The Environmental Cooperation and Israel-Palestinian Peace event will take place March 15 at 1pm at 280A 91��ɫ Lanes, Keele campus.

Environmental cooperation has been much-lauded as a force of peace in the Middle East and has been leveraged in support of Track I peacemaking processes between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It has been pursued as a practice of peace-building, valued for its ability to foster partnership-building, cooperation, identity change and sustainability. Still, the Israel-Palestinian conflict persists, even manifesting through cooperative environmental relations.

�ʲ��Ա���������ٲ��� (right), an international development, peace-building and dialogue researcher-practitioner, and Stuart Schoenfeld (left), chair of the Department of Sociology at 91��ɫ’s Glendon College, will present and discuss the issue. Drawing on their direct experience of working with practitioners, governments and stakeholders in the Middle East, they will critically examine assumptions and practices of environmental cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians. Abitbol and Schoenfeld co-chaired the AVOW initiative (Adaptive Visions of Water in the Middle East), hosted at IRIS from 2007-2009.

Abitbol specializes in hydropolitical issues, with a particular interest in Israeli-Palestinian relations. A Chevening Scholar and associate Fellow at IRIS, he is pursuing a PhD in peace studies at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, while teaching university courses at the nexus of environment and peace. As a consultant, he recently conducted the Conflict and Peace Effects Study of the Israel-Palestinian Authority-Jordan-World Bank "Red Sea Dead Sea Conveyance" initiative.

Schoenfeld's research on regional environmentalism in the Middle East began in the late 1990s. A network of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians began to work towards a common understanding of issues of water, energy, waste, transportation, consumption, biodiversity and sustainable development, and to fashion a way of turning that common understanding into one of the elements for peace and human security in the region.

The project continues to investigate this network and other regional frameworks. The project has produced publications on transboundary environmental networks, environmental peace building, approaches to regional environmental governance and the role of empathy in environmental peace-building.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Left: David Dewitt

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the  is an independent, nonpartisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements.

“I congratulate David on his new role as vice-president of programs at CIGI,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “David has served the University so well as associate vice-president research, bringing an important blend of academic excellence, strategic thinking and administrative efficiency to this challenging role. His new role draws on his expertise as a first-rate academic administrator and his widely recognized career as a scholar in international affairs. I invite the 91��ɫ community to join with me in wishing him every success in this new adventure.”

Under its , CIGI seeks to identify and address areas of major global governance that will be challenged over the next decade. Its research and work will focus on four program themes: the Global Economy, Energy & Environment, Development, and Global Security.

“In a few short years, CIGI has emerged as a pre-eminent source of innovative thinking about international governance,” Dewitt said. “I am excited about the opportunity to work with CIGI’s staff, fellows and partners in building significant new programs of research and policy development. Our goal is to advance better ideas for promoting global prosperity and security.”

About David Dewitt

Dewitt is a specialist in international affairs with expertise in security and conflict, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and comparative public diplomacy. He earned a BA at the University of British Columbia and an MA and PhD from Stanford University.

Prior to assuming his current position within the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, he served as director of the 91��ɫ Centre for International & Security Studies (YCISS) from 1988 to 2006. He is the author or contributing editor of books, chapters and peer reviewed articles as well as commissioned reports on Canadian foreign, security, and defense policy, international and regional security and conflict management in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, arms control and proliferation, and human security.

In the early 1990s, Dewitt co-directed the North Pacific Cooperative Security Dialogue, a Foreign Affairs sponsored multilateral track-two diplomacy initiative, and has been involved in various track-two initiatives on security in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Dewitt has been a visiting scholar at Tel Aviv University and an international research fellow of the Korean Institute for Defense Analysis. He served as founding chair of the Canadian Consortium for Asia Pacific Security and as a co-chair of the Canadian Member Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific. He also was a co-director of the Canadian Consortium for Human Security, national chair of the Canadian Professors for Peace in the Middle East, and has served as chair of the Partnerships for International Strategies with Asia now based at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of CIGI.

