CBE Projects Underway
Below is a list of CBE projects currently underway. If you are a student looking for a project to do in an upcoming semester, please have a look at our list of available CBE projects.
Project Title |
Description |
| #4433 Research Evaluation Plan for the TRACKS Youth Program |
The purpose of the project is to test innovative research and evaluation methodologies in a community based action-research research setting. This will lead to enhanced delivery of TRACKS programming which is a joint university community project that seeks to educate children and youth around the integration of science and indigenous knowledge.
The student will design a SAS2 evaluation, complete train-the-trainer evaluation activities and deliver an evaluation report to project stakeholders.
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#4432 Peterborough Community Film Projects
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The purpose of the project is to research the history of community driven film projects film in Peterborough. For example Canadian Images, Roy Studio, Trent Film Society, International Images. Once the research has been collected a multi-media instillation will be created hopefully involving the Fleming Museum Studies program and Peterborough Museum and Archive to create an instillation that is also a community education piece.
The student will be researching the variety of community driven film festivals, film projects and import film history in the City and County of Peterborough. They will make connections between what has happened historically in the rich history to what is also happening in Peterborough today
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#4422 Heritage Tree Book
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The Heritage Tree Book project is the latest phase of the Urban Forest program that includes public education, neighbourhood tree inventories, the Treasured Tree Hunt, native tree propagation, and strategic urban planning to increase our tree planting numbers.
The book will include relevant historical, cultural, and personal stories about trees in the City of Peterborough.
We are looking for a motivated student to work with the Heritage Tree Book Steering Committee throughout the spring and summer months (2013) on a number of tasks. Tasks will include: Collection of stories; General research; Proofreading.
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| #4421 Evaluating Community/Post-Secondary Collaboration in support of Community Environmental Sustainability | The over-arching research question is: How can community-post-secondary engagement, including community-service learning and community-based research, be designed and implemented in ways that maximize the value created for non-profit community-based organizations? |
| #4420 Approaches to Social Innovation Hub Governance |
The purpose of the project is to answer the following questions for two host organizations that are interested in convening community members and organizations (non-profit and private) in social entrepreneurship and innovation: 1. What are the different ownership/finance options and how do they relate to governance structures? and 2. What community and organizational needs have prompted different governance structures? Primary methods of data collection will be: a) A preliminary scan of relevant literature on other social innovation incubators and comparable working organizations; b) focus group-type exercises involving host organization stakeholders interested in governance; and c) narrowing the field scan options to the selection of three-to-six case studies of successful social innovation hub organizations, comparing governance structures in relation to how the organizations have performed in the areas of financing and fundraising, strategic clarity and advancement, stability and accountability, and resource efficiency.
1) Collaborate with the Research Assistants, who are also graduate students, in a preliminary scan of relevant literature on other social innovation incubators and comparable working organizations to answer the following questions:
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| #4419 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Barry Property Upland Forest | |
| #4418 Abbey Gardens Site Planning | To develop a group planning process that will achieve the following goals:1. Document site elements at the Abbey Gardens Property2. Develop a shared vision for site development3. Identify inventories that will need to be conducted to complete the site plan4. Suggest site specific research |
| #4417 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Smith Property Wetland | |
| #4416 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Norah's Island Forest | |
| #4415 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Dahl Forest Wetland | |
| #4414 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Dahl Forest Upland Forest | |
| #4413 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Dahl Forest Plantation/Regeneration | |
| #4412 Indicators of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Barry Property Wetlands | |
| #4401 Environmental and Social Impact of a Social Enterprise | The host organization is a social enterprise – a unique business model which aims to sustain enough profit to meet other social and environmental ends. With this in mind, the impact of a social enterprise cannot be measured by economic performance alone. This year the host organization celebrates its tenth year in operation. Over the past ten years the host has worked to support a sustainable, regional food system, to provide alternative food options and provide opportunities for locals to learn about food issues. The purpose of this project is to determine the social and environmental impact of the host organizations’s activities over the last ten years. |
#4394 Planning for an Aging Community
| The purpose of the project is to undertake an environmental scan of critical issues facing the service delivery infrastructure that supports seniors to "age in place" in Peterborough City and County. |
| #4375 Impacts of Spiny Water Flea on trophic interactions of Kushog Lake | |
| #4372 Impact of Climate Change on an Imperiled Deepwater Fish | To assess the potential impact of climate change (global warming) on the habitat of a coldwater fish species (Shortjaw Cisco) found in the Great Lakes and in deep Ontario inland lakes. Shortjaw Cisco is listed as Threatened in Ontario and protected under the provincial Endangered Species Act. |
| #4367 Historic Flow Data and Trends - Jackson Creek and Ouse River |
The student will examine the historic flow record for Jackson Creek (Peterborough) and Ouse River (Asphodel-Norwood) in an effort to identify trends in surface water flood and drought. Given pre-determined hydrologic criteria, and using historical flow data obtained from the Water Survey of Canada website, answer the following research question: Is there evidence of increasing intensity, duration or frequency of either low or high water flow events in the Jackson Creek or Ouse River?
