Past Projects

Title: A Partnership for Addressing Equity and Justice within Municipal Climate Action Planning

Co-Leads: Manuel Riemer and Randy Sa’d

Funding: SSHRC Connection Grant, VERiS, City of Kitchener

Rationale and Objectives

Municipalities and other local authorities play a critical role in achieving the targets of the 2016 Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Many have already developed comprehensive corporate and/or community climate action plans (CAP) that lay out specific steps for reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) across sectors. There can be unintended consequences of these climate actions prioritized by municipalities on our societal and ecological systems, however, especially within already marginalized communities. Existing inequities may actually be made worse rather than reduced. In addition, the potential for impactful co-benefits of climate action (e.g. community ownership of local regenerative energy projects) is often not being realized. Now, municipalities, their stakeholders and partners are taking steps towards addressing sustainability justice more systematically, including rethinking approaches to strategic planning and creating opportunities to develop more sustainable and equitable communities. It is our goal to support them in identifying, testing, and scaling innovative approaches and tools.

What are we doing?

VERiS and its affiliated Flourishing Enterprise Institute (FEI) have initiated a partnership designed to address equity and accessibility gaps within municipal climate action planning through collaboration among four key stakeholder groups: Municipal actors, equity-seeking groups, academics, and (social) innovators. The initial group of partners established recently received a highly ranked Connection Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

For the purpose of developing a strong and diverse partnership within Canada and internally VERiS will be hosting a series of three virtual 90-minute workshops featuring keynote presentations, panel discussions, and breakout discussions this fall. Participants will have the opportunity to provide input and feedback, and engage with other partners by leveraging an online engagement platform.

The workshops seek to:

1. Exchange knowledge, identify gaps and barriers to the integration of sustainability justice into municipal climate action plans and establish how to tap into the strengths of existing organizational networks
2. Explore how innovative and more holistic management approaches and tools can be applied to change the way city planning is generally practiced, creating the potential for a more fundamental shift towards more integrated, holistic and inclusive thinking
3. Assess the potential and lay the foundation for a joint longitudinal multi-case and multi-national research program focused on exemplary case studies and innovative approaches

These workshops will identity a potential shared research focus, create a general approach for a joint research program, and generate the structure for a learning community designed to facilitate ongoing exchange, co-learning, and collaboration. Ultimately, this exchange is intended to set the foundation for the launch of a long-term applied research program led and supported by a diverse collective of committed partners.

Current and Past Partners

Municipal Actors

• Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention
• Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners
• City of Kitchener
• City of Thunder Bay
• City of Toronto
• Clean Air Partnership
• Climate Action Waterloo Region
• District of Ucluelet
• Dufferin County
• ICLEI
• REEP Green Solutions
• Region of Peel
• Regional Municipality of Durham
• Sustainable Waterloo Region

Equity Seeking Groups

• ABC Network of Waterloo Region
• Agirre Lehendakaria Center
• Canadian Centre on Disability Studies Inc. o/a Eviance
• David Suzuki Foundation
• Future Ancestors Services Inc.
• Kinbridge Community Association
• North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre
• Progress Toronto
• Sustainability Through an Inclusive Lens
• The Integrated Community Development Group

Academics

• Balsillie School of International Affairs
• Colgate University
• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Georgian College
• Humber College
• Macalester College, Department of Environmental Studies
• McMaster University
• OCAD University
• Ryerson University
• Tufts University
• University of Auckland, School of Psychology
• University of Groningen
• University of Toronto
• University of Waterloo
• Viessmann Centre for Research and Engagement in Sustainability
• Wilfrid Laurier University

Innovators

• Centre for Sustainable Organizations
• Co-operative Enterprises
• EIT Climate-KIC
• Flourishing Enterprise Institute
• FlourishX
• Green Beacon
• International WELL Building Institute
• Kennedy Consulting
• Local2Global Solutions
• McConnell Foundation
• r3.0 
• Shareable.net
• The Roots Collaborative
• Transformation by Design

It is our hope to pave the way for a future where climate action planning is equitable to all stakeholders, creating a more just sustainability.

