This research project funded by CLARI provides valuable information by helping fill in the current gaps in our knowledge of the need and supply for affordable housing in the New Waterford/Glace Bay area. While many individuals and families have compelling stories about their own struggles to find safe, quality and affordable housing, there are many gaps in our knowledge of the
overall need for affordable housing in this geographic area.

For instance the CMHC does not collate data on rental units in the secondary housing market in the CBRM, a category that includes all non purpose built rental housing such as single family homes that have been let to tenants, and yet this market makes up a significant proportion, perhaps even a majority, of rental housing units in the Glace Bay area.

This CBC article provides more detail.

This workshop aims to shed light on our assumptions about families in our communities. We aim to encourage engagement between researchers and community members with diverse perspectives, scriptures, and traditions.

 Workshop facilitators, informed by their current research, will include experts on Christianity and Islam and will begin with a presentation that will help structure discussion between community members with diverse perspectives and experiences. Topics for discussion will include adoption and family expansion, paternity, motherhood, kinship, community, marriage, and immigration.

 Participants will discuss what family means to them, with the intent to improve our collective understanding of family in various cultural contexts. The purpose of the workshop is for project leaders and workshop participants to gain a more nuanced understanding of the legacies of the Bible and the Qur’an and to facilitate conversation around family matters in our diverse contemporary society.

Here is a link to the research teams’ website. This event will take place on Friday, September 12, 10AM -3PM in CLARI space at Saint Mary’s University. Note that there will not be a virtual option, this is an in-person event only. Lunch will be provided.

Please note that space is limited, so we ask that you express your interest by responding to this email. Another communication will be sent out closer to the date.

For more information please contact the principal investigator, Margaret MacDonald, at margaret.macdonald@smu.ca.

On Thursday March 13 from 7-9pm, a public lecture will be offered by the Saint Mary’s University Faculty of Arts. It will take place on the SMU campus in the Scotiabank Confefrence Theatre, room SB201. No registration is required and all are welcome.

The guest speaker will be Kimberly R. Murray, Associate Professor and Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Legal Studies at the Queen’s University Faculty of Law. She will be speaking about the search for the missing and disappeared children in indigenous communities.

The Anthropology department will also host a special session for students and faculty, “Antidote to Denialism: A Conversation with Kimberly Murray”, starting at 10 a.m. in Loyola 297.

Congratulations to Abbey Smith, Honors undergraduate student at Acadia University for her awward-winning, CLARI-funded work on the project “Avon Street Erosion Society: Exploring sustainable erosion mitigation options”. Abbey worked with Acadia faculty member Dr. Ian Spooner to conduct research with the Avon Street Erosion Society in Hanstport exploring coastal erosion issues in that area.

Abbey’s work was funded in the spring of 2024 and completed over the summer. She was honored with the award by Science Atlantic.

CBC recently reported on a CLARI funded project, led by Dr. Phillip Joy at Mount Saint Vincent University that explored issues related to food security in the 2SLGBTQ+ community. This research is having an impact at Feed Nova Scotia where changes are being considered to allow them to better support this community’s food security requirements.

We at Acadia are so pleased to invite you all to our university on November 3rd and 4th for a specialized conference, sponsored by CLARI, to discuss ways to build meaningful community-postsecondary relationships in research. Our agenda (attached) includes lunch, panel discussions, graphic facilitation, group relationship building, resource sharing and more!

Our aim for this event is to include as many community voices as possible, so we hope you can help us in making sure your community partners are aware of this event. We also hope that faculty will share this invitation with student researchers who work with them in community-based research. There is a small amount of funding for community members and students for whom participation in the event might be a hardship. When you register, you will be asked if you are interested in hearing more about possible financial support to attend.

The link to register can be found here. If you have any further questions about the event, we encourage you to contact us at clari.growinginnovation@gmail.com.

We look forward to learning with you soon!

All our best,

Acadia CLARI Growing Innovation Committee