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#4365 Employment Options for Individuals with Developmental Challenges
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Families with youth who have developmental challenges who live in the county do not have the resources they need. When youth turn 18, they are not eligible for youth services any longer, however the adult services require different criteria and are not as easily available. Discussions that began in 2010 came to the conclusion that it would make sense to bring together organizations who are working with developmentally challenged children and youth to identify and fill the gaps in service as the transition from youth to adulthood occurs. The working group developed a 2 year project with the following goals:
· Increased understanding of existing supports and services.
· Further identification of gaps and strengths of current services and supports.
· Bringing together of Partners to look at potential changes and innovations of the current ways of doing business to address the gaps and to create an improved system for transitional age youth.
· Ultimately these improvements could include youth having greater independence, reaching a fuller potential, articulating their goals and creating support systems to help youth and families obtain those goals.
As part of this project, the working group has been hosting on-going consultation with parents to talk about the needs from their perspective. This project opportunity is about researching employment programs for youth/adults with developmental challenges. Particular attention to the rural nature of the county should be taken into consideration.
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#4361 Planning for Sustainable Growth
| The purpose of this project is to inventory current land uses within the settlement areas, as identified in the four lower-tier planning documents. Vacant land will be assessed for its potential for commercial, industrial and residential development. The assessment will identify current zoning, access and the types of services available or close by. Recommendations about the types of development that would be appropriate for each site are welcome. |
| #4358 Taking a closer look: Understanding TCE contamination and its effect on our community |
The purpose of the project is to map community illness and cancer mapping related to the operations of Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) Canada and General Electric (GE) Canada in Peterborough, Ontario with a focus on trichloroethylene and its effects on the local community.
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| #4347 Mapping Stormwater Management | The purpose of this project is to map out sources of treated and untreated storm water (“sewersheds”) to refine a water quality model for a local stream. Students will use a GIS to map storm water management facilities and sewersheds using existing data. They will also collect samples from storm sewers and local streams during runoff events to determine water quality from treated and untreated urban areas. |
#4345 Daycare Policy Scan: Injury Prevention, Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
| The purpose of the project is to determine what daycare policies exist across Ontario and Canada with respect to physical activity, healthy eating and injury prevention. This information will help inform the development of service provider policies locally. |
#4342 Examining the Health of Gull Lake
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The purpose of this project is to provide analysis and benchmark of existing information on the quality of water on Gull Lake (Lutterworth) with an eye on other Lakes in our watershed feeding the Trent Severn Waterway. This may be used in the creation of the Natural Heritage Chapter of ‘The Gull Lake Plan’.
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#4341 Social and Environmental Impact of a Social Enterprise
| The host organization is a social enterprise – a unique business model which aims to sustain enough profit to meet other social and environmental ends. With this in mind, the impact of a social enterprise cannot be measured by economic performance alone. This year the host organization celebrates its tenth year in operation. Over the past ten years the host has worked to support a sustainable, regional food system, to provide alternative food options and provide opportunities for locals to learn about food issues. The purpose of this project is to determine the social and environmental impact of the host organizations’s activities over the last ten years. |
#4339 Assessment of the student housing market
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The purpose of this research is to assess the student housing market in Peterborough, to learn more about students’ accommodations when they choose not to live in residence. Specifically, various aspects of the student housing market are to be researched, as well as the influences of the student housing market on the ‘mainstream’ rental market. The intention of the research is not to provide definitive statistics about the student housing market, but rather, through key informant interviews, provide a descriptive profile of the market, and its impact within the broader housing market.
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#4337 Public Survey on Housing and Homelessness
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The purpose of the project is to gain an understanding of the range of experience and perceptions, concerns and ideas about housing among members of the public living in the City and County of Peterborough, and present this information in a report.
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#4336 Supermarket Tour Delivery and Evaluation
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Over the past 5 years, our organization has been working on a publication which critically examines the Canadian supermarket complex as well as global food systems. This manual, published in 2011, provides facilitators with popular education techniques to help introduce learners to food issues as they lead groups through the aisles of the grocery store.
There are two outcomes we wish to fulfill through this project: first, to utilize the material within the manual to give free public workshops, and second, to evaluate the effectiveness of the public education tools contained in the manual.
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#4332 Substance Abuse: Shifting Stigma Perspectives
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The purpose of our project is to explore the literature, best practices and existing resources nationally and internationally regarding anti-stigma public education campaigns. The purpose of this research is to make recommendations about how to create an anti-stigma and public education campaign about substance use.