Title: Decolonizing and Transforming the Engagement of Indigenous and Black Peoples within Municipal Planning in Kitchener

PI: Cheryl TeeLucksingh, Toronto Metropolitan University

Co-Applicants - Migel Sioui, Manuel Riemer

Funding: SSHRC Connection Grant

Rationale and Objectives

The goal for this project is to set the foundation for a long-term collaborative process designed to reconcile Kitchener’s colonial past, establish a foundation of trust between the City and community, and create the possibility of an equitable and inclusive future for all. Reconciling the past and developing better approaches to building the future represents a complex challenge that requires collaboration and drawing on the diverse knowledges that exist within our communities.

The aim of this project was to host a virtual workshop series (2 three-hour workshops) to understand better decolonization and settler colonial relations in municipal planning among multiple stakeholders (academics, municipal actors, Indigenous and Black community organizations, and innovation actors). The goal of the workshop series was to learn and co-create with knowledge holders and build knowledge about strategies to decolonize in municipal engagement using the City of Kitchener as a test location.

In this project we seeked to engage with all partners through the proposed braided approach, which integrates the strengths of Indigenous, Black and other forms of knowledge, and shift mental models (worldviews) and cultural myths through a decolonization process. Decolonization as part of broader systems change is key to introducing new knowledge and new innovations into the organizational structure and practices of municipalities. The project is informed by postcolonial theory, Indigenous and Black geographies, and Indigenous Knowledge (IK) to redress the invisibility of Indigenous and Black legacies within urban and municipal spaces.

What are we doing?

Enabling reconciliation and a long-term process of decolonization requires establishing trust and mutual understanding. For this purpose, we had the following workshop objectives:

1. Developing strong relationships between African, Black, Caribbean (ABC), and Indigenous communities and City of Kitchener staff through dialogue, exchange, and shared learning.
2. Introducing the participants to the Indigenous approach of Two-Eyed Seeing as a way of collaboratively leveraging two or more perspectives and/or types of knowledge (e.g., Indigenous, Black, and Western knowledge).
3. Examining the criteria for new community and City of Kitchener relationships that differ from the past by applying learnings from the Two-Eyed Seeing approach and other knowledge to be shared at the workshops to create new frameworks for engagement.

The first workshop featured Indigenous speaker and facilitator Mary Anne Caibaiosai, an Anishnaabe elder and veteran water walker. She shared her knowledge of and experience with the Two-Eyed seeing approach and actively engaged the participants in leveraging the approach to support building new and stronger relationships between participants.

The second workshop allowed the participants to apply the insights from the first workshop to collaboratively develop a new framework for engagement. Through a facilitated process the participants identified key dimensions and principles of this framework.

After a lengthy period of planning, we conducted two workshops in early 2023. Currently, we are in the final phase of the knowledge mobilization activities.

Title: Enabling Resilience by Adapting Municipal Strategic Management Practices in Response to Complexity

PI: Sean Geobey, University of Waterloo

Co-Applicants: Manuel Riemer, Peter Jones

Collaborator: Randy Sa’d

Funding: SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant

Rationale and Objectives

Global challenges such as the climate crisis, inflation, COVID-19, state conflicts and human migration have reached the 'doorsteps' of Canadian municipalities. These challenges, which are emerging at an accelerating rate with growing complexity have exposed the insufficiency of traditional municipal strategic management and planning approaches. As municipal governments aim to develop long-term resilience, equity, and sustainability, it is necessary to recognize conventional management practices were not designed for the complexity of the challenges emerging. Consequently, municipal leaders require more sophisticated, evidence-based strategic management knowledge, tools and methods as well as the capabilities to apply these effectively. Currently, there is a significant gap in the availability of tested approaches designed to enable senior leaders to translate abstract systemic models into concrete practical ways of adapting strategic management practices at a localized, organizational level. The goal of this proposal is to study the second phase of a promising approach, Enterprise Evolution (EE), currently being implemented by the City of Kitchener. Building upon the successful SSHRC-funded collaborative investigation of Phase 1, the partnership, composed of our research team, the City of Kitchener, and a co-developer of EE (REFOCUS), is especially interested in studying the co-production and capacity building process at the core of Phase 2. Our objectives are to:

