CESI Special Project

Women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs are vital to Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In Canada, these businesses contribute about $150 billion to the economy and hire more than 1.5 million people (Cukier, Hassannezhad Chavoushi, et al., 2022). Supporting women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs’ empowerment boosts the economy and improves social and environmental outcomes (Cukier, Hassannezhad Chavoushi, et al., 2022; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2022).

Between 2021-23, student researchers, Tanja Samardzic and Britanny Pompilii, from the University of Guelph’s Community Engaged Scholarship Institute, were engaged to work with Sustainable Livelihoods Canada in the development of an Annotated Bibliography and an associated Literature Review. The work of the student researchers was supervised by Dr. Mary Ferguson of Eko Nomos, an independent consultancy.

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.

This article investigates the impacts of CESI’s Research Shop, which works with local and regional organizations to carry out high-impact community-engaged scholarship by training and employing graduate students to conduct community-engaged research. The article includes a case study on the impacts (benefits and challenges) of the Research Shop on community partners and student researchers from 2009 to 2018.

In February 2018, CESI held a poster exhibit at the 10C community hub in downtown Guelph. The poster exhibit at 10C provided a snapshot of the innovative and community-driven research conducted on a breadth of topics by researchers at Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) and the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS).

The University of Guelph places high value on being a leader in post-secondary teaching and learning, as well as providing students enriched learning experiences. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented changes to how instructors teach, how students learn, and what society expects a university education to look like.

Every day at CESI, we have the privilege of partnering with a number of individuals and organizations who work tirelessly towards a more just, inclusive, and caring community. Their vision is bold and fierce, their passion is contagious, and their commitment to social change is driving tangible transformation. Together, they make Guelph and Wellington a better place to live for all.

Despite temporarily being closed, the 10C gallery space remained lively and activated in the front window throughout COVID-related lockdowns in 2021. As part of the collaborative agreement between the University of Guelph and 10C, CESI has access to the 10C gallery space for one month per year.

This literature review was prepared for the In Good Company Collaborative and Sustainable Livelihoods Canada to discuss the situation of women in small-to medium enterprises in Canada. More specifically, the review explores the current trends, policies, practices, challenges, and barriers faced by women in the areas of technology and engineering, skilled trades, and transportation.

This collection of literature reviews was prepared for the Nishawbe Aski Nation (NAN) to investigate food self-determination in Indigenous communities. The collection explores some of the challenges as well as ongoing efforts to improve food self-determination in Indigenous communities. Topics include indicators of Indigenous food self-determination, education programs available for youth, the role of social enterprises, and existing import and export systems.