of such diverse viewpoints and interests,” Freethy states, “I want to discover what we can learn from past Skeena collaboration, to look at ways we might

Diana FreethyDoctoral CANDIDATE



improve collaboration, and to find means to strengthen cooperative processes that can support practical outcomes.”

Freethy is specifically interested in informing future cooperative efforts in the Skeena River watershed with her doctoral work. Fisheries management is guided by numerous policies, however understanding past dynamics is crucial to Freethy’s doctoral work. To meet her goal, Freethy has interviewed 30 people who represented five groups primarily, and include: First Nations; the recreational fishing sector; the commercial fishing sector; the provincial government; the federal government; and non-government organizations, including environmental and conservation groups. “I want to know whether we can learn from the past in terms of designing new processes or improving existing ones,” she says. “My research is meant to be practical and applied so the whole idea is to make recommendations that are applicable for both current and future contexts.”

Freethy ’s research is focussed on learning from two historical collaborative efforts, both of which were fairly short-lived. The first effort, the Skeena Watershed Committee (SWC), was established in 1992 to bring representatives from aboriginal, commercial

and recreational fishing groups together with provincial and federal governments to address conflict and develop annual fishing plans. Despite some initial challenges and the renowned success of the 1994 consensus on a fishing plan, withdrawal of one sector from discussions terminated this process in 1997.

Controversy continued after the SWC ended, and the SWI was formed in 2008 as a result. The SWI included First Nations, federal and provincial governments, the commercial sector, the recreational sector, and non-governmental organization representation, and operated until 2011 after a different sector had withdrawn from this process. Challenges were associated with each process, and with continued conflict within Skeena fishery-related discussions, it became evident to Freethy that an examination focussed on process design that was sensitive to communication and conflict resolution would be fruitful.

While Freethy acknowledges that research had been conducted regarding historical Skeena collaborations, she indicates they were not done through a lens of collaborative process design. “Little focus has been given to understanding the process design elements of these initiatives,” she says. “I’m working to address that gap.”

The understandings developed through this research are intended to provide a basis for practical research outcomes that inform future cooperative endeavors in the Skeena River watershed, while it is also hoped that results will contribute to collaborative natural resource management more broadly.

Now based in Nanaimo working for the Province of BC, Freethy is writing up her research results with support from her supervisor, Dr. Leslie King, Professor and Director of the Canadian Centre for Environmental Education in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads.

Freethy anticipates presentation of her research findings in person in Prince Rupert in 2016. This is intended to coincide with annual DFO planning cycle meetings that are generally attended by interested parties throughout the watershed, so that she can share her results more widely and respond to questions about her research.


CV in brief

Diana Freethy

• Candidate, Doctor of Social Sciences, Royal Roads University

• MA, Professional Communication, Royal Roads University, 2012

• BSc, Biology, Thompson Rivers University, 2009• Fishery Officer Training, Fisheries and Oceans

Canada, 2007• Environmental Technology Diploma,

Camosun College, 2004• Journeyman Automotive Transmission Specialist

Certification, Camosun College, 1999

Selected Awards

Mitacs-Accelerate Graduate Research Award, 2014-Present

Positions

Senior Advisor, First Nations Relations, Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, March 2015-present

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), various management and coordinator positions, 2003-2015

Automotive Transmission Specialist, Sidney Transmissions, 1996-2000

Selected Volunteer Activities

Seafest, Prince Rupert (2007-2013)

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (2007-2012)

Goldstream Hatchery (2004-2005)

Chapman Creek Hatchery (2003)

Selected Publications and Presentations

Learning from the Past: Strengthening Collaborative Skeena River Watershed Fisheries Management. Doctoral Dissertation. (in development)

Action shift: Cyclically reflexive constructivist grounded action research informs pragmatic collaborative natural resource management strategies and tools for consideration by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region. MA thesis. 2012

Moving beyond barriers: Strengthening Collaborative Fisheries Management on the Skeena River. March 12, 2014

contact

[email protected]

Private aid recipients get a voice in Tanzania

At the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, in a country known for big game safaris and mountaineering expeditions, dozens of privately funded charities are working to make life better for the people of Tanzania. From women’s rights and education to healthcare and business, a huge diversity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) flock to this stable democracy – but good intentions are not enough to effect positive, lasting change.

Royal Roads’ Doctor of Social Sciences researcher Carla Funk travelled to Moshi, the capital of Kilimanjaro district, to study the role that private funding has played in shaping international aid over the past decade. While billionaires and celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Bill and Melinda Gates have received substantial publicity for their philanthropic work, Funk approached her research from a neglected perspective – the recipients of foreign aid.

“Most organizations that conduct privately funded development have a vested interest in highlighting successes and minimizing failures. My research seeks to provide insights using a different lens,” Funk says. “I’ve always wanted to hear voices of recipients and understand better from a grassroots perspective how private development projects are working.”