The students will be doing a literature and existing resources review. The main research questions to be answered are:
1) What anti-stigma campaigns exist regarding substance use?
2) What does the literature say about conducting anti-stigma and public awareness campaigns?
3) What is most effective (best practice) when seeking to change public behaviour?
4) What is most effective (best practice) when seeking to change public beliefs?
5) What are the best practices for process of delivery of a public message campaign?
6) Are there successful existing campaigns that can be duplicated?
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| #4329 A valued partnership: Local law enforcement and a mental health agency | The project will measure the efficacy of a partnership between local law enforcement and a local mental health organization. Students will conduct research and search the existing literature to reveal evidence based recommendations for program delivery and improved best practices. Students will survey all partners in the medical field, mental health service delivery, police, and other community agencies regarding the partnership. |
| #4328 Help or Hindrance the Impact of the Mandatory Assault Charge | The purpose of the project is to track trends in the criminal justice system pertaining to domestic violence to find out if the current mandatory charge process for assault charges is working in support of or against women in abusive relationships. Specifically, are more women being charged with assault despite the fact that they are not the primary aggressor? Are more men reporting domestic violence? Are men using the Criminal Justice system to further victimize their female partners by calling police if women try to defend themselves or they lash out at deliberate provocation? Has the pendulum swung from predominantly men being charged with domestic assault, to dual charges (both parties charged automatically) to more woman being charged with domestic assault. The scope of the research would only be for Peterborough City and County. Is the Mandatory Assault Charge process being used in a frivolous or retaliatory manner by people in abusive relationships? |
#4324 Race Relations Community Consultations Manual
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The purpose of the project is to develop a Community Consultations Manual for our organization in order to serve as a resource that will contribute to strengthening our organizational capacity to provide consultations services in the community. The Community Consultations Manual will also be used to support the work of the our Consultations Advisory Team. Overall, the purpose of the project is to build organizational resources, tools and frameworks related to providing anti-discrimination/anti-racism consultation services in the City of Peterborough.
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| #4322 Why Immigration Policy Matters | The purpose of the project is to look at the nature of these changes, their rationale and read them in the local context of Peterborough. The main purpose of the research study is to understand whether the proposed changes will achieve the anticipated results or justify their rationale in the context of local communities such as Peterborough. Most importantly the research will serve the purpose of understanding the economic impact of the proposed changes. Will these changes ease, or make it harder for our organization to achieve its mission of making Peterborough a more diverse and newcomer friendly community? Will we see more or less newcomers in the mid and long term and how will this play out for the local businesses and economy? This research will be conducted from economic development and workplace diversity lenses. |
#4321 Leisure, Recreation, and Aging in a Rural Township
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With the demographics of our residents changing- getting older- we need to take a close look at the recreation and leisure services that we provide. Recreation and leisure services are critical to promoting good health and to making our community attractive to new residents. This project would entail four distinct stages. The first stage would be to review and inventory the existing services that we provide; we feel that this part could be done very quickly. The second would be to conduct research to support the changing demographics of our community. Stage three is to set up and conduct public meetings and groups sessions to research what the community needs or wants. As part of this, the students will need to look into the financial feasibility of the ideas that are brought forward. The fourth and final stage is to compile all this information into a research paper that can be used on a go forward basis to making decisions. It is very important that the voice of the community is heard throughout this project and that the information gathered can be used by staff and council to make decisions on recreational services.
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#4314 Accessible Communications for a Non-Profit
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The purpose of this project is to: a) Support and provide the clients of the host organization’s two women’s shelter programs with an accessible orientation process, in the form of a video audio tour with closed captioning/subtitles. b) Support and provide shelter volunteers with an accessible orientation to essential policy and procedures, using visual and audio techniques that can be found on the host’s website, via YouTube link and on DVD to show in house.
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| #4311 Homicide or sudden death first response resource package development |
To source and create an information guide to outline the procedures involved following a homicide or sudden death. This information guide may include a sequence of events that will occur following the homicide or sudden death (e.g. autopsy, body release, coroner’s report, trial date. . . ) along with support systems available to the family (e.g. counseling, insurance, funeral options presented according to religious denomination, support groups). Other resource considerations should also be included – what happens when . . . . family members are called as witnesses? Considered as suspects? How do they navigate, media inquiries, compensation, and insurance? Is there financial assistance the families can access? Does it make a difference whether individuals have access to OW or ODSP?
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| #4310 Critical Analysis of the relationship between police, support systems and victim's families following a homicide or sudden death |
To source and create an information guide to outline the procedures involved following a homicide or sudden death. This information guide may include a sequence of events that will occur following the homicide or sudden death (e.g. autopsy, body release, coroner’s report, trial date. . . ) along with support systems available to the family (e.g. counseling, insurance, funeral options, support groups). Other resource considerations should also be included – what happens when . . . . family members are called as witnesses? Considered as suspects? How do they navigate, media inquiries, compensation, and insurance?
