Guelph Lab Projects

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Participation Matters.

Towards civic equity 

Municipalities and Service Managers are responsible for policies that play a vital role in people’s lives. Community organizations and residents play a vital role in shaping effective, equitable local policies that improve people’s lives.  

Program(s): 
CESI Special Project
Guelph Lab

A Governance Framework for Advisory Committees of Council

Since January 2023, the Guelph Lab has been working with the City Clerk’s Office to create a Governance Framework for the City’s Advisory Committees of Council (ACOCs). This collaboration responds to the Clerk’s Office’s interest in gaining a deeper understanding of the form and function of the City's ACOCs, and in providing a tool to guide ACOCs’ future development.

Author(s): 
Leah Levac, Wai Yin Chan, Sam Laban, Dylan McMahon, Asa Coleman, and Simon Pek
Product(s): 
Report
Summary Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

U of G Food Market: A Sliding Scale Market at the University of Guelph

  • The U of G Food Market sells fresh fruits, vegetables, and other goods on a sliding scale, which allows customers to choose the amount they want to pay within a set range, with no questions asked.
  • The reduced end is as low as we can offer it, typically 33% off retail prices. The other end is similar to grocery stores. The market exists to increase our campus community's physical and financial access to fresh produce. When people pay the retail end of the scale, they help subsidize the reduced end for other marketgoers.
  • The market saw a huge expansion during the Winter 2024 semester. Previously only on Thursdays, markets are now offered three days of the week. This non-profit initiative has become a valuable program at the University of Guelph.
  • The market started in 2022, and thrives due to the remarkable collaboration fostered among the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute, the Arrell Food Institute, and the Sustainability Office from the University of Guelph.
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab

Access to Public Washrooms in Guelph Project: Maps Report

Public washrooms are important for everyone in Guelph, but washrooms aren’t always available and not everyone has access to washrooms when they need them. Sometimes people are forced to go outside, especially in the Downtown area. Other people may be forced to stay at home if public washrooms are closed or not accessible to them.

Author(s): 
Edith Wilson, Adam Bonnycastle, Sam Laban, Stacey Laughlin
Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab

Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion: Recommendations to Increase Diversity and Inclusion on the City of Guelph's Accessibility Advisory Committee

This report identifies practical strategies for improving diversity and inclusion on the City of Guelph’s Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC). It is hoped that this report will support recommendations brought to the City of Guelph’s Council, prompting policy changes to improve the engagement, participation, and inclusion of diverse groups within the city’s Advisory Committees of Council, specifically the AAC.

Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Equity in Housing, Recreation, Transportation, and Arts and Culture

Municipal staff and Members of Council can play an important role in contributing to more equitable communities. These discussion papers support these efforts by exploring the role of municipalities in promoting equity in different service areas including housing, recreation, transportation, and arts and culture. The papers highlight some of the systemic barriers experienced by individuals in Guelph, especially those in at-risk groups. These systemic barriers are deeply embedded in our society and are influenced by policies implemented at all levels of government.

Author(s): 
Jemma Llewellyn, Chris Schuck, Sam Laban, Lindsey Thomson, and Mark Ariba
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

We Learn Best From Those With Lived Experience: A Phenomenological Study of Postsecondary Student Food Insecurity

This Master's thesis (supported by Dr. Liz Jackson and the Guelph Lab) explores and illuminates the phenomenon of postsecondary student food insecurity using qualitative methodologies. It uses a phenomenological framework to better understand what constitutes the lived experience of students with food insecurity; the researcher conducted 11 semi-structured interviews with students, all but one from the University of Guelph, who were recruited primarily through the campus food bank.

Author(s): 
Vanessa Cunningham
Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
CESI Special Project
Guelph Lab

Promoting Food Security in Higher Education

In early 2021, CESI and the Guelph Lab launched “Promoting Food Security in Higher Education” with Meal Exchange and staff and faculty at the University of British Columbia, the University of Guelph, McMaster University, and the University of Ottawa. The goal of the project is to catalyze a network of university administrators, researchers, students, staff and food service providers working to promote food secure campus communities. The project included:

Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab

The City of Guelph's Advisory Committees of Council: Review of Documents

Since 2021, the Guelph Lab has worked with the City of Guelph on several research initiatives related to the City’s Advisory Committees of Council (ACOC).