Funk says government-funded projects still account for the lion’s share of development assistance – around $138 billion annually – but private aid is increasing, and it is influential. In the past seven years in Canada, private foundations started by families or individuals have doubled to nearly 4,900, holding some $12 billion in assets. Private development aid from the world’s developed economies to poor ones rose to $56 billion in 2010, a $3-billion increase in just one year.

“Private funding is rising rapidly. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is in its own class but it’s indicative of the number of millionaires who are saying, ‘I was very good at earning money and now I’m going to give it away,” Funk says. “Private charities, however, are a very different animal to public aid. I am interested in seeing what that means for people in developing countries and poverty reduction in general. It’s an under-examined area.”

For her research, Funk conducted 140 anonymous interviews with 35 non-profit organizations and recipients of privately-funded projects in Moshi. The exploratory case study included small, medium and large organizations, from professionally-trained staff in established NGOs to small family operations to faith-based groups.

Carla FunkDoctoral CANDIDATE


Funk found more than 100 NGOs operating around Moshi, a mid-sized city of 184,000 people, where many citizens live below the World Bank poverty line of $1.25 a day. “I call it a veritable army of private charities with well-intentioned, well-meaning people doing sometimes really exciting work, sometimes really frustrating work,” she says.

Interviewees also included staff from two projects that had failed. Through her research, Funk was able to glean valuable conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of private foreign aid. “From the perspective of the local people, the greatest strength of privately-funded aid was flexibility and nimbleness to respond to local needs,” she says. “The greatest weakness was the individualistic nature of learning among the NGOs.”

Funk found organizations generally made the same mistakes when starting out in the region, including not understanding cultural differences, and overlapping or duplicating development projects. She says fledgling NGOs could be more effective if established groups shared lessons learned. Funk likened the situation to a snakes and ladders game. “If a collaborative network existed, those with 30 years’ experience can say to those just coming in, there’s a hole so don’t fall down it, or there’s a ladder to go over it,” she says. “There are a lot of reasons why they’re

not helping each other. A professional network is lacking. There are models out there, and it can be done.”

Funk was pleased to find her own biases challenged through her research. As a young university graduate, Funk worked in development in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s. She spent a decade working for overseas NGOs and, most recently, has worked in the Canadian philanthropic sector. Yet Funk says the recipients she interviewed opened her eyes to new ways of thinking about development.

In one instance, Funk says a Moshi woman criticized a lunch program project that featured her son in the fundraising material. Although the NGO had received permission from the woman to use the photo, and followed up with news that her son’s story had helped raise $100,000 Euros for the program, the woman was upset. Funk says the woman wanted to know how all the money was spent. In a country where corruption is common, Funk says it is important organizations are as transparent and accountable with the recipients of aid, as they are with donors.

The research has already earned Funk recognition. She was awarded a Mitacs-Accelerate Fellowship and was named a finalist

in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Top 25 Storytellers challenge, where finalists are selected for their three-minute presentation of how SSHRC-funded research is making a difference in the lives of Canadians.

The interdisciplinary approach of Royal Roads’ Doctor of Social Sciences program has been essential to Funk’s research. She says it allowed her to be free of disciplinary constraints, and to apply her own life and career experience to a complex and challenging global problem. “Interdisciplinary research is a different way of thinking in that here’s a gritty problem—global poverty—which people have been struggling with, and here’s a group of people trying to address it. How are they making out?” Funk says. “There’s not a single discipline that can help me research it in the way I need to.”

While writing her dissertation, Funk says the findings represent a beginning in which she hopes rigorous research and real world application will meet. “I want to show people that by collaborating and working in an ethical and professional way, small NGO’s will attract more donors,” Funk says. “That’s good for the private aid groups and the recipients, who stand to benefit most.”



CV in brief

Carla Funk

• Candidate, Doctor of Social Sciences, Royal Roads University

• MAgSc, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Manitoba, 1985

• BSc , Faculty of Agriculture, University of Manitoba, 1982

selected Awards

Top 25 Finalist Storytellers Award. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). 2015

Graduate Scholar Award. International Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. 2015

SSHRC Doctoral Research Award. 2014

International Development Research Centre Doctoral Research Award. 2014

MITACs Accelerate Fellowship. 2013

Positions

Mitacs-Accelerate intern with industry partner Development Action Canada. 2013-present

Program Development Manager. First Peoples’ Cultural Council. 2011-2013

Director of Advancement.The Land Conservancy of BC. 2003-2009

Selected Publications

Recipient Perspectives of Privately Funded Aid in Moshi, Tanzania. PhD Dissertation, Royal Roads University.

Post maturation dry-down of corn (Zea Mays L.) hybrids, Master of Science Thesis, University of Manitoba.

