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Sparking cultural transformation through dialogue
No full textThis study explores the transformational potential of dialogue to spark cultural change. Our society faces critical environmental challenges, and numerous studies demonstrate the power of dialogue to engage individuals in environmental issues. This qualitative study further investigates that potential, based on interviews with nine experts in leading and facilitating dialogue. The interviewees shared their insights on how dialogue can help individuals reimagine opportunities for action and change and expand their awareness of possible paths toward a more sustainable society. The findings led to a vision of dialogue as a powerful process for: expanding participants’ understanding of the complexity of an issue being discussed; facilitating opportunities for participants to uncover shared values, so they are more open to each other’s perspectives; increasing participants’ capacity to validate multiple perspectives; and creating a space for participants to work together collaboratively, to allow new solutions to emerge.
Keywords: dialogue; environmental issues; sustainability; Coordinated Management of Meaning; Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations; transformative learning theory; Theory U; presence; presencing; integrative value
Health care providers’ ethical perspectives on waiver of final consent for medical assistance in dying (MAiD): a qualitative study
No full textThis article was originally published as: Variath, C., Peter, E., Cranley, L, & Godkin, D. (2022). Health care providers’ ethical perspectives on waiver of final consent for medical assistance in dying (MAiD): a qualitative study. BMC Medical Ethics, 23, Article 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-022-00745-4With the enactment of Bill C-7 in Canada in March 2021, people who are eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), whose death is reasonably foreseeable and are at risk of losing decision-making capacity, may enter into a written agreement with their healthcare provider to waive the final consent requirement at the time of provision. This study explored healthcare providers’ perspectives on honouring eligible patients’ request for MAiD in the absence of a contemporaneous consent following their loss of decision-making capacity.This study received support from the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP). Although some members of the research team and participants of this study are members of CAMAP, the funders were not involved in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data or in writing the manuscript. In addition, CV received a Doctoral Research Dissertation Award (Bertha Rosenstadt Health Research Fund) from the University of Toronto
It only takes one match to light a fire and one voice to create change
No full textAlternate school programs support students who have not been successful in traditional schools. It is important to understand the qualities and components of these programs that foster success of these students. This study uses a narrative inquiry methodology to inquire into the experiences of students who are enrolled in an alternate learning program. It investigates the research question, “What are student experiences of alternate learning programs, with attention to those that foster and limit engagement?” The data was collected through semi structured interviews guided by questions on alternate learning programs, extracurricular activities, student voice, and school connection. The interviews were then transcribed and coded in order to create a variety of different themes. These themes were then used to make and design four different stories that touched on the four main elements of this study. Efforts were made to have the stories paint a picture in the minds of readers using a variety of different perspectives and writing styles. Some of the key themes are effectiveness of alternate programs at helping at risk youth, the use of extracurricular activities and student voice to reduce feelings of anxiety or negative self-worth, and the overarching idea that school connection is of utmost importance when creating a healthy and positive environment for students. The use of student voices in this study and the stories that came from the research has a goal of informing and guiding educators in their understanding and future development of alternate programs.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25797/Bennet.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=
Creating a peace education curriculum for the Montessori upper elementary classroom
No full textMaria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, known for developing an innovative educational philosophy that is followed around the world. Montessori believed it was children who would bring about world peace and a bettering of humanity, and that through education this would happen. This paper explores what the research says about current peace education practices around the world and outlines the importance of an inclusive and inquisitive approach to teaching peace to children. The paper explores the topic of peace education, describes the development of the upper elementary child (aged 9-12), and outlines in detail an age-appropriate peace education curriculum project in the form of a Montessori teaching manual that was created by the author for their Master of Education thesis.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/26922/Hartsook.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=
Local faith communities and their motivations for involvement in disaster management activities
No full textLocal faith Communities (LFCs), with their teachings, practices, resources, and structural organization, are increasingly being identified as vital sources of partnership in Disaster Management (DM) activities. Unfortunately, the voices of LFCs themselves have not always been widely represented. Most research into these partnerships has been conducted from the perspective of Disaster Management Specialists and Organizations (DMSOs) and their respective goals. The aim of this research is to dialogue with individuals identified as “leaders” in LFCs to capture insights into their motivations for playing a role in such partnerships. The primary research question is, “How do members of local faith communities perceive their role(s) in response to disasters?” Data gathering utilized semi-structured interviews with individuals from a variety of LFCs in the southern Vancouver Island region and used a generic qualitative research approach to explore the question. This research was also a form of action research insofar as the author sought to encourage dialogue within LFCs concerning DM and their role(s) with it. Partnership between DMSOs and LFCs, in order to be a true partnership, multidisciplinary in nature, requires an open and honest willingness to listen to one another’s perspectives, misgivings, and motivations. This research is an attempt to hear the voices of LFCs and provide DMSOs with important insights. The research indicated that LFC leaders had a clear understanding of what constituted a “disaster” and how their communities can play a role in preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery activities through providing material and human resources, as well as social capital. Many leaders highlighted their organization’s focus on social justice and special efforts to support marginalized communities in times of disaster. Though low numbers, limited resources, and aging membership were realities which hindered some LFCs capacity to respond to disasters, all participants clearly identified “compassion” as the most significant motivating factor and mandate for responding, in whatever way possible. Moving forward, there is potential value in developing more and deeper bi-directional training opportunities to build closer partnerships between LFCs and DMSOs.
