Event connects University researchers with the local community
The Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) hosted an event called What We Know: Research and Insight on Guelph Wellington at Old Quebec Street Mall on Mar. 1. The event included 49 poster presentations highlighting research based within the community.
From free-roaming cats to women in politics, the posters had a diverse range of topics. Many posters looked at social and health wellbeing, including children and youth wellbeing, nutrition, and health care. Research also included information on municipal affairs, such as water use, household waste, and taxes.
Lloyd Longfield, Guelph’s MP, stated that a lot of the research deals with “Issues we’re working on as a community.”
Additionally, the idea of connecting communities with one another was a key theme throughout the event. Many of the research projects had multiple organizations coming together to help solve an issue and there was a wide range of community organizations connecting to make the event itself possible.
Linda Hawkins, director and co-founder of CESI, stated that the event allows the organization to “Pull down the barriers between the University [of Guelph] and the community” and to see how the “University adds value to the community.”
Hawkins said that events like this, take advantage of community spaces and encourages the University to “Come down from the hill.”
Both Hawkins and Gwen Chapman, dean of the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, discussed the value of sharing research.
Chapman said that we “need to talk to each other,” adding that, while this discussion needs to take place on campus, it also needs to reach beyond the University.
Chapman also noted that the research addresses the complex issues we face today. By sharing this research with the community it can be used to improve the city we live in.
The researchers were available to discuss their posters at the event, but the displays stayed up for two days to allow more of the community to see.
Researchers at the event included undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and community organizations, demonstrating that the University of Guelph is not the only group to take on major research projects.
Photo by Tasha Falconer.