March 23rd 2016
For my photography research assignment, I have decided to capture moments that fit into the “Ritual” theme, and by extension I believe they can also be linked by the concept of “Community.” When looking at the definition of Ritual, one interpretation is “the prescribed order of performing a ceremony,” so I set out to find events that happen regularly and in a somewhat recurrent manner. The first image shows one of the Sprouts Box coordinators, who packs boxes of fresh produce for a group of customers each Monday morning. The procedure for preparing the boxes is very similar each week in terms of the time, the people involved and the end result. The second image shows a group of friends eating birthday cake. Birthday celebrations are something commonly celebrated in various ways, but certain recurrent elements can be notices: the food, the gathering of people, and the joyous atmosphere. Finally, the third image shows a man attempting the Ironman competition in Storm the Wall, a yearly event organized by UBC. In this competition, students work hard to achieve high levels of fitness, in a celebration of hard work, fitness and personal achievement.
These three examples of rituals reflect different types of communities on the UBC campus, whether the group of students gathered by their interest in sustainable food choices, friends, or students supporting each other to physically challenge themselves and build their strength.
March 11th 2016
I am very excited to say that our group’s project has finally been set up! After Bridgitte further communicated with Dave Preeper from the Child Development Centre, he gave us the green light to pursue research that he hadn’t had the chance to do himself when initially considering the job shuttle concept. He seemed very supportive and happy to work with us, which makes me very confident that the weeks of discussion have led us to a solid research project. In addition, the format of our final document is becoming easier to imagine considering that Dave will need to apply for funding: we will most likely provide him with a sample grant application that contains all the necessary information and could be tailored to different grant organizations. This strengthens my confidence about our work because we will be (a) addressing a current need identified by the community and (b) providing a useful document that can be used and create a solution in a hopefully efficient way.
Another important change in dynamics in our group is the much easier ability to delegate tasks now that our focus is clear and we have an idea of the the format. We discussed this as a group which was very helpful as it revealed some of the other members’ concerns and confusion over what they should be doing on a weekly basis. I think that from now on it will be much more straightforward and comfortable for everyone to fulfill individual responsibilities. This focus will also allow us to build a more effective and relevant theoretical framework that will be a solid background for our research in the community.
March 5th 2016
Our project’s direction is taking shape and becoming increasingly defined as a result of ongoing conversations we are having with potential community partners. It appears that addressing the transportation needs of youth in transition is appealing to the Social Planning Council in terms of long term social and economic benefit and to various groups that see a need and potential resources for a job bus project. Our current two contacts are Matt, director of Boys and Girls Club, and Dave from Child Development Centre, and they have helped us to confirm the need and point us in some potential directions. Thus far, the size and location of the group of youth affected has been very vague which makes us unsure about the magnitude of our project. For this reason, we need to clarify our research subject by (a) having more conversations with Dave and Matt to better understand with whom they work (b) contacting the school district to identify existing employment training programs and gather input about youth needs (this contact will be useful for disseminating surveys or invitations to participate in other research activities and (c) analysis and mapping of census data related to youth and employment. The mapping component will allow us to determine more specific geographical locations that should be served (e.g. high employers) and will give us a clearer idea of the number of youth potentially impacted by lack of transportation.
February 21st 2016
This week our group has faced some difficulty moving forward due to the limits to collaboration with the Sugarcane Reserve that was initially thought to be a good direction. Since Bridgitte was away for the week, I volunteered to be in charge of communications until she returned. After contacting Rosanna from the Cariboo Friendship Society, I was given a phone number to contact Carol Archie, the Social Development Worker for the Williams Lake Indian Band. It was intimidating for me to call Carol without any prior opportunity to give her background on our project, especially considering that I am not very comfortable with communicating on the phone and that I am aware of the delicate matter that is contacting a Reserve from a researcher’s standpoint. This phone call was crucial however because Carol shared that carpooling is unfeasible to address hitchhiking issues since most hitchhikers are actually intoxicated. She did point out the need for elders in the community to have access to alternative methods of transportation to their appointments. This is something that I’ve followed up with the Three Corners Health Services, although previous concerns over the accessibility of means of communication may prevent our group from taking this path. After reporting back to Jessica, she offered to search more in-depth for a partner organization to work with during the next SPC meeting. This stall in our progression has nevertheless allowed me to contribute to our team’s timeline of Williams Lake which gives a good general understanding of the infrastructural and social history of the area. In addition, I have had the opportunity to pursue further research regarding the theoretical studies of carpooling/ride-sharing as methods of meeting various community needs. I have also looked at a variety of existing carpool models that outline their purposes, methods and challenges which will serve as a good basis for the development of our own framework. Some of the common points that I have noted include the importance of accountability (most websites require user registration) and guiding principles such as safety and etiquette. One interesting idea offered by a Regional Rideshare in rural Ontario was the registration of participating organizations which people can associate themselves with, allowing for further “real-life” community connections.