1. Gain critical insight into the process and organizational dynamics of EE's co-production approach with the City of Kitchener as a form of social learning;
2. Investigate the experience of key actors (City leaders, staff, consultants) involved in implementing the EE approach relative to stated intentions and expectations, including adaptions they developed in the face of challenges;  
3. Identify key success factors in the organizational development and systems change process, with a specific focus on the dynamic interaction of EE's guiding theory of change, the co-production approach, the City's specific context, and key actors;
4. Develop clear recommendations for developing the next iteration of the approach to be applied through the scaling of EE to other municipalities. 

What are we doing?

Given our interest in investigating complex organizational change processes and the dynamics of co-production in the context of this case study, we are drawing from three relevant theoretical orientations: processual approach, system theory, and co-production theory. Together, these theories provide a sophisticated lens to extract general success factors and processes as well as unique contextual factors critical in generating transferable knowledge from a case study.

This project employs an applied research and developmental evaluation approach using a mixed-method action case study as the research design. Specific methods include key informant interviews with municipal leaders and staff and REFOCUS facilitators involved in the co-production transformation process of Phase 2, journaling, document review, and a municipal peer exchange meeting.

Our partnership is drawing from a broad range of already engaged relevant regional, national and global networks, to mobilize knowledge co-developed to the thousands of municipal members globally that they collectively serve. At this stage, data collection is complete and we are in the knowledge mobilization phase.

Title: Expanding a Knowledge Network for Flourishing Organizations

PI: Manuel Riemer, Wilfrid Laurier University

Co-Applicants: Peter Jones, Sean Geobey

Collaborator: Mark McElroy, Antony Upward, Nicole Norris, Pourya Salehi, Exmond DeCruz, Bill Baue, Randy Sa'd

Project Leads: Randy Sa’dand Tim Posselt

Funding: SSHRC Connection Grant and Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA), and Conestoga College

Rationale and Objectives

From the COVID-19 pandemic to social unrest and the climate emergency, senior leaders are finding themselves responding to polycrises due to accelerating change and a widening range of complex, interconnected challenges. To this date, however, there are only limited generally accepted tools and theories for managing effective responses to high levels of complexity. In response, a diverse and connected community of innovation-focused researchers and management professionals have combined scientific knowledge with innovative management approaches grounded in systems-thinking to develop Systemic Management Innovations (SMIs). SMIs include new knowledge, methods and tools designed to match the increasing complexity leaders face and support achieving a sustainable and just future.

In 2019, a core group of these researchers, innovators and management professionals founded the Flourishing Enterprise Institute (FEI), and in doing so, transitioned from an informal community of practice to an established research and innovation institute. The FEI is dedicated to catalyzing the development and mobilization of Systemic Management Innovations (SMIs) by facilitating transdisciplinary applied research in the field and widely disseminating new knowledge. With a growing recognition among private, public, and non-profit organizational leaders for the need to adapt management practices towards systemic approaches, the development of the FEI has come to a critical juncture. The opportunity has emerged for the FEI to shift from a niche community of professionals collectively focused on developing the next generation of management innovation, to one with a broad appeal and the potential to penetrate the mainstream. By focusing on widely and more effectively mobilizing knowledge to new audiences, the FEI has the potential to capture this opportunity and with it, generate a far greater impact.

What are we doing?

Our team has designed a comprehensive outreach strategy with the following specific objectives:

1. Strengthen and expand our network by connecting with new audiences of researchers, innovators and practitioners, and further establishing the FEI by implementing membership and recognition structures, soliciting new partners, affiliates and fellows, and securing additional network nodes (e.g., in Sweden, Germany and Mexico).
2. Create knowledge-focused content (e.g., case studies, scoping reviews, knowledge and policy briefs, practical tools) by synthesizing existing research that is valuable to our network and the field of SMIs, and profiling research conducted by the FEI as well as network members.
3. Expand outreach and build community through increased programming across a range of complementary forms of media designed to more effectively engage new and more diverse audiences (community meetings, website development, conference presentations, webinars, social media posts, blogs, videos, etc.).

