Stephen Gaetz (right), professor and associate dean in the Faculty of Education, has received more than $2.5 million in funding over seven years to lead 鈥淐anadian Observatory on Homelessness鈥�, with more than 27 researchers 鈥� including Professor Janet Mosher at Osgoode Hall Law School, Professor Valerie Preston in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and Professor Stan Shapson in the Faculty of Education 鈭� and 29 partner organizations. The project, a non-partisan research and policy partnership, aims to evaluate current policy directions and programmatic approaches to preventing and reducing homelessness, address key policy questions, and support the development and implementation of effective and sustainable solutions to homelessness in communities across Canada. The goal is to mobilize research on homelessness so it has a greater impact on policy and practice, leading to more effective solutions to homelessness. The project, which will also receive more than $2.5 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations, will leverage the collaborative, research and knowledge mobilization capacities of participating individuals and organizations.

Anna Hudson (left), professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts, has received more than $3.5 million over six years to lead a major project titled 鈥淢obilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage: a multi-media/multi-platform re-engagement of voice in visual art and performance鈥�, with 10 researchers 鈥� including Professor Susan Dion in the Faculty of Education and Professor Angela Norwood from the Faculty of Fine Arts 鈥� and nine partner organizations. The goal of the project is to conduct collaborative research on the contribution of Inuit visual culture, art and performance to Inuit language preservation, social well-being and cultural identity. The project will address the current disconnect for Inuit today between orality 鈥� being the voice that defines the self in relation to others 鈥� and materiality 鈥� being the environment in which one lives well together through three primary objectives: access to advanced information and communication technologies, connection of Inuit voice to objects of Inuit cultural heritage and expanded creation of Inuit cultural capacity. It will receive an additional $1.9 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations.

Leah Vosko (right), Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender and Work and political science professor, LA&PS, has received more than $2 million in funding over five years to lead a major national project with 33 researchers 鈥� including Professor Mark Thomas in the Department of Sociology and Professor Eric Tucker at Osgoode Hall Law School 鈭� and 16 partner organizations. The project, titled 鈥淐losing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protection for People in Precarious Jobs鈥�, will examine the role of employment standards enforcement in ensuring minimum conditions in areas such as wages, working time, vacations and leaves for workers in precarious jobs in Ontario, characterized by job insecurity, low income and limited access to regulatory protection. The objectives of the project, which will receive more than an additional $1.3 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations, are to map the nature and scope of employment standards violations and document enforcement practices to identify regulatory challenges and develop alternative models of enforcement that may be applied in Ontario and other jurisdictions within Canada and internationally.

鈥淲e are delighted by the results of these recent SSHRC competitions, enabling 91亚色 to maintain our track record in leading the country in the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada鈥檚 large-scale awards competitions valued at $1 million or more,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research and innovation. 鈥淭he projects led by 91亚色 Professors Stephen Gaetz, Anna Hudson and Leah Vosko enable our researchers to work together with research partners to address persistent, social and economic challenges facing our society today. It will also enable our researchers and graduate students to make important contributions to our country鈥檚 knowledge base.鈥�

Two 91亚色 researchers were also awarded more than $397,000 in SSHRC funding through the Partnership Development Grants program.聽The program encourages applicants to work collaboratively with partners to develop research in the social sciences and humanities.聽This funding will support partnerships between 91亚色 researchers and Canadian and international universities, a charitable organization and an international association.

Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology, announced the funding on Friday, May 31, at the launch of the annual Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences.聽 In total, more than $63 million is being awarded over a period of seven years to support 78 research teams across the country through SSHRC鈥檚 Partnership Grants and Partnership Development Grants. An additional $104 million from SSHRC鈥檚 Talent Program will support more than 3,700 master鈥檚, doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships and fellowships.

An analysis conducted by the Strategic & Institutional Research Initiatives Unit, in the Office of Research Services at 91亚色, revealed that between 2006 and 2013, 91亚色 researchers received more SSHRC awards valued at $1 million or more than any other institution in Canada. SSHRC鈥檚 large-scale awards offered between 2001 and 2013 have included the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA), Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI), the Strategic Knowledge Clusters and the SSHRC Partnership Grants.

For a complete list of Partnership Grant and Partnership Development Grant awards, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation, and Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, are co-hosting the event, which takes place from 12 to 2pm in Room 1014, Ignat Kaneff Building, Osgoode Hall Law School, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend the free celebration, but an RSVP is requested. You can RSVP or call Lia Cavaliere at ext. 33782. Light refreshments will be provided.

The panel features Osgoode Hall Law Professors Trevor Farrow, Giuseppina D鈥橝gostino, Dayna Scott and Stepan Wood. Each professor will deliver a short presentation on the panel theme 鈥淐elebrating Community Engagement鈥�.

Farrow will discuss the dilemma faced by low income Canadians who find themselves unable to access the justice system. His presentation will discuss the various research initiatives that are designed to look at the complex problems associated with accessing justice and access to legal services, as well as the related problem of not providing meaningful access to legal services in today's complex and pluralistic societies.

Trevor Farrow

聽Many low income Canadians find themselves unable to access the justice system, says Farrow. Courtrooms are filled with litigants who struggle to navigate the complex demands of law and procedure 鈥� often without representation by counsel. Early and effective resolution is central to avoiding the clustering and escalation of legal problems.聽 However, Farrow posits, a lack of knowledge about how to seek help, coupled with a pervasive sense of powerlessness, limits meaningful action for those who need it most. The most advanced justice system in the world is a failure if it does not ultimately assist in providing justice to the people it is meant to serve, he says. A number of stakeholders have a direct or indirect connection to the issue of access to legal services, including the bench, the bar, the academy, governments, NGOs, the private sector and the public.聽

Speaking in her capacity as founder and director of IP Osgoode, Osgoode Hall Law School鈥檚 flagship Intellectual Property (IP) and Technology Program, D鈥橝gostino will outline three initiatives she spearheaded through IP Osgoode, along with their promises and challenges, to assist the University in playing a more active role in the complex IP and technology research communities in Canada and around the world. 聽

Giuseppina D鈥橝gostino

She will discuss the IP & Technology Intensive Program piloted in the Fall of 2011, which provides students with on-site research opportunities in government, industry and expert organizations in IP and technology; the Ontario Centres of Excellence and IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic, a needs-based innovation-to-market legal clinic staffed by volunteer law students piloted in 2011-2012; and the first blog of its kind, the IPilogue, promoting evidence-based research and showcasing new and unexplored viewpoints to public policy discussions.

Engaged scholarship implies a different set of relationships and expectations as between a community and a university researcher. For legal scholars, these can be even more complicated dynamics. In this short presentation, Scott will share some of the tensions encountered in a four-year research partnership with the Health and Environment Community of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The project explored questions of environmental justice stemming from the Band's experience of chronic pollution emanating from Sarnia's nearby Chemical Valley. Scott and the research team employed participatory action research techniques and arts-based methods such as PhotoVoice, to learn from and with community members, including youth.

Dayna Scott

Wood will focus on the challenges and opportunities surrounding community-engaged research in relation to various research projects affiliated with 91亚色's Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS). His presentation will look at research on local community empowerment in water governance in developing world megacities, community members' perceptions of international corporate social responsibility standards in Colombia and Canada, and University-community collaboration on sustainable furniture design for the new Centre for Green Change in the Jane-Finch community.

Stepan Wood

Following the presentations, visitors will have an opportunity to engage with the panelists. Osgoode Hall鈥檚 research celebration is part of an ongoing series of events that highlight interesting and innovative research underway at 91亚色. For more information on each of the presenters and other research underway at the law school, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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