Twenty-first century challenges to African wildlife management. Mweka 50th Anniversary Book. (author)

International philanthropic development aid: Tanzania, Africa. Gift Planning in Canada. (author)

Selected Presentations

Nonprofitness from the recipient perspective: Moshi, Tanzania. Conference on Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies: The Meaning of Nonprofitness, Chicago, USA

Theory of change and the recipient experience of privately funded development aid. Tenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Split, Croatia

contact

[email protected]

Climate Change and Migratory Pollinators

The impacts of climate change are being felt across the planet. Dr. Jonathan Moran, an associate professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability, is researching the potential effects of climate change on a local plant and its pollinator: the Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) and the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), pictured.

The annual migration of the Rufous Hummingbird can extend from coastal Alaska through British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, the western US and Mexico. As temperature regimes shift, could the seasonal patterns of these diminutive birds be shifting as well? Moran is investigating the possibility that climate change may be having a visible impact on ecosystem services provided by migratory pollinators such as the Rufous Hummingbird.

“The Western Columbine may rely on the Rufous as a pollinator – this question forms part of the research. Hummingbirds, bumblebees, and hoverflies all visit the Columbines,” Moran says, “and are therefore likely to be dependent on them to varying degrees. However, species can be flexible,” he adds. “Still, it’s impossible to guess at the outcome of a change in migration pattern, on either the plants or the birds. There is a potential for mismatch between the timing of pollinator arrival and flowering, which may result in reduced pollination for some populations. This may have negative impacts on their long-term viability.”

Moran’s research is being done in the Sooke Watershed, in partnership with

Jonathan Moran


the Capital Regional District. He notes that “the work would be impossible without their expertise, especially regarding the location of populations of Columbines.” Moran’s research involves caging Western Columbine plants – these cages will allow other pollinators such as bumblebees and hoverflies to visit the Columbines, without impeding access to sunlight or water, all the while keeping the Rufous Hummingbirds from entering. This experiment creates an artificial phenological mismatch, compelling a small scale-indicator of possible long term effects of climate change on seed production and viability. Outputs of the project will provide scientists and planners across Western North America with information to help make necessary and informed decisions regarding hummingbird conservation.

“I hope my research helps to convey the beauty and elegance of natural systems to the public,” Moran says, when asked how his research impacts the world around him. “To me, my research is another piece added to the puzzle; to the wider public, it draws attention to some of the wonderful things we stand to lose if we’re not careful. Without an appreciation of the natural world, there is little reason to want to protect it.”

Moran is an ecologist with an interest in the interactions between plants, animals, and their environment. His current research interests span the modelling of species distributions under projected climate change scenarios; hummingbird migration monitoring in Western Canada; investigation into ecological mismatch between plants and their pollinators; and the use of metals as intrinsic markers for habitat use by birds. He holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen in the UK, and joined the faculty of the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads in 2007.


CV in brief

Dr. Jonathan Moran

• Associate Professor, School of Environment & Sustainability, 2007-present

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Victoria, 2000-2002

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Victoria, 1996-2000

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Brunei Darussalam 1994-1995

• PhD, University of Aberdeen, 1988-1992• BSc (Hons.), University of Edinburgh, 1984-1987


Moran, J.A., Gray, L.K., Clarke, C. & Chin, L. (2013) Capture mechanism in palaeotropical pitcher plants (Nepenthaceae) is constrained by climate. Annals of Botany 112: 1279-1291.

Moran, J.A., Finlay, J.C., Wassenaar, L., Isaac, L.A., Hutcheson, C. & Wethington, S. (2012) An exploration of migratory connectivity of the Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, using feather deuterium. Journal of Ornithology 154: 423-430.

Bazile, V., Moran, J.A., le Moguedec, G., Marshall, D.G., Gaume, L. (2012) A carnivorous plant fed by its ant symbiont: a unique multi-faceted nutritional mutualism. PLoS ONE 7: e36179. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036179.

selected grants

Royal Roads University, Internal Research Grant. Predictive climate envelope modelling of hummingbird breeding ranges in British Columbia. $2,700. 2014-2015

Royal Roads University, Professional Development/Scholarly Activity Research Awards. Tracking habitat use by Northern Saw-whet Owls on Haida Gwaii, using stable isotopes. $3,000. 2014-2015

Royal Roads University, Professional Development/Scholarly Activity Research Awards.Extending and improving hummingbird migration monitoring in Western Canada, Part I, II and III. $8,960. 2012-2015

contact

[email protected]


Generation Y: Finding the Competetive Advantage

An award-winning educator, active human resources consultant, and the intellectual lead for leadership and human resources in the Faculty of Management at Royal Roads University, Carolin Rekar Munro is leading the charge in multi-generational engagement in the workplace. With her recently published book, Managing the New Generation, Rekar Munro is showing us how Generation Y is reshaping the global workplace.

Rekar Munro’s 2014 book is aimed at taking the mystery and confusion out of managing and working with Generation Y. It provides practical guidelines and interviews designed to guide the reader through the unfamiliar landscape of attracting, engaging, and retaining Generation Y talent in an organization. The collected stories and interviews in the book, and the accolades it has received both within and outside of the academic sphere, show Rekar Munro’s skills in research and communication to the public.