Keywords: religion, local faith communities, disaster, disaster management, partnership, training, motivation, interdisciplinary, social capital, compassion, hindrance
Aqueous naphthenic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a meso-scale spill tank affected by diluted bitumen analyzed directly by membrane introduction mass spectrometry
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript version of an article published as: Monaghan, J., Xin, Q., Aplin, R., Jaeger, A., Heshka, N.E., Hounjet, L.J., Gill, C.G., & Krogh, E.T. (2022). Aqueous naphthenic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a meso-scale spill tank affected by diluted bitumen analyzed directly by membrane introduction mass spectrometry. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 440, Article 129798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129798.With the increasing use of unconventional, heavy crude oils there is growing interest in potential impacts of a diluted bitumen (DB) spill in marine and freshwater environments. DB has the potential to release several toxic, trace organic contaminants to the water column. Here, the aqueous concentrations and compositions of two classes of organic contaminants, naphthenic acids (NAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are followed over 8 weeks after a simulated spill of DB (10 L) into a freshwater mesocosm (1200 L) with river sediment (2.4 kg). These complex samples contain biogenic dissolved organic matter, inorganic ions, petroleum contaminants, suspended sediments, and oil droplets. We report the first use of condensed phase membrane introduction mass spectrometry (CP-MIMS) as a direct sampling platform in a complex multi-phase mesocosm spill tank study to measure trace aqueous phase contaminants with little to no sample preparation (dilution and/or pH adjustment). CP-MIMS provides complementary strengths to conventional analytical approaches (e.g., gas- or liquid chromatography mass spectrometry) by allowing the entire sample series to be screened quickly. Trace NAs are measured as carboxylates ([M-H]-) using electrospray ionization and PAHs are detected as radical cations (M+•) using liquid electron ionization coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The DB-affected mesocosm exhibits NA concentrations from 0.3 to 1.2 mg/L, which rise quickly over the first 2 – 5 days , then decrease slowly over the remainder of the study period. The NA profile (measured as the full scan in negative-electrospray ionization at nominal mass resolution) shifts to lower m/z with weathering, a process followed by principal component analysis of the normalized mass spectra. We couple CP-MIMS with high-resolution mass spectrometry to follow changes in molecular speciation over time, which reveals a concomitant shift from classical ‘O2’ naphthenic acids to more oxidized analogues. Concentrations of PAHs and alkylated analogues (C1 – C4) in the DB-affected water range from 0 to 5 μg/L. Changes in PAH concentrations depend on ring number and degree of alkylation, with small and/or lightly alkylated (C0 – C2) PAH concentrations rising to a maximum in the first 4 – 8 days (100 – 200 h) before slowly decaying over the remainder of the study period. Larger and heavily alkylated (C3 – C4) PAH concentrations generally rise slower, with some species remaining below the detection limit throughout the study period (e.g., C20H12 class including benzo[a]pyrene). In contrast, a control mesocosm (without oil) exhibited NA concentrations below 0.05 mg/L and PAHs were below detection limit. Capitalizing on the rapid analytical workflow of CP-MIMS, we also investigate the impacts of sample filtration at the time of sampling (on NA and PAH data) and sample storage time (on NA data only).This work was supported by an infrastructure grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation/British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund (32238 and 40274), an NSERC discovery grant RGPIN-2016-06454 and RGPIN-2022-05349 (ETK), RGPIN-2021-02981 (CCG), and both graduate (JM) and undergraduate (AJ) scholarships. We kindly thank Agilent Technologies Incorporated for provision of the 7010B EI-MS used for PAH analysis. Authors from Natural Resources Canada acknowledge the financial support from the Government of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan, and technical support from CanmetENERGY Devon’s spill tank operators and Standard Analytical Laboratory.Accepted Manuscrip
An investigation of carbon sequestration, storage capacity, and air pollution removal by trees in the Resort Municipality of Whistler
No full textTrees have a considerable ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide and improve air quality, including many other valuable ecosystem services. Beyond timber value, trees contribute to other economic benefits that are either unmeasured or undervalued in today’s markets. Accurate valuation of carbon sequestration and storage, and air pollution removal benefits can lead to better forest management planning and protection strategies by revealing a more holistic understanding of forest carbon and air quality.
