University of Guelph hosted OJS journals
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Projecting Future Energy Demand Growth in Wellington County
No full textThis study focuses on Wellington County’s energy future, emphasizing the role of Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) in addressing rising energy demands, integrating renewable energy, and adapting to climate change. By combining housing growth projections, historical energy use trends, and climate change scenarios, this report estimates future energy demands and examines the implications for infrastructure planning and policy development. The analysis identifies significant population and housing growth in Wellington County, with an anticipated 61% increase in households by 2051, necessitating diverse housing and energy solutions. Historical energy use trends reveal declines in energy intensity due to efficiency improvements and technology adoption, yet future forecasts indicate rising electricity demand driven by increasing cooling needs and declining natural gas consumption due to milder winters.
Key renewable energy projects, including wind farms and biogas facilities, demonstrate the county’s commitment to sustainable energy. Initiatives like the Conestogo Wind Energy Centre and ENS Poultry Biogas Project highlight successful integrations of renewable resources into the regional energy grid, supporting environmental goals and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The findings emphasize the critical need for LDCs to incorporate climate-informed decision-making and community engagement to balance financial, technological, and regulatory challenges. The integration of renewable energy sources into demand forecasts ensures alignment with long-term sustainability goals, promoting a resilient energy future for Wellington County
Knowledge System Dynamics Andean Native Potato Production
No full textBackground: Indigenous Knowledge Systems of rural Campesino communities in the Peruvian Andes are critical for ongoing maintenance and conservation of local food systems, supporting communities’ food and nutrition security while stewarding native potato genetic diversity. These knowledge systems face multi-level, compounding threats of erosion and remain misunderstood and misrepresented in research. To respond to and address these threats, these Indigenous Knowledge Systems must be understood not as static, but as dynamic processes of production and reproduction. Methods: Original research was conducted with two Campesino communities in the Peruvian highlands, Huancachi and Quilcas, both recognized for continued use of the ancestral system of ‘turno’ cultivation, a communal land management strategy and system of sectoral fallowing, and their stewardship of native potato biodiversity. Data was collected using mixed-method Participatory Action Research. This study uses systems thinking to examine, map and understand dimensions of local knowledge system in both communities and how they underpin Turno cultivation, examining the relationship between knowledge systems and native potato conservation.Results & Conclusion: Results from this study suggest the integral role that land, culture and worldview play in sustaining and reproducing Indigenous Knowledge for Turno cultivation, as well as the role of external actors in shaping relationships between systems elements. This study found that as access and ownership over land is threatened, the power and influence of external actors over these local knowledge systems is increased, which in turn shapes relationships and functions of the knowledge system
“We don’t have the space”: Understanding the \u27where\u27 of community-based research in Arctic Canada
No full textIn this evolving era of community-engaged research, the knowledge, skills, and leadership of Arctic-based people and organizations are extremely sought after by visiting researchers. Many conversations have established the ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘why’ of community-engaged Arctic research, leaving the ‘where’ as a much less understood area. While some aspects of research take place in the ‘field’ (the ice, the water, the land), a great deal of research activities require functional indoor workspaces (the office, the community centre, the library). Despite their involvement being in high demand, Arctic-based researchers often do not operate with the same infrastructure offered in traditional research institutions such as universities. Though sophisticated research spaces do reside in the Arctic, many are owned by southern-based institutions or governments. It is therefore important to understand where community-led research activities take place in the absence of access to formal research spaces. This case-study sought to explore and document the spaces in which community-based research activities take place in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, and how these spaces impact the community’s ability to take part in, and lead, research. Through interview, workshop, and photovoice methodologies, participants reported that a great deal of their research activities take place in the home. With Nunavut holding the highest rate of inadequate housing in Canada, this overlap implies a direct correlation between research activities, overcrowding, unaffordability, and insufficient infrastructure. This research presents a much-needed understanding of the current state of, and relationship between, physical research spaces and community-based research activities in Arctic Canada
NEW RECORDS OF CERIANA ABBREVIATA LOEW (DIPTERA, SYRPHIDAE) IN GUELPH, ONTARIO AFTER 110 YEARS
No full textTwo New Letters of Amalia Holst
