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This case study will critically examine lessons learned during COVID-19 to inform how we advance change towards socially sustainable public spaces. Through the lens of equity, access to public space for vulnerable populations during COVID-19 in Victoria, British Columbia, is explored. A stakeholder analysis is presented to illuminate the nature of stakeholder engagement within the City of Victoria, followed by a review of the intersectoral response that led to the activation of ERCs and the mobilization of hotel rooms to accommodate people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Furthermore, this case study will discuss how participatory processes, such as equity-centred design, placemaking, and equity mapping, can facilitate community and citizen engagement. This case highlights the emergence of leisure-related innovations as catalysts for social change—an increasingly important area of leisure research. In addition, this case study outlines the urgent need for research related to the intersection of COVID-19, equity, public space, and leisure. For broader audiences, such as local governments, not-for profit organizations, and leisure service providers, the value of this case study is underscored by the relevance of co-creation in the context of inclusive land-use planning, policy, and design. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25231/Broderick.pdf?sequence=3

The cover image in this report is created by Redgirl Lee. It is called Myth busters and it was retrieved on May 29, 2020 from https://unsplash.com/photos/r31mu4MKeAc. It was submitted to the United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives - help stop the spread of COVID-19. The authors thank Redgirl Lee and all the creatives who responded to the UN initiative, for their help in promoting evidence-based information regarding COVID-19. This report synthesizes preliminary findings of several Canadian-focused surveys relating to COVID-19 and misinformation. It focuses on two specific areas: • the extent to which Canadians are exposed to COVID-19 misinformation online, and • the extent to which Canadians are believing misinformation. Inoculating Against an Infodemic: Microlearning Interventions to Address CoV Misinformation is a research project supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). With the exception of visual media which may have their own licensing attached to them, this report is licensed as CC-BY giving you extensive permissions to modify and use for free.

Building equitable, accessible and affordable campuses through Co-operatives. Webinars discussing co-operatives, what they are and how they could make for more equitable and accessible campus communities. Co-op webinar 2. This video is part of the second webinar in the webinar series on "COVID-19 Response: Building Higher Learning Resilience in the Face of Epidemics: Co-operatives and Campuses". Webinar occurred on March 17th, 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced an opportunity for urban planners, government decision-makers, health practitioners, and environmental psychologists to further understand human psychosocial wellbeing in cities. Given a growing base of evidence illustrating that interaction with nature positively affects mood and mental health, preserving access to green spaces in cities during this time of mandated social isolation should be considered imperative for as long as possible. This think-piece highlights that parks, community gardens, and other natural areas are essential to urban dwellers, especially if directives to physically distance from one another become longstanding or recurrent. Public decision-makers should aim to develop simple, relatively inexpensive strategies to augment the usability of nature in innovative ways that make it possible to enjoy them while respecting distance guidelines. Also discussed is the notion that a predominant goal for social scientists and urban practitioners during this crisis will be to learn how people view the ways in which public parks and wilder urban areas mitigate their response to worry, isolation, and an altered form of civic engagement. Research on the extent to which ���sense of place��� changes for city dwellers during this global circumstance will be important for planners and social scientists alike. This is an original manuscript / preprint of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Cities & Health on July 30, 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/23748834.2020.1795385.

This research examined the function and value of a coalition in identifying and mobilizing novel solutions to health organizations across Canada in an environment of forced disruption (i.e., COVID-19). More specifically, the study used a naturalistic inquiry methodology to understand the process of how the Canadian Health Leadership Network (CHLNet) coalition responded to the need to integrate e-Learning—an unfamiliar delivery practice for leadership development—into leadership development for its member partners and was hastened by the pandemic. The CHLNet case study results suggested that the coalition was a valuable setting upon which to identify and mobilize knowledge across Canada, despite the many challenges the pandemic brought. Further, the findings suggested that for CHLNet, key process elements contributed to their success that included using an adaptive leadership approach, taking advantage of an opportunity, selecting the right people to work on the project, actively managing the project, and allowing iterative journey processes that mirrored those of design thinking to emerge. Out of this study came three recommendations that address gaps in knowledge and suggest new lines of inquiry, namely: to look for patterns of successful project initiatives in coalitions; to explore a possible correlation between design thinking and coalition project initiatives; and to study the mindset, motivation, and empowerment of coalition project members. Overall, this study illustrated the significant value a coalition could have on identifying and mobilizing divergent practice knowledge on a national scale during a chaotic time of forced disruption across health organizations.

A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need, especially important for first-year undergraduates since it is directly related to their overall success and experience with the institution they attend (Ahn & Davis, 2020; Freeman et al., 2007; Tinto, 2017). This need drives individuals to seek mutually beneficial relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Over, 2016; Taormina & Gao, 2013), underscoring the need for ongoing, positive interactions between the students and their instructors—and the university as a whole—as well as between the students themselves (Tinto, 2017). For the 2020-2021 school year, however, first-year students at traditional universities in Canada faced a new and unexpected reality: an online-only experience—along with restricted in-person contact in general—due to policies enforced by the Canadian government in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic (CBC, 2020; CDC, 2020; Government of Canada, 2020). At the University of British Columbia (UBC), specifically, on-campus activities and related events were cancelled, limited, or offered solely online, the requirement to live locally was removed—removing the dormitory or shared housing experience for most students—and all courses (except a select few within visual arts, music, and theatre) were delivered online (UBC Service Desk, personal communication, April 4, 2022). This combination of restricted in-person contact and digital course delivery highlights the importance of understanding the students’ need for belonging—specifically, whether and how it is met in the online-only context—as well as the roles played by the communicative tools involved.