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“The question becomes at what point does any given individual weigh the cost of the experience against the benefit of the visit,” says Latham, adding that several factors, including the training and experience of the border guards, can impact the experience for an individual.

Latham said he is against the aggressive approach to security and believes it is possible to stop the few bad apples without alienating the majority of good people.

“We know the percentages are very, very low of people who are up to no good, creating some kind of deception in order to commit a crime or engage in terrorism,” says Latham. “So the question becomes what does the ‘culture’ of mistrust get you if you end up alienating a large number of people who are only interested in vacation, visiting family, or engaging in legitimate business.”

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Justice Susan Himel struck down all three Criminal Code provisions that had been challenged – communicating for the purposes of prostitution, pimping and operating a common bawdy house.

The decision will take effect in 30 days unless Crown lawyers return with arguments that are strong enough to persuade her to grant a further delay, Judge Himel said.

“We got everything,” yelped a 91��ɫ law professor behind the challenge, of , as he scanned the judgment seconds after it was released. “We did it.... Finally, somebody listened.”

Judge Himel specifically rejected a request from the Crown to suspend the effects of her decision for 18 months on the grounds that doing so would force sex-trade workers to continue working under hazardous conditions. She said the 30-day delay gives the Crown one last chance to persuade her that she should suspend her judgment.

Young said that, in light of how uncompromising Judge Himel’s findings were, the Crown faces a tough uphill battle in obtaining an additional stay. “In 30 days, the ruling kicks in and people can start growing their businesses,” he said.

Regardless of whether or not the decision is appealed, it is likely to plunge Parliament back into a divisive debate over criminalizing the operation of an activity that is itself perfectly legal.

Young warned the press and public not to fall for an inevitable onslaught of misinformation and scare stories that government officials will issue as it bids to prop up the law. “This was a big bite out of the heart of government,” he said. “They are going to feel this one. I don’t know what this means now; whether or not we will see five-storey brothels like the ones in Germany.”

However, Young also said that the public need not fear that prostitutes and pimps are about to run amok in their communities. Nor, he said, should people allow any distaste they may have for prostitution to cloud the central issue in the case. “This case is all about protecting the security and safety of people working in the sex trade, regardless of what you think of sex-trade work,” he said. “We have had a moral aversion to the sex trade for hundreds of years, but any time you can do something that increases peoples’ safety, you have done something good.”

Both sides in the case spent years amassing a vast body of international evidence, including dozens of witnesses.

Several cities – including Toronto, Victoria, Windsor, Calgary and Edmonton – charge fees to license body-rub establishments despite the general understanding that many sell sexual services.

Young ridiculed them on Tuesday for hypocritically reaping licensing fees while pretending not to know that they are fronts for prostitution. “For a decade, they have been charging exorbitant licensing fees for rub-and-tugs,” he said. “Now, at least we won’t have to charge them with living off the avails.”

Young was also interviewed in the Globe about the Pickton trial context for this challenge Sept 29:

A historic challenge to the country’s prostitution laws would likely have failed without the backdrop of serial killer Robert Pickton’s murderous activities, according to the lawyer behind the case.

Osgoode Professor Alan Young said Tuesday that he purposely delayed his challenge until after the Pickton trial because there could scarcely be a more dramatic illustration of the plight prostitutes are placed in when the law forces them to work on the streets.

“Pickton brought it to light,” Young told a press conference. “I had been developing arguments for many years, but I needed something more. Facts drive a case, and when they started to find bodies on that pig farm in 2002, it became extremely apparent to everyone that it is dangerous for sex-trade workers to work on the street.”

He characterized the prostitution challenge as a David and Goliath battle fought by a small band of lawyers who worked pro bono, 20 91��ɫ University law students and three tenacious litigants.

Over a five-year period, he said that his team assembled dozens of boxes of evidence and persuaded a sizable group of academics, community workers and prostitutes to testify without payment.