As a leader in the field of multi-generational workplace engagement, Rekar Munro finds ways to turn perceived disadvantages

into competitive advantages. “With their distinct perspective on the world, Gen Y has the ability to awaken us to the realities of our workplace – our practices, procedures, policies and norms that we take for granted and may no longer serve us well in the new economy,” says Rekar Munro, who has focused her research on the generation since 2008. Her research is in three stages: Generation Y, currently in the workforce; the ‘bridge generation’; and Generation Z.

Rekar Munro knows one of the big questions that keeps business practitioners up at night is “how do I attract, retain, and engage quality employees?” and she feels a sense of responsibility to helping them address this concern. “I want to be a part of what we do next,” says Rekar Munro. “As a researcher, I want to find these answers. When I work with Generation Y, I sit in awe – in awe of who they are, of their talents, and of the lens through which they see the world. I want to invite them to sit on the other side of the lens with me.”

Rekar Munro is vigorous in ensuring that her research is co-created and co-facilitated. As the gap in communication between generations widens, she finds ways to honour and capitalize on what she calls ‘bridge points’ – points of common ground

Carolin Rekar Munro



through which communication can be facilitated. She notes, “I want to provide these bridge points, not just for a single conversation or issue, but in a way that is sustainable.”

“More than any other generation in history, Gen Y is coming into the workforce with more advanced academic credentials, greater technological competencies than their supervisors and higher expectations that they will be rewarded and accommodated,” says Rekar Munro. “If we are receptive, Gen Y can introduce us to a myriad of untapped possibilities that can transform the way we think about and lead our organizations.”

As well as her work with the Faculty of Management at RRU, Carolin leads a distinguished team of five Canadian educators and twenty Tanzanian educators and district officials in Tanzania. This team is committed to closing the global education divide through professional development and community education, and works with teachers in rural areas of Tanzania to enhance their leadership skills in championing and managing self-directed and self-sustaining professional development in their communities. While in Tanzania, Carolin returns to Mount Meru University (MMU), where she is a visiting professor.


CV in brief

Dr. Carolin Rekar Munro

• EdD, University of Toronto, 2001• MEd, University of Toronto, 1994• BA, York University, 1987• Associate Professor, Faculty of Management,

Royal Roads University, 2008-present• Adjunct Faculty, Central Michigan University,

2003-present• Peak Performance Strategist, Eye of the Tiger

Consulting, 1994-present• Instructor, Durham College, 2006-2008

Selected Awards

Ross A. Hennigar Memorial Award

Selected Books or Book Chapters

Managing the New Generation: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Meeting the Workplace Expectations of Generation Y. (author)

Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders: The Emerging Organizational Landscape with Generation Y at the Helm. (author)

Management of Human Resources. (co-author and co-editor)

Selected Conference Presentations

A-B-C’s of Y and Z!! Shifting gears to prepare the next generation of leaders in our multi-generational workplaces. Keynote, National CARA Conference. May 2014

Strengthening our capacity to build long-lasting connections. Keynote, Great Lakes Teaching & Learning Conference. May 2014

Unleashing creativity and innovation in the workplace: Colouring Outside the Lines. 6th Annual Human Resources Conference, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Barbados. May 2012

Website

eyeofthetigerconsulting.ca

Selected Grants

Royal Roads University, various Internal Research Awards. Bridging the education divide through peer-led teacher professional development (Parts I, II and III). $8,700. 2012-2015

Royal Roads University Professional Development/Scholarly Activity Awards. Preparing the next generation of leaders: The emerging organizational landscape with Generation Y at the helm. $3,000. 2012-2013

contact

[email protected]


A cold place to live outside: homelessness in the Arctic

December is a dark month in Inuvik. Residents of the town located on a flat, wooded plateau in the Arctic Circle push through most days with no sunlight. The mean temperature hovers around -30C at night, and in January the thermostat drops lower.

Inuvik, by any measure, is a tough place to live. But over the past 25 years, a growing number of people have had to survive these extreme conditions homeless. People like Joseph Greenland, a 34-year-old man with mental health and substance abuse problems, who spent much of his youth in foster care. Or Bobby Gene Ross, an alcoholic who sleeps under buildings during warmer months.

Over the past four years, Royal Roads Professor Michael Young has travelled to Inuvik to conduct one of Canada’s first in-depth studies into the relationship between homelessness, addictions and mental health in the Arctic. His study, Rural Migration and Homelessness in the North, documented some 30 to 50 people living without shelter in the isolated town of 3,400. “Homelessness is often thought of as an urban problem, but visible

homelessness in the Northwest Territories emerged as a problem in the early ’90s,” Young says. “People who are isolated geographically add a new layer of marginalization. These people are truly out of sight, out of mind.”