Forests are a main driver for many carbon offset programs through sequestering and carbon storage, while policy makers develop the offset mechanism. Previous investigations of carbon sequestration, storage capacity, and air pollution removal benefits of trees revealed that ecosystem services value is ineffectively measured. This Master’s research study quantified the carbon sequestration and storage capacity, and air pollution service/flow values of trees in the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Specific tree attributes were used to model results to reveal a clearer picture of the carbon values in today’s carbon markets. The study used data from the vegetation resource inventory stock developed by the BC Ministry of Forests to estimate the growth and yield rates of trees in the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Field data was conducted to gather specific species age class and size attributes. The data is modelled into the i-TreeEcoV6 program software suite where a monetary valuation of carbon and air was determined. This research contributes to current literature by evaluating the effectiveness of using i-Tree to model forests for their climate change mitigating potential, and deciphering whether the provincial government, Cheakamus Community Forest and the Resort Municipality of Whistler adequately value forest carbon. The findings from this research contribute to carbon capture policy by providing a more accurate picture of forest carbon and air pollution removal values
Dyslexia: if I only had a brian*
No full textThis thesis and applied project are focused on dyslexia and the support offered for this learning difference within the British Columbian public school system. Throughout the examination of the history of the condition and the evolution of its diagnosis over time, anecdotes are offered from my own experience as an undiagnosed student with dyslexia, and that of my daughter, who was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. These personal experiences are included in an effort to put a human face on this disability which, despite the fact that it is one of the most common learning challenges that a teacher is likely to encounter, remains poorly understood, frequently overlooked, and largely unsupported. My applied project, the creation of a storybook introducing dyslexia and the challenging nature of its invisibility, was selected to make a concrete contribution to a learning challenge that is largely beyond the ability of a single individual to influence. The story, drawing upon my personal experiences, centers on a primary school student who is challenged to differentiate between the names of specific days of the week because they both start with the same letter. The story is intended to provide lessons to both the primary level audience and the reader presenting the story. To grow deeper engagement with the topic in order to support the growth of empathy, the book includes access to background information as well as a suggested list of discussion questions.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25725/Repay.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=
Appreciative inquiry and collaboration: high school teachers and student support personnel
No full textOut of a desire to construct a shared vision of learning that is positive and dynamic, this study sets out on a journey of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) with the focus of developing positive collaboration between high school teachers and student support personnel for the further development of inclusive structures in high school. This qualitative inquiry will address the question, what insights does an appreciative inquiry between high school teachers and student support personnel provide about collaboration and inclusive structures? This study takes place at a K-12 school that implements a collaborative structure with its staff. High school teachers and student support personnel participated in two sessions, where they shared stories of positive past and present experiences in the areas of inclusion, collaboration, and structure.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25754/Dueck.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=
Updates to the EuroMab Literature Database 2021-2022
No full textThe EuroMab Literature Database starting in 2021 has had significant updates to the overall database. This article details the significant updates and changes that has occurred to the database during 2021 to March 2022 period.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25735/1-EuroMab.pdf?sequence=