A win at the trial level was critical since the litigants and their legal team would not have been able to obtain funding for an appeal otherwise, Young added.

The case was also covered on , , the , , , , , and , among others.

You can stay current on this developing story by .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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Gill is at the University of Helsinki in Finland as the institution’s inaugural Jane & Aatos Erkko Visiting Professor in Studies on Contemporary Society. As part of his role with the Finnish university, Gill has organized an international conference titled The Helsinki Discussions, which will examine critical perspectives in global governance.

Left: Stephen Gill

"This one-day landmark event brings to Helsinki some of the world’s leading critical thinkers on global political economy, law and international relations," says Gill. "They will address the challenges of achieving sustainable and democratic governance in the 21st century."

Gill has asked the international contingent of thinkers and theorists to develop a dual perspective on the nature and future of global governance.

First, they will consider global governance as the practices associated with enduring forms of international rule beyond the purview of individual nations – that is, as it has been normally understood in politics and diplomacy since ancient times. In this sense, global governance involves consideration of the main mechanisms that have emerged to stabilize, modify and legitimate the global status quo, such as the G8 or the G20. Consequently, global governance is mainly evaluated from the perspective of the most powerful states and economic interests. Global governance today involves devising durable methods, mechanisms and institutions – including those of peace and war – to help sustain an international order that is premised on the primacy of capitalism and the world market as the key governing forces of world politics.

Second, participants will also develop critical perspectives on global governance – involving not only a demystification of the power relations between leaders and led, but also an assessment of the potential for changes in those relations. Conference participants will analyze global governance not just from the vantage point of dominant power, but from the perspectives of subaltern forces. Participants will question the necessity, desirability and sustainability of existing institutional arrangements in light of global economic, social and ecological crises and challenges.

Joining Gill in The Helsinki Discussions are some of the world's most distinguished thinkers and theorists. They are:

• 91��ɫ political economy Professor . A Trudeau Fellow (2009-2012), Bakker is a visiting Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and a consultant on gender and human security issues to the United Nations (UN).
• Author and University of Warwick Professor Upendra Baxi, who teaches law in development and was previously a professor of law at the University of Dehli in India and its former vice-chancellor.
• University of Cape Town Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Dr. ���DZ��dz��Dz�������Բ��ٲ���, now a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and  a founding member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is an elected foreign member of the United States National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
• University of Victoria international relations and international law Professor Claire Cutler, a researcher interested in advancing critical theory in international relations and developing a radical political economy critique of both public and private international law.
• Hilal Elver, a Distinguished Visiting Professor in global & international studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was founding legal adviser to the Turkish government’s ministry of environment and general director of women’s status in the prime minister's office. In 1994, Elver was appointed chair in environmental diplomacy by the UN Environment Program at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta.
• Richard Falk is the Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in global & international studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Adam Harmes, a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario whose work deals with global political economy, global finance and global governance. His current research examines the competition between neo-liberalism and social democracy over multi-level governance in federal, regional and global contexts.
• Political science Professor Mustapha Kamal Pasha is the chair of the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Previously, he taught at the School of International Service, American University in Washington, DC (1993-2005).
• 91��ɫ political science Professor , whose current research examines the political economy of inequality and difference in world affairs from the perspective of Gramscian political theory.
• University of Helsinki world politics Professor Teivo Teivainen, director of the Program on Democracy & Global Transformation at the San Marcos University in Lima, Peru. As a representative of Network Institute for Global Democratization, he is a founding member of the International Council of the World Social Forum.

The conference speakers will address a variety of contested political issues including such noteworthy topics as the legitimacy of global institutions; social justice, taxation and redistribution; privatized security governance; gender, race and equitable development; environmental issues and climate change; global health; the rights of subordinated peoples in an era of globalization; Islamic conceptions of justice and leadership; corporate social responsibility and public-private partnerships; and various mechanisms of regulation in finance, the workplace and in trade and investment.