Title: Enabling Sustainable Management through Systemic Innovation

PI: Vlad Toma, Conestoga Collage

Co-Applicants: Tim Posselt and Randy Sa’d (FEI)

Collaborator: Manuel Riemer (VERiS)

Funding: Conestoga New and Emerging Researcher Grant (CNERG)

Rationale and Objectives

Our society is grappling with numerous interconnected challenges such as climate change, income inequality, and global health crises, reflecting our unsustainable lifestyle. This has led to increasing catastrophic events and future planning uncertainty. Conventional management methods, designed for simpler times, are ill-equipped to handle this complexity.

Emerging disruptive tools and methods, known as Systemic Management Innovations (SMIs), apply systems thinking to strategic management. Unlike conventional short-term, financially focused practices, SMIs enable leaders to understand their organization and environment as complex systems. This approach supports the development of management practices that integrate all success factors, adapt rapidly in decision-making, and share power equitably with stakeholders. These practices are better equipped to handle societal issues and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Organizations, facing similar challenges, can benefit from SMIs through the Enterprise Evolution Program developed by REFOCUS and the Flourishing Enterprise Institute. This program helps organizations identify, select, and tailor SMIs to their unique needs. REFOCUS has been working with the City of Kitchener for the past three years to apply SMIs and develop a strategic plan. This experience has revealed a market opportunity for REFOCUS to enhance the Enterprise Evolution Program and its marketing, leading to the proposed CNERG+ project with the following objectives.

1. Developing an Enhanced Enterprise Evolution Concept, including the formulation of coherent program principles, characteristics and objectives based on experience gained serving clients over the past three years, findings from the related and extensive academic research conducted on these client engagements, and other literature.
2. Compiling a Comprehensive Repository of SMIs, including developing of a formalized framework for categorizing SMIs, identifying and profiling relevant SMIs, and securing the support of innovators to represent their innovations as SMIs.
3. Developing an Updated Service Offering, including an introductory webinar/seminar, training and coaching options, and co-productive program facilitation.
4. Mobilization of Results and Promotional Activities, including the publication of project results (Enterprise evolution concept white paper, website, brochure, video, etc.), creating opportunities for mobilizing results through networks of SMIs and NGOs, etc., and presenting results at conferences, webinars, blog posts, etc.

What are we doing?

The project employs a Design Science-based research methodology, a problem-solving approach that combines scientific principles with creative design methods to develop innovative solutions. This methodology is not confined to creating information systems but can be applied across various domains to create new artifacts, systems, or processes. The project follows three iterative stages:

1. Problem Identification and Definition: This stage involves identifying a specific problem or need and defining it clearly by understanding the context, stakeholders, and their requirements.
2. Design and Development: This stage brings forward a solution or artifact to address the identified problem. It involves applying scientific principles, existing knowledge, and creative design techniques to develop the solution.
3. Evaluation and Communication: This stage assesses the effectiveness and utility of the designed artifact through evaluation methods. Once validated, the results are communicated to relevant stakeholders, promoting knowledge dissemination and potential further iterations for improvement.

Title: Design Impact on Social Power: A Study of Open Innovation Platforms and Marginalized Resident Groups

PI: Timon Sengewald (ACM SIGMIS Member) – FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Co-Applicants: Tim Posselt – FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, Manuel Riemer – Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Funding: Association of Information Systems SIGMIS

Rationale and Objectives

This research proposal focuses on the transformation of cities into “smart cities” over the past two decades. Municipalities are leveraging digital technologies to enhance services, foster citizen participation in decision-making, and improve urban life. However, questions arise about the equitable distribution of these benefits, with concerns that certain groups may be disadvantaged, while others, such as private companies, may gain more influence.