Young produced a documentary called A Cold Place to Live Outside, filmed by Royal Roads graduate student Brett Blair, which explores the research. Among its findings, the study found many homeless, or “hard to house” Inuvik residents, including cyclical and temporarily homeless people, were evicted from social housing. People with substance abuse issues like Ross, who is interviewed in the documentary, have few options because Inuvik’s only homeless shelter has a zero tolerance policy. Some homeless residents couch surf with family or friends to avoid sleeping outside. The more desperate break into heated but toxic above-ground utility conduits that carry water and sewage, or resort to sleeping under buildings. In one year, Young said the RCMP’s lockup served as a de facto shelter more than 2,500 times. “Many times, those who are homeless will do something to get arrested so they can be locked up for a night so it’s warm,” he said.

Michael Young


A criminologist in the School of Humanitarian Studies, Young has researched social justice issues including youth gangs, euthanasia and corrections. He helped develop a concept for a therapeutic community for homeless people in Victoria. Inuvik is the first remote community in which he has studied homelessness, after being invited by a committee that hosts service agencies in Inuvik.

Inuvik fares poorly compared to other remote northern communities. Yellowknife, for example, offers daytime shelter to the homeless and has treatment centres for substance abuse. Inuvik’s shelter, in contrast, opens at night and people under the influence of drugs or alcohol are refused entry. By road, the closest detoxification centre to Inuvik is 1,200 kilometres away in Whitehorse.

“In Inuvik and other communities in the Beaufort Delta, there is a complete lack of investment in community services, and because of the geography and climate, the consequences of this are far more drastic,” Young said. The study found most homeless men and women in Inuvik suffered from severe addiction problems and mental health issues such as depression and schizophrenia. Many had experienced

abuse in residential schools, or suffered the effects of intergenerational trauma from their parents or family members. “They’re called the lost generation,” Young said. A lack of employment and education opportunities, combined with Inuvik’s boom or bust resource-dependent economy, contributed to the marginalization of the town’s homeless, most of whom are aboriginal.

In a separate paper, Neoliberalism and Homelessness in the Western Canadian Arctic, Young, and co-author Joshua M. Moses, from Haverford College, say the offloading of government services onto the non-profit sector has had significant consequences in Inuvik, which lacks community-based and non-profit services.

Young says communities, government, non-profit groups, and the resource extraction industry have important roles to play in addressing homelessness in the North. A realistic first step forward is to adopt a housing first approach. “The costs of housing first are significantly less than not doing anything, as Canadian taxpayers spend upward of $6 billion annually to cover the costs associated with healthcare, criminal justice, social services, and emergency shelters,” he says.

Young’s recommendations included establishing a permanent detoxification centre and transitional housing that accepts those with substance abuse issues. He urged government housing authorities to adopt policies to reduce eviction rates in the region, while working to improve housing affordability. Young also suggested better coordination among existing services, including having the local shelter stay open 24-hours to meet the needs of the town’s most vulnerable residents.

Since its release in July 2013, the Rural Migration and Homelessness in the North report has spurred Inuvik residents into action. A new warming centre, available to all people who are homeless, regardless of whether they have used alcohol or drugs, has opened. Young and two research assistants are evaluating the effectiveness of the warming shelter. Young is hopeful that local service providers and the community will petition the government to establish a transitional housing centre that offers holistic treatment, and the option of non-culturally specific or culturally appropriate services.


Dr. Michael Young

• CAMH, Concurrent Disorders Certificate, 2015• PhD, Interdisciplinary, Simon Fraser University,

2006• PhD, Sociology University of Victoria, 2004 • MA, Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 1993• BA, Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 1982• Associate Professor, Humanitarian Studies,

2007-present • Chair and full time instructor, Camosun College,

1998-2007 • Support worker/counselor, 1995-1996

selected books or book chapters

Incarceration in Canada: History, development and practice. In J. Winterdyke and M. Wienrath (eds.), Adult Canadian Corrections. (author)


Neoliberalsim and Homelessness in the Western Canadian Arctic. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research. (lead co-author)

Assessing the effects of therapeutic curriculum on staff and volunteers in a new therapeutic Community: Implications for educators in addiction services for homeless persons with co-morbid disorders. International, Quarterly Community Health Education. (author)

Films

A Cold Place to Live Outside (M. Young and B. Blair, 2013). Part of research on Rural migration and homelessness in the north. Funded by HRSDC research grant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ne95FzkWeo

Selected Grants

Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Rural migration and homelessness in the North. $52,783. 2012-2014

Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Rural migration and homelessness in the North. $74,989. 2012-2013

Royal Roads University Professional Development/Scholarly Activity Research Awards. An impact analysis of therapeutic community curriculum on staff and volunteers at Woodwynn Farms Therapeutic Community. $2,263. 2009-2010

contact

[email protected]

CV in brief

Solar project shines spotlight on energy conservation

A green energy project that saved homeowners more than half a million dollars and reduced greenhouse gas emissions has put the City of Colwood on the map.

