Research Shop

This project is the second part of a collaboration between the Research Shop and the Canadian Federation of University Women and Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. Its primary goal was to build on the findings from the Library for All project, which aimed to engage community members, and women in particular, in the planning process for the new Central Library in Guelph.

This report represents the results of a mixed-methods study that aimed to learn about the experiences of International Students at the University of Guelph. It is the second part of a series that seeks to highlight strengths and gaps in the supports available to International Students who choose to study in Canada. Both projects were in collaboration with the Guelph Wellington Local Immigration Partnership. The first report focuses on insights from service providers.

This report presents the findings of a program evaluation conducted by CESI’s Research Shop in collaboration with the Better Ballot Campaign (BBC). The goal of the BBC is to positively influence the political climate by promoting civil discussion and debates. The program evaluation engaged with candidates, voters and volunteers to assess the successes, challenges and lessons learned to explore potential future directions for the campaign. In addition, a case study examined how the Better Ballot Campaign took shape in Dufferin-Caledon in 2018.

This evaluation was prepared for, and in partnership with, Out On The Shelf (OOTS), a queer library and resource centre in Guelph, Ontario. This project aimed to evaluate OOTS programming and processes. Evaluation activities were carried out from October 2019 to February 2020 and consisted of a program participant survey, board member and volunteer focus groups, a graffiti wall, and attendance tracking.

The Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington (CRC) collaborated with CESI’s Research Shop to complete a community mapping exercise with students from Central Wellington District High School in Fergus, Ontario. The goal of this exercise was to explore youth’s vision and understand their perspectives regarding their local communities. Students were asked to identify existing local spaces and resources they use and to discuss what would make their communities an ideal place to live.

The year 2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the Research Shop, one of the five programs through which the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) fulfills its mandate to support and carry out community engaged scholarship. At the Research Shop, staff and graduate students work with local and regional organizations to design and carry out projects that address community research priorities.

The goal of this project was to highlight significant achievements in women’s rights in Canada over the past 100 years. Researchers created a series of posters to be displayed at the 2020 International Women’s Day Event being held in Guelph by the Canadian Federation of University Women, Zonta, and Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

As the organization approached its 15th year in operation, the board of the Guelph Enabling Garden (GEG) collaborated with CESI’s Research Shop to complete an evaluation of the garden and the GEG horticultural therapy programming. The evaluation engaged program participants, volunteers, and other garden users as a means to assess how well the needs and priorities of these groups were being met by the current horticultural therapy programs, events and structure of the physical space.

This research was conducted by CESI’s Research Shop in collaboration with the Theatre of the Beat (TOTB), a not-for-profit theatre company. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the TOTB Restorative Justice Theatre Program, which works with incarcerated persons at the Grand Valley Institution for Women. From May 2018 to April 2019, a variety of tools were used to assess the perceptions of the program amongst facilitators, inmates participating in the program, audience members for the theatre performances, and prison staff.

This report was prepared for the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington. It shares the findings from an evaluation of the Rural Emphasis Campaign, which aimed to create a dialogue around the issue of and solutions for rural youth homelessness in Wellington County. Specifically, it reports on data collected through surveys which examined the extent of awareness for youth vulnerability in the community, the effectiveness and impact of the campaign, and ways to improve the campaign’s presence within the community.