The proposal also explores the introduction of open innovation platforms in some municipalities, aiming to increase cooperation within the city. These platforms, exemplified by the Amsterdam Smart City initiative, facilitate collaboration among citizens to address mutual challenges. However, the research also acknowledges potential shortcomings and risks, such as the marginalization of certain resident groups and the shift in power balance among residents. The proposed research aims to investigate these issues further.

1. How do key dimensions of social power relate to the system design features of an
   open innovation platform?
2. How can intentional considerations of social power be utilized to reduce power differentials among social groups by actively promoting social inclusion of traditionally marginalized voices?

What are we doing?

We will use a single case study design to answer the research questions.

Phase 1 we will do a literature review to develop a framework of how different
dimensions of power relate to digital technologies used in open innovation platforms.

Phase 2 this framework will be used to conduct an analysis of social power within one
specific exemplary open innovation platform.

Phase 3 concludes with qualitative interviews with users from four potentially marginalized groups within the selected online platform from Phase 2 as well as experts representing these groups: For the qualitative part of the study, we plan to interview people belonging or advocating of four
different marginalized groups:

1. Seniors,
2. People experiencing homelessness,
3. People with disabilities and
4. Immigrants and refugees.

Co-Leads: Randy Sa’d and Peter Jones

Research Streams: FEI, VERiS General

Rationale and Objectives

The current year, characterized by the COVID-19 crisis and continuing pressure of climate change effects, offers a rare period during which to observe and develop organizational responses to complex crisis drivers. Especially at the municipal level, which planning scholars identify as the most effective locus of climate and environmental planning (Wheeler, 2013, Measham, et al., 2013), we may have access to response strategies and can advise on better strategy in complex planning. The City of Kitchener, Ontario has partnered with the Flourishing Enterprise Institute (FEI) @ VERiS to complete an applied research study as part of addressing the challenges they currently face. Kitchener is the fastest growing city in Canada, a high-tech industry center, and recognized for its leadership in public engagement, climate action planning, storm water management, economic development, community well-being and more.

While facing the immediate task of responding to short-term impacts of the pandemic, Kitchener leaders recognize the municipal planning practices they currently employ require change to cope with the increasingly volatile and uncertain situation emerging environmentally and societally.  In recovering from COVID-19 and building resiliency in anticipation of devastating events that will predictably occur more frequently in the future, Kitchener is proactively seeking to make fundamental changes to strategic planning and senior leadership practices consistent with anticipatory governance (Quay, 2010).

Supporting this ambition, Kitchener is the first municipality in Canada to engage with REFOCUS, a non-profit cooperative that trains leadership teams to apply their Enterprise Evolution program. Having led a similar engagement of Enterprise Evolution in 2018 with a leading European innovation cluster serving roughly 100 enterprises, the Global Centre of Expertise - Norwegian Offshore Drilling and Engineering (GCE NODE).  An elongated, experiential learning program was delivered to engage GCE NODE members, drawing on a mix of independent learning, facilitated workshops and ongoing coaching sessions to support leadership teams in developing strategic sustainability management capabilities. Kitchener will actively participate with REFOCUS by collaboratively tailoring the programming and tools to be employed for a municipal context and will co-produce the case study for knowledge mobilization from which other municipalities can learn. The FEI’s research plan proposes to assess and study through action learning during the training and transition promised during this set of interactions.

What are we doing?

The COVID-19 PEG proposal defines a research approach based on new thinking in strategic management, collaborative decision making, and complexity to assess decision mindsets, planning models, and management approaches that promise best-fit responses to emerging situational complexity.  The research addresses the need to transform municipal strategic planning for complex social and ecological climate scenarios, enabling a just recovery from COVID-19, and to develop preparedness and resilience within Kitchener to effectively adapt to a complex of future risks. An action case study, based on an action learning approach will be used with Kitchener to address the following research objectives:

1. Assess the experience of Kitchener’s senior leadership team participation in the Business Evolution learning program, for understanding mindsets and individual outcomes (Experience);
2. Explore the factors that mediate effective decision making for complex municipal sustainability and how leadership and planners are addressing those factors (Mediational Factors); and
3. Explore new planning models and assess the changes in perceived capability for leadership sense making of complex situations for future-directed strategic sustainability planning (Impact).