Solar Colwood, a partnership between the city of 16,000 residents west of Victoria, Royal Roads University and the T’Souke Nation, offered support for improved home energy efficiency, with a focus on encouraging the adoption of solar hot water systems.

Natural Resources Canada provided funding of up to $3.9 million to encourage homeowners in Colwood to install solar thermal water heating systems, improve home energy efficiency and explore green energy solutions such as electric cars. The Solar Colwood program was expanded to homeowners throughout the Capital Regional District in 2014, allowing more people to take advantage of grants of up to $3,000, one-third of the cost of installing a solar hot water system.

With households accounting for 17 per cent of Canada’s energy requirements and 16 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions,

initiatives such as Solar Colwood have the chance to make meaningful change. Nancy Wilkin, Director of Royal Roads’ Office of Sustainability, says Solar Colwood was a success. Royal Roads received $120,000, over four years, to monitor households involved in the program.

“Solar Colwood has been a wonderful partnership. Everyone that participated in this program saved energy, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Wilkin says.

“It’s the first time governments have known, on a household by household basis, the impact of solar hot water technology on energy conservation.”

After one year, Wilkin, whose team calculated energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions by monitoring energy bills, says households that installed solar hot water systems and made other energy efficiency improvements through the program saved 26 per cent in energy costs. Within three years, their energy bills dropped by 37 per cent.

Greenhouse gas emissions from these households were also reduced, dropping by 37 per cent after one year and 43 per cent after three years.

Solar Colwood


“What that tells us is that once you install that technology, whether it’s solar hot water or ductless heat pumps, people’s behaviours change,” Wilkin says. “Once they get a taste for it, and see their bills go down, residents are careful about when they turn the dryer on or how much water they’re using.”

As the program progressed, Solar Colwood expanded beyond solar hot water systems to promote other energy saving measures. Wilkin says this resulted in 1,140 energy conservation actions, which otherwise would not have taken place. She says the program also created jobs, with members of the T’Sou-ke Nation and other solar installers becoming certified experts in solar hot water system installation.

Energy conservation actions facilitated through Solar Colwood included:

• 82 solar hot water systems installed in Capital Regional District households • 117 ductless heat pumps installed • 12 electrical vehicle charging stations • nine photovoltaic panel applications • 425 energy and water saving kits • 13 Smart Home energy monitoring applications • 416 eco-Action Energy program applications for insulation upgrades

• 57 LiveSmart BC Efficiency Incentive Program applications

The monetary benefits from these actions added up. “The value of those energy savings is $525,000, more than half a million dollars that people didn’t pay on their energy bills,” Wilkin says.

Solar Colwood also provided some valuable lessons about green technologies, after the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions awarded a Royal Roads research team $47,000 to understand public uptake and acceptance of solar hot water systems.

Dr. Chris Ling, from the School of Environment and Sustainability, who led the research project, says it is crucial that communities in BC find innovative ways to reduce household energy consumption.

He praised the well-designed, collaborative nature of the Solar Colwood project. But the researchers, including School of Business academics Charles Krusekopf and Ingrid Kajzer-Mitchell, questioned whether solar hot water systems were the right technology.

“All sorts of positives came out of Solar Colwood including public awareness and adoption of energy efficiency measures,

but the solar hot water technology itself was not the right fit. There are more effective ways of changing people’s energy consumption than installing solar hot water systems,” Ling says.

Solar Colwood’s goal was for 1,000 households to install solar hot water systems, but fewer than 100 took up the technology in the region. The research team conducted surveys with community members, and a series of focus groups involving residents who adopted the technology, and those who did not, to gather information about behaviour change. The aim was to discover why residents did or did not adopt renewable technologies like solar hot water in their homes.

Ling attributes the lower than expected uptake of the solar hot water grants to BC’s relatively inexpensive and environmentally friendly hydroelectric energy system. Krusekopf says other barriers were a lack of understanding about solar hot water technology, and low payback. For example, he says that although the grant covered one-third of the cost of installing a solar hot water system, it would take an average household up to 30 years to make money on the investment.



“Low payback compared to other technologies, such as ductless heat pumps, meant fewer people took up the technology,” Krusekopf says. “As we discovered, most of the people who installed solar hot water systems using Solar Colwood incentives had been thinking about it seriously already. What we chronicled was that there was little spread beyond the very early adopters.”

Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell says the researchers’ findings proved that marketing, and consumers’ perceived level of financial risk, played an important role in behaviour change when it came to adopting renewable energy solutions.

“There has clearly been some major benefits of the Solar Colwood project from a marketing and branding perspective; for example increased profile of the community and the positioning of Colwood as an award-winning and progressive city,” she says. “However, the limited actual uptake of the solar hot water technology illustrates some of the marketing challenges with adopting sustainable behaviours. Despite Solar Colwood incentives and marketing efforts to increase trialability through for example energy champions and open houses the perceived lack of

relative advantage and risk impacted the diffusion process and the adoption of new behaviours.”