The event has been organized under the auspices and sponsorship of the Jane & Aatos Erkko Chair on the Study of Contemporary Society at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki. Other sponsors are the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada; the Finnish Institute of International Affairs; and the University of Helsinki's Office of the Rector, the Centre of Excellence in Foundations of European Law & Polity, the Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research and the Faculty of Law.

For more on The Helsinki Discussions, visit the Web site.

About Stephen Gill

Gill is the inaugural Erkko Visiting Professor in Studies on Contemporary Society at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and a Distinguished Research Professor of Communication, Culture and Political Science at 91��ɫ. His publications include The Global Political Economy (with David Law, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988); American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission (Cambridge University Press,1991); Gramsci, Historical Materialism and International Relations (Cambridge University Press, 1993); Globalization, Democratization and Multilateralism (UN University Press & Palgrave Macmillan, 1997); Innovation and Transformation in International Studies (co-editor, Cambridge University Press 1997); Power, Production and Social Reproduction: Human In/security in the Global Political Economy (co-editor with Isabella Bakker, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) and Power and Resistance in the New World Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 & 2008).

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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He spoke to the Calgary Herald April 24 about how in conflicts defined by the number of our dead:

As Canada’s role in Afghanistan approaches its final year, the number of injured soldiers is more than 10 times the fallen.

“Fatalities do draw the most attention, because there’s a finality to it,” says Martin Shadwick, a military analyst in the 91��ɫ Centre for International & Security Studies. “It’s a cliché, but it’s the ultimate sacrifice. Even though our number of wounded is quite high, it doesn’t resonate. That’s disquieting, because some of these guys are horrifically injured for the rest of their lives.”

The Canadian Forces say they simply don’t want Taliban insurgents to know.

Shadwick points out that security concerns are somewhat valid because information can travel the globe in moments. However, Canada’s suppression of their numbers is far greater than other countries, such as Australia, which makes a public announcement every time a soldier is seriously wounded.

“A yearly release of the numbers seems overzealous. There must be a compromise in there somewhere. In comparative terms, we seem to be relying very heavily on the side of caution,” Shadwick says.

April 18 about the Canadian Forces' plan to cut back on recruiting staff now that the armed forces are nearing their targets:

Defence analyst Martin Shadwick said the end of the military mission in Afghanistan in July 2011 takes some of the pressure off the Canadian Forces in terms of the need for new recruits.

But he questioned whether cutting back on recruiting staff was the right approach, considering that some services such as the navy have significant problems getting personnel.

"Can you really let all those folks go considering the navy is hurting?" he asked.

Shadwick also spoke to DefenseNews about :

Canada's Army is emerging as the clear winner in equipment purchases. It has received approval to spend more than 5 billion Canadian dollars ($4.9 billion) on several new fleets of armored vehicles, while an Air Force program to buy search-and-rescue planes and the Navy's efforts to spend billions on new vessels are in limbo.

The ongoing war in Afghanistan, and the fact that the service has become the main force called on by government for both international and domestic deployments, has bolstered its support, say analysts and officers.

"The Army is the major beneficiary of money available for equipment, largely because of Afghanistan and presumably because of an expectation they'll be called up more in the future for other missions," said defense analyst Martin Shadwick, a strategic studies professor at 91��ɫ in Toronto.

Shadwick said the Army has been high profile over the last decade. It has been in Afghanistan, and is the first service the Canadian government usually turns to for international missions, as well as domestic deployments to deal with natural disasters such as forest fires and flooding.

Military officers privately agreed with that assessment, noting that although the Air Force has received new aircraft in the last three years, those planes have a transport role that would be used largely to support Army deployments. Canada has purchased and received four C-17s and is receiving the first of its new fleet of C-130Js starting in May.

. . .

Shadwick said one advantage that the Army has over the other two services is that the equipment it needs is readily available, unlike the construction of vessels that can take up to a decade.