Lead: Bianca Dreyer

Funding: VERiS

If cities are built for people, then how well cities can meet the needs of all its residents now and into the future is an important indicator of their success. Yet, cities find themselves in an unprecedented growth-related (ecological) crisis that could “well undermine the prospects for a global civilization” (Rees, 2009, p. 300). Thus, there has been an increasing demand for urban transformation towards sustainable, healthy and just places for a growing urban population (UN 2012, UN 2015, WBGU, 2016; Skodra, 2018).

This project aims to develop an in-depth, socio-ecological understanding of the transformative potential of urban just sustainability projects in the area of affordable housing. The project is an in-depth case study focused on exploring how participatory co-production projects can address ecological and social needs. Affordable housing presents an opportunity to pursue just sustainabilities, as buildings are an important target area for climate change mitigation, given that they account for 40% of global energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (UNEP, 2012), and 30% of cost of housing is wrapped up in energy.

The project partner and case study subject is Critical Concrete (CC), a non-for-profit organization in Porto, Portugal, that connects communities with urban development professionals, architects, construction experts, academics, social workers and a team of multidisciplinary students in active and collaborative community-based revitalization planning. CC engaged in co-production projects of affordable housing complexes in 4 Summer Schools (2016, 17, 18, and 19) with students, local communities and content mentors.

The study objectives are to:

1. Explore and articulate how co-production of affordable housing provides an example of transformation for urban just sustainability.
2. Assess the processes that facilitate/ impede transformation across stakeholder groups and settings. Understand the short- and long-term effect of co-production (as a social practice) on other socially and ecologically unsustainable practices for CC members (students, staff and mentors).
3. Assess how the CC program can inform future program development and knowledge mobilization activities in the area of sustainability justice and recommend improvements for CC programming.

Co-Leads: Jennifer Dobai, Manuel Riemer and Bianca Dreyer

Funding: NSERC, Wilfrid Laurier University, VERiS

Rationale and Objectives

To work towards sustainability justice a “better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems” (Agyeman et al., 2003, p.5) municipalities and local authorities can create climate action plans. Sustainability justice links the planning, implementation, and assessment of sustainability and climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives with considerations of equity and accessibility. While - in principal - sustainability as a concept includes clear links to social justice and most actors working in this space embrace values of equity and accessibility, in practice opportunities to create co-benefits and change systems more holistically are often missed, while in other cases it actually exacerbates existing inequalities or produces new ones. This project aims to support Waterloo Region in planning their climate action plan to ensure social justice and equity considerations are included in the plan and planning process, along with greenhouse gas emission reductions.

What are we doing?

To address sustainability justice in the context of municipal climate action planning, our team is working with ClimateActionWR, which is a collaboration between local organizations and community members focused on climate change mitigation led by Reep Green Solutions and Sustainable Waterloo Region. To ensure social justice and equity considerations are included in the upcoming Climate Action Plan for Waterloo Region we have provided evidence-based recommendations through a living literature review document, a guiding checklist and visual model of sustainability justice. The former document was created for the purpose of reviewing the literature and existing case studies to support municipal climate action planning teams who are interested in fully integrating sustainability justice (SJ) into their strategic planning. The guiding checklist is a supporting document that includes key questions for decision-makers to consider in all stages of municipal climate action planning: the overall framing (e.g., mandate, mission and value statements), process (e.g., through representation and participation), approaches and strategies to change (e.g., free installation of solar panels for low income housing), and evaluation and assessment (especially impact on equity-seeking groups). We hope the review can be used to strengthen local capacity and become a tool for advocacy to create better conditions for local actors to meaningfully address social justice and equity in their planning.