Despite some difficulties outlining the exact way our research in the community will take place, a strong basis of preliminary research will allow us to have much inspiration to draw from for our problem-solving process. I have also mentioned to the group the importance of being flexible with our research question. If we are unable to identify a specific organization or community to develop a program alongside, we may need to simply identify what alternative methods of transportation are already in place around Williams Lake.
February 11th 2016
Over the past couple of weeks our group has had a chance to develop its research questions and acquire further ideas as to how to approach and study them. During last week’s class I had the opportunity to take on the role of moderator of one of the two trial focus groups, which was definitely an interesting and challenging experience. It allowed me to realize a few key points about moderating a discussion that I would like to continue to think about and possibly apply during our research in Williams Lake. The first is the way in which my questions were posed: it was challenging to ask in a way that implicated certain groups or individuals to encourage them to respond without pushing individuals out of their comfort zone or excluding anyone else from a question that could concern them. Another was the challenge of bringing the focus back to the subject at hand when people went on tangents- I can imagine this being quite common in focus groups, and knowing when the tangents are helpful or unhelpful is key. Finally, i’ve realized the importance of making my position in relation to the participants extremely clear. Before the trial, I hadn’t decided on my exact position which made me uncertain about my own perspective and positionality, and made my introduction unclear. Of course, since I would moderate as myself in the future, this would be less of an issue, I will just need to be very clear about where I am coming from. (a final detail is that it felt awkward to stand- I think sitting with the group would have felt much more natural and made me less of an authority figure).
Another productive experience last week was a discussion that we had with Leo, who helped us narrow our scope by choosing a community who could benefit from/be interested in a carpool program and figure out how to best serve their needs. We proceeded to confirm with Jessica that the Sugarcane Reserve is a community that relies heavily on hitchiking, and could potentially benefit from a formal carpool system.
A guest lecture by Joey Lee about the importance of innovation and developing skills to explore new possibilities have brought me to reflect on the many alternative ways to gather information rather than relying solely on government or institutional data. Joey emphasized the benefit of open street maps; I don’t think that this sort of data is very extensive in the Williams lake area, which makes me wonder how civilian participation could be encouraged in order to increase open source data availability so that this wealth of data can support future projects.
Based on our many helpful conversations, it seems that our initial research will need to be shaped around informal conversations where there is a wealth of information to be absorbed and I would like to gain a better understanding of how to work with and build on it ethically. The next steps for this week involve contacting more organization members in order to deepen our understanding of our research context including a Williams Lake city planner who was kindly introduced to us by Leo, a representative from Cariboo Friendship Society, and a Williams Lake band representative. Since our communications officer is away over the break, I have taken on the responsibility to initiate some of these conversations, which is a bit of challenge for me considering my lack of experience communicating over the phone, but I look forward to pushing my own boundaries and developing my communication skills!
January 29th 2016
This week our group had the opportunity to meet with Stella Zhou, who was in last year’s group working with the Social Planning Council. Talking to Stella was incredibly valuable, and gave me a reality-check in terms of the possible magnitude of our project. She described her surprise at seeing Williams Lake in person, having quite different expectations when thinking of the operation of the transit system and the relationships between different ethnic groups. One key aspect that she uncovered was how difficult it was for her group to navigate the complex bureaucracy of the city and of Translink in an attempt to pinpoint problematic areas. For this reason, we understand that our project will need to identify and draw on strengths of the people in the community, making it a bottom-up rather than top-bottom initiated and sustained plan. This requires us to make as many connections as possible and to identify any existing carpool or rideshare systems already in place to observe what is going well/what some challenges are. (perhaps this could take the form of participant observation!). Our first step is to narrow our project to a specific demographic, considering that groups have very different needs. When discussing groups in need of such a system, Stella identified Indigenous groups, children, and late shift workers. She also highlighted the distrust between groups due to ethnic differences, explaining that this makes it difficult to imagine a collaboration. Working closely with a small, very specific group would allow for more trust-building and resiliency, as well as a supporting structure. We are currently waiting on a response from Jessica as to possible groups that we should approach who may be interested in such a project. All in all, talking to Stella really emphasized the challenges of coming in as outsiders with little understanding of the complexities of the place.