"The lead time on acquiring a Close Combat Vehicle is relatively fast compared to purchasing ships or even compared to some Air Force projects," Shadwick said.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Kozinski will begin a five-year term at 91��ɫ on July 1. He has been dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan since 2007, but spent much of his career at McGill University.

A widely acknowledged expert in sustainable energy systems and immune building concepts (focused on anti-bioterrorism), Kozinski has created and led multidisciplinary teams throughout his career, linking research on energy, environmental issues, public health and security.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming Dean Kozinski to our Faculty of Science & Engineering,” said President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “His research achievements and leadership skills will help to ensure that students receive an excellent education and will enhance 91��ɫ’s reputation for innovation.”

Right: Janusz Kozinski

Educated in Poland, Kozinski earned master of engineering and PhD degrees from AGH University of Science & Technology in Krakow, and did post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before joining McGill University’s Faculty of Engineering in 1994.

He was appointed associate vice-principal (research & international relations) at McGill in 2005. He has also completed the Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Programme at Oxford University's Saïd Business School and the Executive Education Crisis Leadership in Higher Education program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Kozinski’s research includes projects related to sustainable energy systems, the next generation of nuclear reactors, environmental impact of energy technology, greenhouse gas mitigation, and many other topics, including Mars exploration.

In 2006, he was named International Chair in Bioenergy for the Institute for Advanced Studies and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France. While at the CNRS in 2002-2003, Kozinski researched how to mix metals from Mars’ crust and CO2 from its atmosphere to generate enough energy for a return trip from Mars − a project that took him to space on a series of zero-gravity parabolic flights organized by the European Space Agency.

“Being asked to lead a Faculty that includes both scientific research and engineering expertise, at a major university in Canada, is a unique opportunity,” said Kozinski. “I would characterize 91��ɫ as ‘i-squared’ − a very interdisciplinary and very international university. Those are among the key things that are going to be the driving force in science and engineering in the 21st century.”

Kozinski will succeed Interim Dean Walter Tholen. "I want to thank Interim Dean Tholen for his outstanding leadership and efforts during this past year," said Shoukri.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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A Perilous Imbalance: The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance, a new book co-authored by Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Stepan Wood, shines an urgent light on the dangerous imbalances in contemporary forms of globalized governance.

The book will launch Wednesday, April 7, from 12:30 to 2pm in the Private Dining Room of the Executive Learning Centre in the Seymour Schulich Building, Keele campus.

Co-author and political economy Professor Stephen Clarkson of the University of Toronto, a senior fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, will join Wood, a core faculty member of the  (IRIS), in introducing .

Left: Stepan Wood

The book advocates for a revitalization of the Canadian state as a vehicle to pursue human security, ecological integrity and social emancipation, and to create spaces for alternative forms of law and governance.

As citizens of a middle power, Canadians know how it feels to be objects of global forces, but they are also agents of globalization who have helped build structures of transnational governance that have highly uneven impacts on prosperity, human security and the environment, often for the worse. A Perilous Imbalance argues that these imbalances need to be recognized and corrected. It situates Canada’s experience of globalization in the context of three interlinked trends, the emergence of a global supraconsitution, the transformation of the nation-state and the growth of governance beyond the nation-state.

Jinyan Li, interim dean of 91��ɫ’s Osgoode Hall Law School; Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation; and 91��ɫ Professor Dawn Bazely, director of IRIS; will give the opening remarks, followed by commentary by Osgoode Professor Craig Scott.

Lunch will be served. For more information, contact Joanne Rappaport, Osgoode research coordinator, at jrappaport@osgoode.yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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How do you look at millions of genomic patterns and see the diagnostic implications? How do you assimilate satellite data to better predict and visualize the effects of global warming, pollution, and weather patterns? How can you chart the global migration of millions of people under slavery? How do you assess the impact millions of blog entries have had on the print media economy? How do you sift global intelligence reports to identify the real threats?

Each day, humanity poses thousands of similar questions as we produce massive data sets in every field − but as the data grows, the challenge becomes translating this data for the human senses and delivering the best analysis to solve real-world problems.

The Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design (CIV-DDD), led by 91��ɫ in partnership with the (OCAD), promises to develop the next generation of data discovery, design, and visualization techniques by developing new computational tools, representational strategies, and interfaces.

The $11.5 million five-year project brings together a unique multidisciplinary team of over 50 researchers from 91��ɫ, OCAD, the University of Toronto, 14 industry partners, and significant international collaborators.

(left), Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision and Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science at 91��ɫ, is the project’s principal investigator. , professor of artificial intelligence and data mining in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, will co-lead 91��ɫ’s team of 14 researchers, who include , professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, and , Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture and associate professor of film in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Sara Diamond, visualization design researcher and president of the Ontario College of Art & Design, will lead OCAD’s team of 12 researchers, who include Vladimir Spicanovic, dean of the Faculty of Art, and Greg van Alstyne, professor in the Faculty of Design and director of Research, Strategic Innovation Lab.

has provided over $3.8 million in funding through the Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence Program; industry partners will contribute over $3.6 million, with the remaining $4.1 million coming from the project’s institutional partners.

“Humans’ capacity to interpret sensory stimuli is limited, which is why the human processing strategy is to attend to the relevant and ignore the irrelevant,” says Tsotsos. “Determining what’s relevant is a key task. Equally important is discovering how best to present such data in a form that is quickly and effectively understood. By combining our team’s expertise in computer science, design, digital media, visual perceptual science, fine arts, and the social sciences, CIV-DDD will discover and provide new visualizations for underlying patterns, processes, and relationships within data sets. These in turn will suggest new research directions and applications, laying the foundation for a new wave of knowledge creation and technological products.”

CIV-DDD formalizes many existing research collaborations, both within 91��ɫ’s faculties and departments and among researchers at 91��ɫ, OCAD, and U of T. “In the new paradigm of data-driven discovery, art and design researchers have a profound role to play in partnership with scientists, making the invisible visible, heralding a new era of knowledge, cultural creation, and technological products,” said Diamond. “This preeminent research hub for the development of next-generation data visualization techniques is unique in its level of interdisciplinary fire power, strong collaboration with end-users and international links. It aggregates and extends much successful collaboration amongst the researchers, and between OCAD and 91��ɫ.”

Many techniques and technologies developed by research groups associated with CIV-DDD will become resources for the entire team as they focus on new data-driven design and information visualization solutions in four thematic areas:

• bioinformatics and medicine
• fine and performing arts
• engineering and physical sciences
• humanities and social sciences

Collaboration between industry and academia is crucial to the project’s success. “Platform Computing is honoured to support the CIV-DDD project and provide the students and researchers at 91��ɫ and the OCAD with cutting-edge technologies to explore and create the next generation of visualization solutions and services and help them tackle scientific, social and human challenges,” said Jingwen Wang, vice-president, products, at . “Collaboration and information sharing are fundamental to academic research and Platform products enable researchers and students to easily collaborate and manage data and resources to capture, simulate and analyze their results.”

CIV-DDD’s industry partners highlight its wide applicability across sectors, including:

• Mass media and communications studies, ethnography, and cultural studies −
• Enterprise and knowledge management businesses −
• Technology service providers − , , and
• Physics −
• Sustainable, intelligent systems, and green technology −
• Computer and communication technologies − , , and
• Entertainment and Web-related industries − , , and
• Research and innovative presentation −
• Business intelligence work − and
• Mobile technology and applications developers − Zameen
• Medicine and bioinformatics − U of T’s , the , and McMaster University’s

“CIV-DDD responds both to a dramatic paradigm shift in the health, social and economic challenges facing Canadians and the need for more research capacity and state-of-the-art infrastructure in this region,” said Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ’s vice-president Research & Innovation. “It also builds on the existing strengths of 91��ɫ’s , the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies in the Faculty of Education, and in the Faculty of Fine Arts, among others.