We will continue to support ClimateActionWR by providing evidence-based research and reviewing their plan documents to ensure social justice and equity is at the forefront of their plan and planning.

In addition to supporting ClimateActionWR in their climate action planning, we are conducting a study focused on understanding how the core groups involved in climate action planning in the Waterloo Region at the municipal leadership level are considering social justice and equity in their strategic planning as well as more generally how they conceptualize the idea of sustainability justice in the context of their work. The results from this study will be used to further support ClimateActionWR in their planning and inform our larger project Towards Just Transitions: A Partnership for Addressing Equity and Justice within Municipal Climate Action Planning. Specifically, the objectives of the proposed research are to determine:

• How groups perceive issues of justice and equity in climate action planning.
• To what extent is justice and equity represented in climate action planning, if at all.
• What are the reasons for justice and equity being or not being represented in planning?

Co-Leads: Manuel Riemer, Stephanie Whitney, and Hillary Scanlon (STIL Executive Director)

Project Manager: Alicia Bevan

Stream: VERiS General

Funding: SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant 

Background Information

Disabled populations remain overlooked within academic literature on social sustainability and community-level policy and planning geared towards enhancing societal participation in sustainability initiatives. Upwards of 1.5 million Canadians are currently living with Vision Loss (VL); however, the ability of the VL population to participate in sustainability initiatives (e.g., recycling, community gardening, etc) is often hindered by poor design and other physical barriers. These roadblocks to participation represent disability discrimination and a violation of basic human rights. Reaching Canada’s sustainability goals (including achievement of international commitments) will require inclusive approaches that enable every individual (including those living with disabilities) to participate in solutions to sustainability problems. This project works to address the barriers to sustainability that exist for individuals living with VL .

What are we doing?

VERiS has partnered with Sustainability Through an Inclusive Lens (STIL) Solutions, a for-profit social enterprise. STIL was established by a visually-impaired Laurier student to help enhance the ability of individuals with disabilities to participate in sustainability initiatives through technological innovation and inclusive policy development. Working with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and other key organizations, STIL has developed a WasteFinder system – a series of visual and tactile indicators on the ground adjacent to waste disposal units that assist persons with VL to independently and correctly dispose of their waste.

In this project, VERiS will work with STIL on a case study of the WasteFinder system, which will be piloted at Wilfrid Laurier University. The study will employ a mixed method study design (i.e., quantitative, qualitative methods) that will be conducted pre- and post-installation to address the following objectives:

1. Assess the ability of the WasteFinder to enhance the ability of VL individuals to independently and correctly dispose of their waste and their perception of and participation in sustainability
2. Ascertain whether the installation of the WasteFinder system impacts the awareness of inclusivity and accessibility opportunities, in the context of sustainable practices, of the broader Laurier community.

About The Program

evolvGREEN is a collaboration born out of the evolv1 project that includes: Accelerator Centre, Sustainable Waterloo Region, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. It is the region’s foremost collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs, researchers and clean economy supporters. Located in Canada’s first net positive office building, evolv1, this collaboration of organizations aims to offer a community approach to driving the clean economy to leading changes that will reduce environmental impact and improve well-being.

Learn about VERiS' Involvement in evolvGREEN

Watch the video highlighting remarkable work and leadership of evolvGREEN members, working together to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy in the Waterloo Region.

More details about evolvGREEN.

Co-Leads: Felix Munger and Manuel Riemer

Funding: SSHRC Connection Grant

With over 80% of Canadians living in cities, these urban centers are extremely vulnerable to climate change because of their high exposure and unique sensitivities. National, provincial and municipal authorities are focusing on improving the ability of cities to mitigate and adapt to climate change, however there are blind spots when it comes to community safety and security. Efforts to advance climate action have included consultations with experts from urban planning, health, disaster management, infrastructure, and insurance sectors, while security and safety experts have, thus far, been largely excluded from these discussions. Existing research suggests that the effects of climate change on violence and safety/security maybe the repercussions of short-term shocks and longer-term stressors that may threaten to overwhelm policing, emergency, and social welfare responses. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting emergency measures foreshadow how lack of preparedness for emergencies---such as those associated with climate change threats---undermine community safety and reveal security blind spots like safety at home. This interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder collaboration sets the foundation for a comprehensive approach that explores wide-ranging climate change risks, together with plausible public safety outcomes in a municipal context.