Author(s): 
Amanda Buchnea, Sam Laban
Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Hungry for Knowledge: Assessing the Prevalence of Food Insecurity at the University of Guelph

There is growing evidence that significant numbers of university students in Canada experience food insecurity, potentially undermining the health, well-being and educational success of students. The University of Guelph has joined a handful of other Canadian universities in responding to this issue. CESI, Meal Exchange, Universities Fighting World Hunger and graduate students working with Dr.

Author(s): 
Seyed Mehdi Amadi, Sam Laban, Courtney Primeau
Product(s): 
Infographic
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
Meal Exchange
Universities Fighting World Hunger

The Sandbox: Launching Community-Owned Social Entreprises in Guelph-Wellington

The Sandbox pairs interdisciplinary teams of students with community organizations looking to launch social enterprises in Guelph-Wellington. They work together for four months to grow the enterprise, supported by seed funding, training and mentorship.

Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
The SEED
City of Guelph

Active Citizen Project

The Active Citizen Project leverages the research and teaching resources of the University via the Guelph Lab, linking them with initiatives at the City that engage citizens in the governance of the city – from policy making to service design/delivery and budgeting.

Product(s): 
Environmental Scan
Evaluation
Infographic
Literature Review
Policy Brief
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Exploring Municipal Innovation for the 2017 Municipal Innovators Community (MiC) Conference

The MiC conference organizers and the Guelph Lab partnered with the Research Shop to prepare materials for the conference that would be used to enable attendees to see themselves as “innovators,” and encourage discussion among attendees surrounding their respective experiences with and perspectives on innovation. The community partners identified a need for conference attendees from diverse professional backgrounds to be able to identify different kinds of innovation in order to recognize their work as innovative. 

Author(s): 
Taylor-Ann Grills, Kathleen Slemon, Alex Sawatzky
Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Research Shop
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph
Collaborate.Create.Accelerate. MiC logo.

Sharing Economy Toolkit

How can municipalities balance innovation, policy goals and citizen protection when faced with the growing popularity of companies like Uber or Airbnb? How can we best understand and respond to this new model of a sharing economy? To help answer these questions, the GuelphLab helped develop a Sharing Economy Toolkit.

Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Big Data and Smart Cities

The GuelphLab hosted 25 City of Guelph staff for discussions with Kurtis McBride, CEO of Miovision, a smart city technology company, and Dr. Rozita Dara, School of Computer Science, University of Guelph, about the possibilities and challenges of “Smart Cities.”

Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

City of Guelph Roundtables

The City of Guelph is experimenting with different methods for developing policies, programs, and services. The City asked the Guelph lab to support a series of “Roundtables”. During Summer 2015, staff from Corporate Services and the Office of the CAO held a series of events to ask City staff about a range of challenges faced by the Corporation – from employee engagement to managing physical infrastructure (“assets”) and the City budget process. Teams are worked to address three of the eleven topics identified. Remaining topics will be addressed by future “tables.”

Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Public Innovation

The Guelph Lab hosted a small group of City staff, University faculty and students to discuss “public innovation” with Jepser Christiansen. Jesper is Head of Research at MindLab, a Danish cross-governmental innovation unit that involves citizens and businesses in creating new solutions for society. Jesper discussed Mindlab’s work and the role of citizens in public sector innovation.

Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph
The Mind Lab

Public Sector Procurement

How can procurement be “open” and support innovation?

The City of Guelph’s information technology (IT) department asked the GuelphLab to support the design of alternative procurement processes that can unlock innovative technology solutions for the City and have the potential to create business development opportunities for companies working in “Civic Tech.”

Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

Open Government

The City of Guelph’s 2014 Open Government Action Plan (attached below) was one of the first of its kind in Canada. The Guelph Lab hosted 30 City of Guelph staff and councillors to discuss Open Government – what it means, its history, and how it has (and hasn’t) been adopted across Canadian municipalities. 

Product(s): 
Report
Presentation
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph

The People Table and Employee Engagement

The People Table had a problem to tackle – the City hadn’t performed well in the 2012 employee engagement survey. In 2014, some departments and service areas had made positive strides, but others had been less successful so the overall picture hadn’t actually changed all that much. “Must do better.” Agreed. So, where to start?

Product(s): 
Report
Program(s): 
Guelph Lab
Project Partner(s): 
City of Guelph