Participants from the Queen’s University PhD-Community Initiative (PhD-CI) program presented their research findings and celebrated another successful year of community engagement at Kingston City Hall on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
Over the past year, six interdisciplinary teams of PhD students worked with community organizations to conduct studies that address a particular issue or challenge of importance to them. According to a release from the City of Kingston, these partnerships aim to foster local engagement, promote the exchange of knowledge, and facilitate tangible solutions, as well as offer experiential learning opportunities for the students.
The City noted that it had the privilege of working with two of these teams, gaining insightful proposals in the areas of strategic planning and service delivery.
The first project focused on developing a community approach to exploring the implementation of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the Kingston region. Working closely with key stakeholders, the students identified the importance of public engagement and collaboration between the City and its partners in effectively integrating the SDG framework. According to the release, this approach enables a better understanding of local priorities and facilitates progress tracking to create greater social impact within the community.
The second team provided a childcare market needs assessment for the Kingston and Frontenac region. By looking into the changing demographics and conducting a survey to determine the challenges that local childcare and early years service providers are facing, the team provided recommendations on how the City can better support the sector and address the changing needs of families in our region, the City stated.
Craig Desjardins, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships at the City, reflected on the student’s work.
“We are so grateful to be able to work with Queen’s students once again through the PhD-Community Initiative program,” he said.
“We have world-class talent right here in Kingston and this program allows us to tap into that expertise to solve real problems that the community is facing. The commitment of these students has been invaluable in advancing our mission and addressing challenges that arise as our City grows.”
According to the release, the PhD-CI program began as a pilot project in 2016, and since then, students have had the chance to work with community groups in different sectors across our region and province. These partnerships between the students and the community organizations they support demonstrate the importance of bridging the gap between academic research and community engagement, the City said. By working together, the students and the organizations are creating new knowledge, building capacity, and fostering social change.
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