Fully online Elementary learners face significant challenges in connecting and engaging meaningfully with other learners, their teachers, and with digitally presented and asynchronous content and instructional materials. Even though they often come to Distributed Learning (DL) programs in order to address specific and highly individual learning needs that are not being met in traditional group school settings, online students still desire and benefit from opportunities to participate and share in synchronous learning opportunities which motivate and engage in meaningful and personalized ways. The current COVID-19 situation as well as parent and student experiences with Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) have only heightened the need to find more connecting and supportive learning environments. This Process Paper utilizes current research and technologies to address the Critical Challenge Question, “How can a synchronous, gamified, and narrative-based Humanities course be designed to promote meaningful connection and engagement for fully online Grade 6 students?” A comprehensive Literature Review and application of Connectivist and Constructivist learning theory has contributed to the creation of a student website which blends synchronous and asynchronous elements. Through a narrative and gamified structure encompassing the use of points trackers, badges, and student-choice experiences, this Major Project is designed to meaningfully connect learners to their teacher and each other. Students engaging in personalized and interest-based learning opportunities while working together with their peers will experience a greater sense of connection, motivating and helping them to feel personally invested in their learning community. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25214/Standbridge.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

In response to the severity and tenacious nature of COVID-19, the United Nations (UN) identified the cessation of intensive animal agriculture as one of three foci necessary to prevent another pandemic as well as to bring human society and the planet back on a healthful course. Animal health, human health, and environmental health were deemed to be the three critical factors, and the UN stressed that all three need to be addressed collaboratively as an integrated whole. The Farmed Animal Advocacy Movement (FAAM or Movement), is a social justice movement working on behalf of farmed animals used for food. Currently, the majority of the work undertaken in Canada and the United States to combat intensive animal agriculture is undertaken by women. Numerous measures, however, assert that the FAAM is failing. A core cause is the troubled state of many FAAM organizations, and the impact this is having on the women employed as vocational animal activists. This qualitative approach to research sought to explore the experiences and recommendations of these women through their stories as a means to deepen the understanding of the FAAM’s organizational practices, and suggest tools for sustainability. A reflexive thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 33 FAAM vocational activists was conducted. Ubiquitously, the interviews revealed a pervasive culture of oppressive ‘isms’, including racism and sexism, as well as significant illegal employment-based activities. Participants were also queried as to their suggested recommendations in regard to employment and organizational practices. One significant result of these recommendations was the creation of a proposed, practical, reasonable, and abundantly actionable checklist of practices, that, if implemented, may be instrumental in assuring a positive, highly engaging, highly ethical and more sustainable work culture able to perform the essential labour of protecting animals, and by extension, supporting the proposal by the UN to protect society from another pandemic.

This thesis, “Enhancing Capacity of the Coalition of African, Caribbean, and Black Nurses (CACBN) to Support Black Nurses in British Columbia to Achieve Greater Psychological Health in the Workplace” utilizes the methodological frameworks of the Action Research Engagement model, Black Feminist Thought and Intersectionality, Participatory Action Research and Appreciative Inquiry to answer the following question: How can the CACBN support Black nurses to achieve greater psychological health in the workplace? The African, Caribbean, and Black nurse participants were predominantly from CACBNs membership, held various nursing designations, and came from different practice environments. Data collection methods included a survey, interviews, and reflective journaling. Several sub-themes emerged from five overarching themes: Relational Connection: “Fitting In”, Factors that Contribute to Safety in the Workplace, System Level Supports Needed from Health Care Organizations, CACBN Supports for ACBNs, and Impacts of COVID-19 on ACBNs. Study recommendations for health organizations include developing workplace anti-racism policies and providing career supports and leadership opportunities, while recommendations for CACBN include providing anti-Black racism education to health authorities and schools, offering mentorship, and creating safe spaces for dialogue.

Schools are not immune to crises. Whether it be earthquakes, wildfires, shootings, or global pandemics, schools will always be required to react quickly and efficiently to crises (Liou, 2015, p. 248). One large component of this reaction is communication. Therefore, school leaders need to be prepared to communicate quickly, efficiently, and effectively both internally and with the broader community during times of crisis. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 created an exceptional urgency for schools to practice and refine their crisis communication as they dealt with the ongoing pandemic (Government of Canada, 2022). In British Columbia, the pandemic caused a state of emergency that has lasted nearly a year and a half (Lawson et al., 2021). During this time, schools went through many different situations of crisis, including short-term emergencies and long-term sustained stress. Schools also needed to react quickly to changing government guidelines, community exposures and public health directives (BC Ministry of Health, 2021). The purpose of this study is to examine the opportunities and challenges that arose as school leaders attempted to develop best practices, processes and procedures that amounted to effective communication during an unprecedented international health emergency.