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#4309 Building an Understanding of Intellectual Disability
| The purpose is to poll a random cross section of Peterborough City and County residents to reveal the public perception of the meaning of Intellectual Disability and to reveal the public awareness of four selected organizations associated with promoting inclusiveness. |
| #4308 Stories of Social Justice | The purpose of this project is to gather and analyze stories from individuals who have come in contact with the justice system who are also experiencing mental health issues. The analysis will focus on the services utilized by the individuals during and following the justice system encounter to determine if diversion has been viewed as a successful approach based on the individual’s reflection. |
#4305 Recreational Habits and Proximity to Trails in the City of Kawartha Lakes
| The purpose of this project is to conduct a comparative audit of recreational behavior between two subdivisions in the town of Lindsay, Springdale Gardens, located next to the Legacy Trail, and another subdivision that does not have direct access to a recreational trail. This data will be used to predict economic and social demand for the Legacy Trail and the value, if any, of having easy access to trails in future residential developments in the Town of Lindsay. |
#4304 Experimental Eradication of Dog Strangling Vine: II
| The purpose of the project is to continue to study techniques of herbicide application to Dog Strangling Vine (Vincetoxicum Rossicum). Specifically to test the developed hypothesis that the repeated application of the environmentally friendly herbicide, Eco Clear, would show plant damage results more similar to the success rate of single application Round Up. |
| #4302 Turtle Head Start Program |
The project will focus on an evaluation of the KTTC Blanding’s Turtle Head Start Program outlining its genesis, methodology, existing data, and success rates. This information will be compared against other Head Start programs that have been developed at other facilities (e.g. Toronto Zoo and Acadia University). This project will help the KTTC to improve and strengthen the Head Start program and allow us to network with partners who are involved with the same work.
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#4297 Shoreline Restoration at Public Beaches: Community Consultation
| The Organization is interested in developing a shoreline restoration demonstration project at a public park located on the shores of Halls Lake. The Elvin Johnson park is approximately 2 acres in size and houses playground equipment, a picnic shelter, an open grassy area, space for parking, and a 120 meter long beach. The water levels on the lake drop over the summer months, extending the beach are as the water goes down. The purpose of this project is to use the park as a demonstration site to solve some of the existing shoreline challenges (presence of geese, erosion) and to provide information about shoreline restoration options to cottage owners and park users. In partnership with the Township of Algonquin Highlands, the organization has identified the following key considerations for the development of the park:‘ Access for swimming‘ Minimizing geese‘ Reducing the impact of undercutting of tree roots‘ Combining a natural barrier with a beach side sitting area‘ Developing educational signage‘ Minimizing on-going maintenance requirements‘ Maintaining recreational opportunities in the park The purpose of this project is to design and implement a community consultation process with users of the park. This consultation should include: parents whose children take part in public swimming programs, general park users, adjacent land owners, local businesses, and other stakeholder groups (i.e. local snowmobile association). The goal is to get input and feedback on site design and to identify ways to mitigate potential user conflicts. |
#4260 Options for Composting
| The host is aiming to establish a large scale composting operation to divert waste from the local landfills and provide nutrients for their gardens. As a precursor to this goal, the host wants to raise awareness about composting within Haliburton County and are planning to develop a small-scale backyard composting demonstration site to accomplish this. This project is about identifying different methods of backyard composting and determining what backyard system (vermicomposting, aerobic, anaerobic) is most appropriate for Haliburton County. |
#4230 Community Supported Agriculture Tour: Prep
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The purpose of the project is to conduct preliminary research for educating and involving the community in the alternatives that exist to conventional supermarket retailers (e.g. connecting community members and their food choices to issues like food security, sustainable agriculture and agrarian reform). The focus of the project is Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) as an alternative to conventional food systems.
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#4184 Local Art and Social Media: Getting the Word Out
| The goal of this project is to assist a local art center undertake a re-organization of their resources in such a way that they are more accessible to the Peterborough community, and at the same time use new media to communicate to the public that these resources are available to them. |
#4131 History of Peterborough Area Militia Units and the Fenian Raids
| The purpose of the project is to document the historical connection of the Peterborough area militia units to the Fenian Raids of 1866 to 1870. The student will be conducting research that will expand on this base of knowledge and, using primary sources (local newspapers, firsthand accounts, contemporary documents, military records), highlight the involvement of local units and individuals who participated in the defense of Canada during the Fenian raids. We would like to include this story as part of our annual Historic Dominion Day special event interpretation and other education programming.
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