International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA)
Through the International Community-University Research Alliance, academics and community leaders work together to improve the quality of life in communities in Canada and around the world. We co-sponsor this unique program with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
The result of this joint effort: research that truly responds to the needs of communities.
Project Descriptions- Bracing for higher tides
The effects of global climate change are increasingly visible. Rising temperatures are melting polar ice and, together with thermal expansion of water, contribute to rising sea levels, changing patterns of precipitation, more frequent intense weather events, storm surges and flooding, coastal erosion, increased sedimentation of coastal waters, and pollution from flooded or destroyed infrastructure and storm runoff.
This project focuses on vulnerable coastal communities whose livelihoods will be most affected by these changes. The selected communities are located in the Caribbean and in Canada’s Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic regions. Within these regions, particular attention is given to the impact of sea-level rise and storm surges.
This alliance brings together 21 researchers and 17 partner organizations. It aims to build the capacity of local communities to face up to the inevitable climate changes and to anticipate and confront its consequences for their well-being. The research teams will develop community awareness of the environmental threat, proposals for new infrastructure, and tools for creating adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Managing Adaptation to Coastal Environmental Change: Canada and the Caribbean
Co-directors
Dan Lane
Tefler School of Management
University of Ottawa
Canada
Patrick Watson
Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies
University of West Indies
Trinidad and Tobago
- Sanctuaries and scarcity
Reducing rural poverty and protecting the natural environment are pressing global issues, and furthermore they are linked. For poor people, ensuring the health of the environment can be a particular challenge while degraded land and water supplies can aggravate their destitution.
The 16 researchers and 17 partner organizations in this alliance will investigate this complex dynamic by focusing on one aspect: protected natural areas and adjacent communities in Canada, Tanzania, and Ghana.
Marine and terrestrial protected areas have been established for different reasons, but an increasing number of studies challenge their rationale. This research suggests that, in fact, protected areas can marginalize local communities, increase human-wildlife conflicts, generate inequitable economic benefits and costs, and erode support for conservation.
The alliance aims to develop new insights on how protected areas can maximize the delivery of equitable benefits. It seeks to better manage human-wildlife interactions. It tries to re-conceptualize and improve the governance of protected areas. And it mobilizes knowledge-sharing among academic researchers, community organizations, visitors, and managers.
Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction: A Canada-Africa Research and Learning Alliance
Co-directors
Grant Murray
Recreation and Tourism Management
Vancouver Island University
Canada
Thomas Kwadwo Djang-Fordjour
Sunyani Polytechnic
Ghana
- Services and support for youth
We know that poverty, violence, inadequate housing, racism, social inequality, and other factors all threaten the healthy development of young people. We know less, however, about what formal social and medical services or informal supports — such as family, peers, schools, and communities — youth who are at risk will seek out or will have access to.
If patterns of use were better understood, we could begin to explore whether such services enhance the resilience of these young people such that they are better able to overcome the challenges they confront.
This alliance brings together 34 researchers and 47 partner organizations, in South Africa, Colombia, Canada, and China. Partners will investigate the strategies that at-risk youth employ, and compare how services and support networks are organized. Through research and professional exchanges, partners will study different service and support models and assess their ability to promote positive outcomes. By observing the strategies of resilient youth, partners will design pilot studies to improve government programs and services across cultures and contexts.
Pathways to Resilience: Formal Services and Informal Support Use Patterns among Youth in Challenging Social Ecologies
Co-directors
Michael Ungar
Maritime School of Social Work
Dalhousie University
Canada
Guo-xiu Tian
College of Politics and Law
Capital Normal University
China
Luis F. Duque
National School of Public Health
Universidad de Antioquia
Colombia
Linda Theron
School of Education Sciences
North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus
South Africa
- Designing mental health care
Brazil and Canada are widely regarded as pioneers in mental health care. This reputation is due, in part, to the creative ways those living with mental health conditions are involved in the design and delivery of their care. As international best practice continues to push for greater inclusion of mental health patients — making them full citizens in the governance of mental health services — analysis of emerging practice from the perspective of all the actors is greatly needed.
This alliance, of 42 researchers and 32 partner organizations, will investigate users’ perspectives on mental health services, the transformation of these services in response to the participation of mental health users, and the roles, effects, and conditions that facilitate their involvement in the design and delivery of their own care.
Alliance partners will seek to incorporate these insights into training for students, informing policy dialogues, and developing support tools for mental health associations and health care providers.
Santé mentale-Citoyenneté
Co-directors
Lourdes Rodriguez
École de service sociale
Université de Montreal
Canada
Rosana Onocko Campos
Faculdade de Ciencias Médicas
University of Campinas
Brazil
Adjudication Committee- International Community-University Research Alliances
- Chairperson
Alan B. Anderson
Department of Sociology
University of Saskatchewan
Canada
- Members
Warren E. Hewitt
Vice President (Res. & Int. Relations)
Office of the Vice President (Research and International Relations)
University of Western Ontario
Canada
Allison L. Bain
Assistant Professor
Département d'histoire
Université Laval
Canada
John C. Harriss
Director of the School for International Studies
Simon Fraser University
Canada
Alfredo Arellano-Guillermo
Comisión Nacional de Áreas
Naturales Protegidas
Mexico
Ravindra B. Prabhu
International Livestock Resources Institute
Kenya
Ang Peng Hwa
School of Communication and Information
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Damandeep Singh Ahluwalia
Environmental Resource Management
India
Lea M. Caragata
Faculty of Social Work
Wilfrid Laurier University
Canada
Constance P. deRoche
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Cape Breton University
Canada
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