How do immigrants overcome “No Canadian Work Experience challenges”? survey

The Work Skills Centre (WSC), a community-based, non-profit organization that supports immigrants, has developed a survey for their research project which aims at answering the important policy question: How do immigrants overcome “No Canadian Work Experience challenges”? The survey is a research initiative of WSC to understand the challenges faced by immigrants and they are interested in learning about the perceptions and difficulties immigrants faced in getting Canadian work experience upon arrival in Canada.

Click here to learn more and participate in the survey. The survey will remain open until December 6th.

Meet a Mobilizer – Laura Milne, University of Victoria

My name is Laura Milne. I grew up in Calgary Alberta, but moved to BC 10 years ago to go to the University of Victoria. After graduating in 2003 with a double major in Sociology and Anthropology, I worked a research assistant in Social Psychology for a while, waitressed on the weekends, and then somewhat spontaneously moved to Xi’an, China in 2006 to spend a year teaching at an English College. Upon returning to Canada in 2007, I stumbled upon the fascinating world of Knowledge Mobilization and Community Based Research, and was offered a job as Coordinator of Knowledge Mobilization here at UVic. The best part of my job is the challenge of coordinating the research needs of various stakeholders and encouraging and supporting collaboration. I also get great satisfaction of seeing how the experiences of individuals and communities can both influence research as well as impact policy.

Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, gardening, reading, attempting to surf, travelling as much as possible, and good, strong coffee. When I am not in my office, I am rarely seen without my dog, Parker. Parker and I really enjoy the active lifestyle and mild climate here on beautiful Vancouver Island, and spend a lot of time hiking and camping with friends. I love music and collecting CDs and vinyl, and I can often be spotted with friends checking out live bands in Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle.

Laura and Parker

Laura Milne

KM Highlighted in York University President’s Report to the Community and “hold the date” for KM Expo 2009

York University President Mamdouh Shoukri recently released his 2008 Report to the Community outlining accomplishments made during his first year as President. Reflecting on York’s University Academic Plan President Shoukri states that the UAP “sets the intensification and expansion of research as the paramount objective”. Included in the intensification of the research enterprise is Knowledge Mobilization. President Shoukri used York’s KM Unit as an example of “showcasing collaboration between York University and York Region partners through the Knowledge Mobilization Expo”. On January 9-10, 2008 York’s KM Unit welcomed York Region and Ontario Public Service partners, York faculty and graduate students and special guests, Gisèle Yasmeen (VP SSHRC), Sharon Manson Singer (President & CEO, Canadian Policy Research Networks) and Budd Hall (Director, Office of Community Based Research, University of Victoria). The KM Expo was a chance to provide a retrospective of 2007 and a look forward to 2008.

Be sure to join York University and our local KM partners for KM Expo 2009 on February 6, 2009. It’s About Partnerships – while a simple and possibly obvious theme, we will be unpacking this easy concept, looking at barriers and success factors and imagining a new way of doing business between universities and research stakeholders from community and government. Check www.researchimpact.ca for announcements about the upcoming KM Expo 2009.

York Community Data Sharing Symposium I

On Friday November 14, the KM Unit at York University co-hosted a York Community Data Sharing Symposium, with the objective of supporting community capacity-building in utilizing data. The Symposium also introduced the York Children’s Services Data Station, a web-based portal which houses child-relevant data to help inform service-based decision-making.

75 attendees participated in the day-long event that was broadcast live across three separate sites (Georgina Trade Training Inc., Bill Crothers S.S. in Markham and York University). Diane Patychuk from Ottawa shared her experiences using data in program development in a spirited keynote opening. There were two panels in the morning, with practitioners and researchers sharing their experiences using data to inform their practice. In the afternoon there was an opportunity for participants to demo the Children’s Data Station. And the day closed with a plenary session that paved the way for subsequent symposia to support the ongoing challenges of capacity building in data utilization.

The success of this event was the strong leadership demonstrated by several community agencies in York Region in conceptualizing and delivering on this initiative. The complete symposium will be made available for viewing on the ResearchImpact website early in 2009.

RE$EARCH MONEY publishes on Knowledge Mobilization

RE$EARCH MONEY recently published an article by David Phipps. The article provides a brief theoretical framework for KM and illustrates KM activities with examples of how KM can create value for faculty, graduate students and research users. The article makes a distinction between project based KM and institutional KM services such as those supported by York and UVic. In addition the article ends with a call to action.

“To sustain [KM] activities, research funding organizations need to invest in KM through institutional programs such as Intellectual Property Mobilization (IPM) and Knowledge Impact in Society (KIS). Foundations need to look to social innovation as a target area for support and institutions need to invest in institutional KM practices as they currently do for technology transfer.” Read the full article here….

RE$EARCH MONEY is Canada’s premier source of intelligence on research and development, science and technology and innovation. See www.researchmoneyinc.com for more information.

AUCC Releases 2008 Report on University Research and KM

The following media release, which references ResearchImpact partners YorkU and UVic, was taken from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s Web site. You can view the original article here.

AUCC report shows universities are major contributors to Canada’s economy and quality of life

Ottawa, October 21, 2008 — The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada has launched a report on the state of Canadian research and development (R&D), with a particular emphasis on university research, at an event that included partners from government, the private sector and the not-for-profit sector.

The report, entitled Momentum: The 2008 report on university research and knowledge mobilization, shows universities are major players in R&D in Canada, performing more than one-third of the country’s research and contributing at least $60 billion to the economy in 2007. However, analysts agree that the world competition for talent, knowledge and innovation is fierce and Canada cannot be complacent with its accomplishments.

“The rest of the world is not standing still and the global race for research talent is becoming more and more intense,” says AUCC chair Tom Traves, president of Dalhousie University. “We expect this report to stimulate public debate on the required level and mix of support for university research in Canada.”

“This is a time when we cannot afford to cut back on public investment, but should instead see the potential for stimulating economic growth at the local and the national level by investing in people and knowledge. Having a highly skilled labour force is undeniably a major asset for any country,” notes AUCC president and CEO Claire Morris. “In these uncertain economic times, Canada must continue to improve its innovative capacity to ensure long-term prosperity,” she adds.

Momentum 2008 focuses on the importance of partnerships in university research and looks at the variety of forms collaboration takes – from university partnerships with private companies to research projects with governments, communities, the not-for-profit sector and international partners. It provides a comprehensive account of Canadian R&D, particularly the activities of the university sector and the resulting progress achieved. It also presents detailed research and analysis of national and international trends that will drive changes in university research and the Canadian R&D landscape in the future.

Momentum 2008 documents the wide range of benefits to Canadians such as new products, services, processes, policies and new ways of understanding society.

This is the second edition of Momentum produced by AUCC. The first was produced in 2005 as a way of providing information to decision makers and policy-makers about the benefits from investments made in university research.

The Momentum report is available online. Download the report.