No full textAmalia Holst was an important pedagogical theorist and philosopher who was part of the distinctive intellectual milieu of Hamburg in the late 18th and early 19th century. Holst has enjoyed a fair amount of attention from scholars working on the history of feminism, and she has recently come to the attention of historians of philosophy for her incisive critique of (Rousseau-inspired) educational theories, her vocal advocacy for women’s access to higher education, and for apparently radical lines of thinking in her views on history, religion, and morality. While Holst was something of a public figure in Hamburg—she published two controversial treatises in her lifetime, in addition to a lengthy review of a popular novel—there is relatively little known about her life, with most of what we do know owed to only a sparse handful of sources. It is, therefore, a rather significant development for scholars working on Holst that two letters by her should come to light. These letters are replete with new details of Holst’s life, her intellectual network, and they seem to have been wholly unaccounted for by Holst’s biographers. In this article, I will provide a transcription and translation, with annotations, of the two new letters
Beyond Family Therapy for Drug & Addiction Issues: Combining Lived and Professional Experience in an Outreach Team
No full textThis article is a practical, step-by-step overview of the way we organize therapeutic network meetings within outreach team Recovery Brno. Our therapeutic framework is rooted in collaborative-dialogic practices (Anderson, 1997; Levin, Gil-Wilkerson, 2019) and we are greatly inspired by the Open Dialogue approach (Olson, Seikkula, Ziedonis, 2014; Seikkula, 2021). We especially emphasise two innovative elements that are not so prevalent in mainstream family therapy and/or addiction services. The first element is our co-working in pairs of therapists when there is always one professional and one person with lived experience with addiction present in the meeting. This has many benefits including reflective talks between us, greater possibility of giving responses to all participants or “another kind of connection” through the lived experience with similar situations. The second element is the fact that we usually organize the meetings in the natural environments of our clients – homes or other places they live in. This enables us to directly access much richer context of the clients, helps us to have a deeper understanding of how they live and improves our connection with the families
Beyond the City Limits: Shifting Federal Funding for Public Transit in Rural Canada
No full textPublic transit has the potential to address economic, social, and environmental needs for communities across rural Canada. However, the initiation and operation of rural public transit faces a range of barriers, particularly related to financial hurdles and the need for financial support. A recent investigation revealed that transit in rural and small town Canada has been underserved by federal funding, with the exception of the Rural Transit Solutions Fund (Breen, Gibson, and Main, forthcoming). This initial investigation found initial results from Rural Transit Solutions Fund indicated a potential shift in federal funding patterns related to regional distribution and populations served, although disparities remain in the accessibility of funding, particularly for smaller and more remote communities. These results were based on a small sample of preliminary data from 2023. This presentation will build on the results of this study, sharing the findings of an updated analysis of 2025 data that aims to determine whether or not those initial shifts in funding patterns are continuing as the Rural Transit Solutions Fund matures, as well as responding to the overarching question of whether or not the Rural Transit Solutions Fund is meeting its goals.  
Indigenous and Settler Collaborations- Genuine Relationship Building
No full textThis session hopes to convey the dialogue about ways to advance reconciliation. Genuine reconciliation is grounded in the truth about the historical adversity Indigenous communities have faced and the ways these hardships may manifest today as well as the demonstration of courage, resiliency, selfrespect, and decency. True reconciliation calls for listening, learning, loving, and healing. It is about building relationships and sharing truths and burdens. Insights from Former Chief Greg Peters may be shared, as he reveals some of his story, his ideas, and his call to action and kindess for us all
Estimating rural Canada’s intergenerational wealth transfer: Application in selected Ontario communities
No full textThe transfer of wealth between generations is often proposed as an untapped source of revenue for community investment/development and philanthropic resources. When community members pass away, they may leave bequests to local institutions, and organizations that consciously work to secure such donations may accrue long-term benefits. However, while many organizations appear optimistic about benefitting from this transfer, relatively few appear to have substantial plans around it. One possible reason for this difference is that the potential size of this transfer within Canada remains unknown, especially in rural communities, which complicates strategic efforts. Using data from a custom Statistics Canada request, we propose an initial method for estimating rural wealth transfers in the coming decades based on key wealth holdings, demographic data, and estimated mortality rates. We note limits to the current approach and discuss the relevance of results by examining implications for selected communities in southern and northern Ontari