• Professor Gregory Chin, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and a political scientist in 91亚色's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, took part in a panel discussion about China鈥檚 growing economic power in the world, on TVO鈥檚

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To prove his point he created a computer model that duplicated the modern Canadian economy. He then adjusted it so that three crucial elements聽鈥� consumption, productivity, and population 鈥� gradually stopped growing after 2010. He shortened the workweek to four days, imposed higher taxes on the rich, provided more public services for the poor and imposed a carbon tax to provide government revenue. His model showed that within a couple decades things had changed.

The outcomes of Victor鈥檚 model were lower unemployment, a rise in standards of living and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The economy reached a steady state after a couple decades.

The complete article is available on the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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On March 9, the Globe published an article on the . The story was part of its special report on university research and also appeared in the Report on Business section:

The study of literature is rarely associated with economic growth, yet that is precisely the argument made by Impact Group co-founder Ron Freedman: "The Stratford Festival generates huge economic benefit for the local community. What's its core technology? Old English."

According to Mr. Freedman, who authored a report on the economic role of social sciences and humanities research, this type of research doesn't get its fair share of credit for its contributions to the Canadian economy and society.

Discussions about the role of research in economic growth are usually dominated by the so-called "hard sciences," biomedical and technology in particular, and the Conservative government's recent Speech from the Throne was no exception, with its promises to continue investing in the Science and Technology Strategy, create a digital economy strategy and support advanced research in space-based technologies.

But many in the research community believe that focusing funding primarily on science and technology to strengthen the economy is a mistake. "The humanities and social sciences are moving to centre stage," said SSHRC president Chad Gaffield recently in a speech.

Two projects lead by 91亚色 professors were mentioned in the coverage:

There are thousands of groups across the country trying to end homelessness. Yet, often being under-resourced, they lack funds to research whether their programs are effective. Enter Professor Stephen Gaetz of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Education and nursing Professor Bernie Pauly of the University of Victoria who teamed up with community partners to help them evaluate their programs and share their great ideas with other communities.

Megan Davies, a professor in the Department of Social Science in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, had long wanted to share the wealth of knowledge she had accumulated about the history of mental health in Canada with young people, wrote the Globe. So, together with Anne Marshall, director of the Centre for Youth & Society at the University of Victoria, she developed high-school material that teaches students to understand their own mental health and be compassionate toward others with mental illness and made it available to teachers online at the Web site CaringMinds.ca.

On March 8, the Globe also published an article on that included 91亚色's Knowledge Mobilization program, which partners researchers with community organizations and government policymakers to produce mutually-beneficial research.

鈥淭he future lies in exchanging all forms of research not just with industry but with government and with the community at large as well,鈥� says David Phipps, director of the Office of Research Services at 91亚色. 鈥淚n past, the focus has been on technology. Now we are extending it to business, law, the social sciences and the humanities.鈥�

...

At 91亚色, Mr. Phipps has two full-time staff working on what he calls knowledge mobilization. To date, they work with the United Way of 91亚色 Region and The Human Services Planning Coalition of 91亚色 Region, which represents 15 different social services agencies.

Representatives from those agencies meet regularly with 91亚色 researchers for what he calls KM in the AM 鈥� a knowledge management breakfast 鈥� where the agencies get to pick what area of research they want to hear about and a 91亚色 professor specializing in that area delivers a presentation.

"After that we leave it to the agencies and the professors to follow up," he says.

On March 10, Professor Joe Baker in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science in the Faculty of Health was profiled as one of several . It highlighted his research on the benefits of exercise and competitive sport to older people.

鈥淲e鈥檙e finding that a lot of things that we used to attribute to getting older, like decreases in cognitive functioning, depression and increased substance abuse, are really more a symptom of disuse rather than aging,鈥� says Baker, a member of 91亚色鈥檚 Alliance in Graceful Aging, a multidisciplinary research team.

He also examines how society鈥檚 negative stereotypes about aging influence people鈥檚 behaviours as they grow older. 鈥淲e are very much a culture that values youth and devalues the older person,鈥� he says.

His findings so far suggest people鈥檚 expectations about aging play a significant role in their declining physical and cognitive abilities. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just starting to get a handle on how big an influence these negative social stereotypes are on overall health,鈥� he says.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of .

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