The Royal Roads team praised Solar Colwood for redirecting the program early on to focus on energy saving improvements outside of hot water. “We learnt a lot and a lot of positives came out of Solar Colwood,” Ling says. “As an imaginative forward-thinking approach to energy conservation, it should be commended.”

Solar Colwood turned into a valuable real-world research opportunity for Royal Roads students. Seven Bachelor of Science student teams completed research projects that focused on Solar Colwood. Graduate students also benefited. Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies alumna Susan Kerr developed a sustainability curriculum on energy efficiency, which she delivered to classes at Dunsmuir Middle School.

The Solar Colwood project spurred change on Royal Roads’ campus too. There are now two solar hot water systems on campus and the university replaced its oil tanks with electric heat pumps, saving 80 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Wilkin sees projects such as Solar Colwood, which wrapped up officially in March 2015, as just

the beginning. The momentum is there, and Wilkin says residents in the City of Colwood will continue to lead the way in energy conservation.

“Our other learning is that the program has just started,” Wilkin says. “Changing behaviours has just begun!”


CV in brief

DR. Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell

• PhD, Marketing, University of Strathclyde, 2004• MSc, International Marketing,

University of Strathclyde, 1999• BSc, European Business Studies,

University of Växjö, Sweden, 1997• Associate Professor, School of Business,

Royal Roads


Pathways toward whole community transformation: A case study on the role of school engagement and environmental education. Environment, Development and Sustainability. (lead co-author)

An interaction and networks approach to developing sustainable organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management. (co-author)

Barriers to change and the swampy lowland. Journal of Change Management. (co-author)

The living product - using the creative nature of metaphors in the search for sustainable marketing. Business Strategy and the Environment. (lead co-author)

contact

[email protected]

DR. Charles Krusekopf

• PhD, Economics, University of Washington• MA, Economics, University of Washington• MA, International Economics and China Studies,

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

• BA, Economics and Management, Rice University• Associate Professor and School Director,

School of Business, Royal Roads


State ownership and development of natural resources in Mongolia. Perspectives on the Development of Energy and Mineral Resources – Hawai`i, Mongolia and Germany. (author)

Pathways toward whole community transformation: A case study on the role of school engagement and environmental education. Environment, Development and Sustainability. (co-author)

Mongolian perspectives on northeast Asian energy security perspectives. In B. Kong and J. Ku (eds.), Regime Formation in Northeast Asia: The Past, Present, and Prospect of Regional Energy Security Cooperation. (author)

contact

[email protected]


Dr. Chris Ling, Assistant Professor and Director of the School of Environment and Sustainability

• PhD, Planning and Landscape, University of Manchester, 2005

• MSc, Pollution and Environmental Control, University of Manchester, 1998

• BSc (Honours), Environmental Sciences, Southampton University, 1995

• Assistant Professor and Director, School of Environment and Sustainability, Royal Roads


Restructuring the post-industrial landscape: A multifunctional approach. Landscape Research. (lead co-author)

A template for integrated community sustainability planning. Environmental Management. (lead co-author)

Nature, place and the creative class: Three Canadian case studies. Landscape and Urban Planning. (lead co-author)

Agency and social capital: Characteristics and dynamics. Community Development Journal. (lead co-author)

Landscapes of creativity: An exploration of the link between the presence of the creative class and aesthetic quality in Canadian communities. Spaces & Flows: An International Journal of Urban & Extra Urban Studies. (author)

contact

[email protected]

Nancy Wilkin

• Director, Office of Sustainability, Royal Roads University

• Former Assistant Deputy Minister, Environmental Stewardship Division, Ministry of Environment

• Former Chief Negotiator, Ministry of Aboriginal Relations & Reconciliation

Selected PRojects

City of Colwood. Solar Colwood.

Vancouver Foundation and Pacific Salmon Foundation. RRU wetland ecosystem restoration project.

Fraser Basin Council and Solar Colwood. Charging station incentive for E.V.s.

Carbon Neutral Capital Program, Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement. Energy retrofits at RRU to reduce CO2e emissions on campus.

contact

[email protected]

The best research in modern learning theory suggests that fundamental change is needed to build relevancy beyond the traditional approach to teaching and learning. Royal Roads University is guided by two frameworks. We understand learning as a socially constructed activity

and we conceptualize lifelong learning as a process of social and personal discovery beyond acquisition of knowledge. We have adopted a teaching philosophy that supports these frameworks and articulated 11 key components of Royal Roads’ teaching and learning model.