“By leading the Consortium on New Media, Creative, and Entertainment R&D in the Toronto Region (CONCERT), 91��ɫ and its partner universities and industries identified the preconditions necessary to develop a high-end visualization industry in Ontario. This unique collaboration will help fulfill one of CONCERT’s long-term objectives, which was to grow the region’s entertainment, screen-based and other innovation-driven creative industries into a globally competitive cluster.”

CIV-DDD will also support Ontario’s economy by producing innovative technology for commercialization, such as new:

• data-mining algorithms
• 3D-vision and 3D-modeling technologies
• data-display tools and protocols
• visualization-design methods and techniques
• data-inquiry paradigms
• user-friendly interfaces that can be scaled to a variety of screen displays
• new aesthetics and research practices

“We’re proud of the cutting-edge work that our researchers do at 91��ɫ and the wealth and jobs they create in 91��ɫ West and across Ontario,” said , MPP for 91��ɫ West. “New discoveries will continue to be made and we want those people, those ideas and those jobs right here in our community.”

CIV-DDD is one of 21 projects funded by the Ontario Research Fund–Research Excellence program, which has provided almost $69.5 million to support more than 214 researchers in seven cities across Ontario. The Ontario Research Fund is a key part of the province’s Innovation Agenda, a $3.2 million strategy designed to move world-class research from the lab to the global marketplace in key areas such as life sciences, digital media, and green energy to ensure Ontario will be among the 21^st Century’s winning economies. The Research Excellence program helps develop Ontario’s research talent while ensuring Ontario researchers have the operating funding they need to undertake world-leading projects.

For a full list of funded projects, visit MRI’s .

91��ɫ’s researchers:

• John Tsotsos, Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision, distinguished research professor of vision science, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and member of the Centre for Vision Research (CVR)
• Nick Cercone, professor of artificial intelligence and data mining, Faculty of Science & Engineering
• Amir Asif, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
• Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture and assistant professor of film, Faculty of Fine Arts
• Robert Allison, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
• Melanie Baljko, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
• James Elder, associate professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and a member of CVR
• Jimmy Huang, associate professor of information technology, Faculty of Science & Engineering
• Michael Jenkin, professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering and a member of CVR
• Jennifer Jenson, associate professor of pedagogy and technology, Faculty of Education
• Paul E. Lovejoy, distinguished research professor in the Department of History and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History
• Don Sinclair, professor and coordinator of Fine Arts Cultural Studies, Faculty of Fine Arts
• Wolfgang Stuerzlinger, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and a member of CVR
• Nell Tenhaaf, associate professor, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, and associate dean, Graduate Studies, Research, Planning, in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
• Laurie Wilcox, associate professor of psychology and biology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and associate director of CVR
• Richard Wildes, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering

OCAD’s researchers:

• Sara Diamond, visualization design researcher and president of the Ontario College of Art & Design
• Vladimir Spicanovic, dean, Faculty of Art
• Greg van Alstyne, professor, Faculty of Design and director of research, Strategic Innovation Lab
• Patricio Davila, assistant professor, Faculty of Design
• Paula Gardner, associate professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies
• Julian Goss, professor, Faculty of Design, and chair of Industrial Design
• Anda Kubis, associate professor, Faculty of Art, and chair of Drawing and Painting
• Martha Ladly, associate professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design Program
• Francis LeBouthillier, sculpture and installation artist and chair of Sculpture and Installation
• Laura Millard, associate professor, Faculty of Art
• Luke Painter, assistant professor, Faculty of Art
• Barbara Rauch, assistant professor, Digital Futures Initiative, Faculty of Design
• Suzanne Stein, associate professor, Digital Futures Initiative, Faculty of Design

U of T’s researchers:

• Ravin Balakrishnan, associate professor of Computer Science and Canada Research Chair in Human-Centred Interfaces in the Department of Computer Science
• Karan Singh, associate professor of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer. Photos courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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