January 22nd 2016
Since last week, our group has been able to assign thematic roles for the project. In an attempt to focus our work and utilize each of our skill sets in the most effective way possible, our assigned themes (communication, geographical logistics, safety, economy, accessibility) will run through the rest of our project and will allow us to have an in-depth understanding of how a pilot carpool project would work given the context of William’s Lake. My theme is safety, which I have begun to understand through an analysis of available safety resources (ex: senior’s safety guide), looking at the most common types of crime in the area, and results from last year’s team which communicated some reasons why public transit felt unsafe to some residents.
The next steps involve pursuing our preliminary research, which was initiated through a class library workshop discussing the many databases from which we can extract data (census, statistics, geographic data…). While the numerous available options for research feel somewhat daunting and unfamiliar, I am inspired by the many possibilities and the potential areas of research that our group has not yet even imagined.
As I pursue my own research on crime rates and other potential safety hazards, I am becoming increasingly aware of the fact that safety is very much about the experience felt by the community, and that statistics and numbers can only tell a limited story about a place. For this reason, I think that better understanding safety concerns will require important conversations and interviews with members of the community, creating a safety-plan based on their understanding of the area rather than our own outsiders’ view.
The practice of participatory mapping is a method that I expect would be very applicable to this research, and it is discussed in depth in Timothy B. Norris’ “Bridging the great divide: State, civil society and ‘participatory’ conservation mapping in a resource extraction zone.” The idea is to foster an exchange of ideas and generate a better understanding of place by encouraging community members to draw their mental maps of a place with a specific focus. While Norris’ study focused on community boundaries and conservation areas, a mapping session where community members identify areas where they feel safe and unsafe, and discussing why that may be, could be a very productive conversation and could create a visual that would serve as a basis for identifying good carpool meeting points. Something to think about as we determine our methodologies going forward.
January 15th 2016
The first two weeks in the GEOG 379B field course have been packed with encounters, both in terms of new acquaintances and new ideas. Forming a group during the first week was exciting as I found myself with 4 other students that differ in terms of majors, age and experience yet share a common desire to lead a successful project and have some sort of positive impact through their work. Unsurprisingly, this motivation and energy was evident during our first experience as a team during our bonding activity (minus Wiley, but we’ll bond with him lots real soon!) as each of our team roles fell into place. Having never established a team that would work together for a total of 4 months, I think building strong initial relationships will allow us to be successful throughout the project.
Our first conference call with our community partner, Jessica from the Social Planning Council brought out even more excitement as we were given significant freedom in terms of our subject of study. Having discussed this beforehand, we suggested a Pilot Carpool Project as a way to investigate a potential solution to last year’s project with the SPC which observed serious issues in the public transit system of William’s Lake. Our desire to continue last year’s project in meaningful and tangible ways and responding to a significant need within the community (as confirmed by Jessica) leads to an important point that has been emphasized in readings and lectures regarding the purpose of this research: community based research must be tailored to the context and needs of that community.
Having had no previous community research experience of this magnitude beforehand, it has been valuable for me to acquire foundational understandings of the process and importance of community based research in order to begin a productive and successful research journey. Klein et al.’s Dismantling the ivory tower: Engaging geographers in university – community partnerships emphasizes the importance of mutual respect and putting the needs of the community first. The benefit really should be felt on both parts, rather than approached only as an individual opportunity to develop skills and gain experience. While I had initially looked at potential projects thinking “what is my favourite area of study? or what would be the coolest experience?” I shifted my attention to the areas that may be the most pressing, or would make the most sense based on the existing relationship between this class and the Social Planning Council.
An in-class presentation during the second week by Madeleine Meek from the Center for Community Engaged Learning further emphasized the importance of a a symbiotic relationship with the community, and extended this to include being mindful of our position as outsiders coming into an unfamiliar place, which can be quite challenging and lead to an unexpected turn of events. This introduced our thinking about positionality, and during my week 2 activity I was asked to reflect on how my own characteristics will impact my experience as a researcher in this project and throughout my career.
Here is a portion of that reflection:
“First…the way I am perceived by my peers, community members and research subjects may have an impact on the amount of trust I am able to develop, my ability to be respected by my interlocutors, and the expectations of my team members when in a group setting. Some of these visible characteristics include the fact that I am causasian, a woman, of a young age… and able-bodied… My own perspective will also largely shape the direction of my research, particularly when dealing within a new cultural context or unfamiliar environment. This perspective is built from a combination of my level of formal education, the former experiences I have had outside of my cultural context, where I have geographically lived, and my socio-economic class.”
These thoughts and discussions are constantly challenging my expectations about the experience I will have throughout the course, and are teaching me to come into the experience with the expectation to both learn from the people around me and act as a resource. Most importantly I have realized the importance of keeping an open mind in terms of the direction of our project.