Royal Roads University Teaching, Learning & Research

Outcomes Based Learning outcomes are used to make the purpose of programs and courses clear

Blended Delivery Combination of face-to-face and online strategies aid in accessibility and participation

Experiential and Authentic Strategies employed to provide practical relevance

Learning Community Students stay together to support each other through a whole program

Team-Based Up to 50 per cent of course assignments are team-based

Integrative Subject matter from a variety of disciplines enables complex problem solving

Applied Faculty are scholars and practitioners

Engaged Learning Learning techniques that require active participation of students are employed

Action Research Students engage in practical and participative research

Supportive Academic and student services are integrated to support engagement and success

Flexible Strategies are put in place to enable access and the working lives of students


Outcomes Based Learning outcomes are used to make the purpose of programs and courses clear

Blended Delivery Combination of face-to-face and online strategies aid in accessibility and participation

Experiential and Authentic Strategies employed to provide practical relevance

Learning Community Students stay together to support each other through a whole program

Team-Based Up to 50 per cent of course assignments are team-based

Integrative Subject matter from a variety of disciplines enables complex problem solving

Applied Faculty are scholars and practitioners

Engaged Learning Learning techniques that require active participation of students are employed

Action Research Students engage in practical and participative research

Supportive Academic and student services are integrated to support engagement and success

Flexible Strategies are put in place to enable access and the working lives of students


Our research makes a difference. We support transformative learning and societal change in both the lives of our students, and in the communities and organizations where our research takes place. Our researchers are dedicated to responding to the most critical issues of our time, and finding practical solutions to real-world challenges.

Research at Royal Roads is applied, integrated and action-oriented. Our work is tightly linked to academic quality, and leads to learning through discovery. Through this model, research informs our teaching, directs our curriculum, and ensures that RRU is at the leading edge of learning and change. Through our research, we contribute to economic prosperity, social advancement,

and environmental sustainability. We are constantly striving to be the university of choice for relevant, applied, and professional education, and to provide continuous opportunities to learn and transform lives. Our connections between people, places and purposes create a vibrant learning community where we celebrate and support our successes.

We are delighted with the exceptional quality of our faculty and students. Each of them is helping to make a meaningful difference in their workplaces, communities and the world. We hope that you have enjoyed reading these inspiring examples of RRU’s Research in Action.

Sincerely,

Dr. Stephen Grundy, Vice President Academic and Provost

Dr. Mary Bernard, Associate Vice President Research and Faculty Affairs

Dr. Deborah Zornes, Director, Research Services

STUDENTresEARCH Grants


Student research funding plays an important role as demonstrated in the table. Research funding sources include the federal research councils: SSHRC CGSM, NSERC CGSM, NSERC IPS, CIHR CGS; Mitacs; foundations; private sector grants; and others. Student research awards are coordinated by the Coordinator of Student Aid and Awards, Student Services, in collaboration with the Office of Research.

applied and interdisciplinary research is reaching new heights at Royal Roads University.

Date Amount

April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015 $516,801

April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2014 $477,000

April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013 $360,580

April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012 $379,624

April 1, 2010 – March 31, 2011 $461,068

Research Grants


The table displays the research funds received by Royal Roads University for the past five fiscal years. Research funding sources include the federal research councils (SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR); Canada Research Chairs, Canada Foundation for Innovation; various Government of BC Ministries; Health Care Leaders Association of BC; BC Public Service Agency; Canada Council for Learning; BC Campus; Canadian International Development Agency; Centre for International Forestry Research, Natural Resources Canada; Hunan Resources Development Canada, Health Canada; Western Economic Diversification; Toupin Foundation; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions; Canadian Wildlife Federation; Canadian Heritage;

Justice Institute of BC; various First Nations communities; BC Knowledge Development Fund; Health Canada; International Development Research Centre; BC Occupational Health and Environmental Research Network; Sustainable Forest Management Network; Forest Ethics Rainforest Association; First Nation Technology Council; Canadian Language and Literature Network; VanCity; TD Friends of the Environment; Canadian Medical Association; Canadian Health Services Research Foundation; to name just a few.

Date Amount

April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015 $516,801

April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2014 $477,000

April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013 $360,580

April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012 $379,624

April 1, 2010 – March 31, 2011 $461,068

Date Amount

April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2015 $1,426,119

April 1, 2010 – March 31, 2014 $1,700,058

April 1, 2009 – March 31, 2013 $1,637,536

April 1, 2008 – March 31, 2012 $2,210,514

April 1, 2007 – March 31, 2011 $1,707,288

If you’re interested in other research initiatives at Royal Roads University, feel free to contact us at any time.

Royal Roads University2005 Sooke RoadVictoria, British Columbia V9B 5Y2

250.391.2600 x4486 [email protected] royalroads.ca

Research in action.

The information contained in this brochure is subject to change. Check the website for the most up-to-date information.

This paper contains 10% post-consumer recycled fibre and is FSC® certified. We choose recyclable, renewable, and sustainable paper products to support responsible forest management.

This publication was made possible by the Tri-Agency Research Support Fund

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