Investigators: Manuel Riemer, Simon Coulombe, Joel Marcus, Paul Parker, Bianca Dreyer, Stephanie Whitney, Allan Taylor

The built environment has been identified as an important means for addressing the negative effects of climate change. Buildings are estimated to account for 40% of global energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A promising approach is the development of high-performance green office buildings (HPGBs), that is, office buildings designed with the goal of a net-zero or net-positive impact on the environment (e.g. more energy produced than used; zero non-recyclable waste), and which aim to support human wellbeing and productivity. Despite the promise of HPGBs, their actual performance often does not match design expectations. This performance gap has to do with how the buildings are operated, used, and experienced by those managing and inhabiting them.

Understanding these human factors within HPGBs is critical to achieve their intended contribution to lowering Canada’s environmental footprint and achieve the potential of these building to contribute to the wellbeing of their occupants. Our team and partners seize a unique opportunity to study these human factors in the context of evolv1, Canada’s first net-positive commercial office building. evolv1 is a 110,000 sq. ft. building in Waterloo, Ontario, that models leading-edge practice for the integration of regenerative building system design with the human/social dynamics of building occupants.

Our comprehensive three-year longitudinal mixed-method case study focuses on four key objectives:

1. Explore how a COS develops over time and can be fostered.
2. Understand how the use of and experience in the evolv1 changes over time and how this relates to wellbeing and organizational success.
3. Develop and evaluate a state-of-the art building management and feedback system.
4. Assess the impact and value of evolv1 on and for the local community.

Investigators: Bianca Dreyer, Joel Marcus, Manuel Riemer and Simon Coulombe

The team is currently developing reliable and valid measures for assessing a culture of sustainability in specific organizational contexts (e.g. a business, institution or office building).

Title: Realizing the full potential of green-certified government office buildings in promoting employee mental health.

Dr. Manuel Riemer, Wilfrid Laurier University

Poor employee mental health has become one of Canada’s most prevalent and costly occupational health issues. It is well established that better indoor environments in office buildings are correlated with more satisfied occupants and with higher levels of wellbeing. It is also commonly assumed that green-certified office buildings, such as the new Edmonton Tower, provide superior working environments with beneficial outcomes on wellbeing and productivity. The empirical evidence in regard to these benefits is encouraging, although limited and inconsistent. The study will address current shortcomings that may explain the variability in the empirical findings. Starting with a strengthened theoretical foundation and a broadened understanding of wellbeing, our research will explore three key research questions:

1. What are key differences in experienced wellbeing and productivity of government employees in newly developed green-certified buildings compared to retrofitted green-certified buildings and traditional buildings?

2. What are the key factors contributing to the positive mental health and productivity benefits of green-certified buildings for government employees?

3. To what degree and through what processes does a newly developed green-certified building contribute to a positive culture of sustainability within the building?

Using a longitudinal multiple case-study design, we will compare environmental (e.g., air quality), survey (e.g., perceived wellbeing), and qualitative data (e.g., subjective experience of the building) collected within the new Edmonton Tower (built to LEED-Gold standard) with data from two comparison sites in Edmonton (a retrofitted building with BOMA-Level 1 certification and a traditional building). In addition, we will collect survey data regarding key outcomes (wellbeing, productivity, and sustainable behaviours) and a variety of relevant contributing factors (e.g., culture of sustainability) from 30 government buildings of various types within Alberta. Our integrated knowledge mobilization strategy will allow us to disseminate evidence-based information on the human impacts of sustainable buildings and on ways to create workplace settings that better support employees’ mental health.

Read Abstracts

• Abstract 1
• Abstract 2

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For more details about the full report please contact veris@wlu.ca.