By Elaine Smith 

Long before interdisciplinary organized research units were prominent at żě˛ĄĘÓƵ, civil engineering professors with expertise in water issues at the Lassonde School of Engineering joined together to form iWater – a collaborative that looks at various aspects of water management. 

“There are so many ways to think about water, beyond drinking water or surface water,” said Magdalena Krol, an associate professor of civil engineering who co-founded iWater with Ahmed ElDyasti, also an associate professor of civil engineering. “We decided to bring all those interests together. It provided us with opportunities to share ideas, collaborate, work on grant writing and share students. It also gave our students an opportunity to see who else is working on various water issues.” 

The collaborative has six members who have found numerous opportunities to collaborate. Krol focuses on environmental engineering, specializing in numerical modelling of groundwater flow, contaminant transport and addressing pollution. ElDyasti is interested in wastewater cleaning and processing and how to derive energy from wastewater. Professor Satinder K. Brar, the James and Joanne Love Chair in Environmental Engineering, is a leader in advanced biotechnology and is interested in value-added bioproducts based on wastewater and wastewater sludge, as well as in finding suitable biological detoxification technologies.  

Stephanie Gora, an assistant professor, explores drinking water management, especially in Arctic communities, and the development and evaluation of light-based technologies for water purification. Assistant professor Shooka Karimpour looks at microplastics in water and how turbulence and entrainment affect marine ecosystems. Usman Khan, an associate professor, focuses on water resources engineering, examining how the hydrological cycle is affected by climate change, potentially bringing on more floods or leading to drought or water scarcity. 

“Both droughts and floods influence water supplies and access, and if you think of access to clean water as a human right, you want to have the technology to ensure people have access to clean water,” said Khan. “For instance, we need to think about accessing clean water during humanitarian crises. At refugee camps and similar sites, people need access, but lack water infrastructure. We’re doing research to see what the guidelines should be for accessing safe drinking water in these situations. 

“At York, we’re also looking at artificial intelligence to improve water treatment facilities across Ontario, along with industry partners. We want to ensure that these plants can respond quickly to the effects of climate change; using AI technology allows a faster response to extreme events,” said Khan. 

Krol says members of iWater, both together and individually, are “finding new innovative technologies at the intersection of renewable energy, water remediation and sustainability.” 

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By Elaine Smith 

To prove the University’s commitment to addressing food insecurity, the requirement to produce a daily value meal was written into the contract for its food services request for proposals in 2022. 

“Anyone who has attended university has likely eaten macaroni and cheese for a week straight at some time during their studies, so they understand the concept of food insecurity,” said Tom Watt, Interim AVP, Ancillary Services at żě˛ĄĘÓƵ. “It’s important that our contracted food service partners help us to combat hunger and food insecurity, so we have created value meals to make nutritious eating affordable.” 

In addition to this, “it shows our contractor how important this issue this is to us,” said Watt, “and gives us a mechanism for ensuring they are accountable.”  

The University rolled out the value meals in dining halls on each campus in spring 2023, and they will be available in Glendon, Stong and Winters dining halls beginning in Sept. 2023 for $5.99. 

With inflation affecting food prices, data from the National Survey of Student Engagement reveals that increasing numbers of students are experiencing food insecurity. The Vice-Provost, Students established a working group to tackle the issue, and value meals are an important piece of the puzzle. 

“We have a different meal daily and it’s a nutritionally complete meal with grain, protein and vegetable components,” said Heath. “Our Registered Dietitian vets all the menu offerings, like the Masala butter squash curry and turmeric rice with a side salad and the local roasted Ontario veggie and bean bowl.” 

Based on feedback from the Food Insecurity Roundtable, chaired by the Vice-Provost, Students, meals for the 2023-24 academic year will be “plant forward” – or vegetarian and vegan. “Vegetarian and vegan meals are better received because more people can eat them. Acceptance is more limited when there’s a meat offering.” 

This year, all the snack vending machines on campus will also offer a value item, keeping student budgets in mind.   

Food and Vending Services will also continue hosting monthly student-oriented Teaching Kitchen sessions, complete with a cooking component. A Registered Dietitian leads sessions touching on topics ranging from meal planning and budgeting to nutrition.  

YU Eats is also focused on sustainable and diverse approaches to managing food and they source food locally when possible, while reducing food waste. Menus include global food items, recognizing the diversity of York’s student population. 

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Pictured here: Osgoode Hall Law School on York University’s Keele Campus. 

Poverty law front and centre at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School

By Elaine Smith

Osgoode Hall Law School students with an interest in poverty law have opportunities to support community members in lower income Toronto neighbourhoods through two well-regarded legal services clinics – the (PCLS) and Community & Legal Aid Services Program ().  

Osgoode students were quite instrumental in establishing Parkdale Community Legal Services in 1971, which was the first community-based legal clinic in Ontario. Funded by Legal Aid Ontario and Osgoode, it is a flagship program that cemented the law school’s social justice tradition.  

Each year, 40 upper-year students take an academic seminar on poverty law and for one term serve as caseworkers at the clinic four days per week. Under the guidance of supervising lawyers, Osgoode students deliver front-line legal services to low-income members of the Parkdale-Swansea community.   

They are assigned to one of four clinic divisions: Housing Rights; Workers’ Rights; Social Assistance, Violence and Health; or Immigration. Each summer, 20 students are hired as paid employees of the clinic. During their academic term, they serve as peer leaders in their division. 

“Parkdale Community Legal Services is unique because its work encompasses both legal representation on client files and community organizing to support systemic change,” said Fay Faraday, PCLS’s Academic Director.  

The Community & Legal Aid Services Program is funded by Legal Aid Ontario, the Law Foundation of Ontario, and a żě˛ĄĘÓƵ student levy. Their clients are either students (domestic or international) or individuals from very low-income situations. The program offers assistance with immigration, criminal and administrative law, centring largely on housing-related issues. 

“We’re a last resort,” said Scarlet Smith, CLASP’s director. “People come to us when they have no one to speak for them and no representation. Our talented staff lawyers and law students are devoted to providing excellent representation. It is not unusual for our students to attend hearings more prepared than practising lawyers, as our focus is on learning and our hours of preparation can far exceed what a private lawyer can justifiably bill on a file.” 

At CLASP, 17 to 20 upper-year students commit a full year to the program. They receive training each May and work as CLASP employees throughout the summer. Come fall, they work for academic credit and, also oversee first-year students who volunteer for a semester, assisting with research and casework. CLASP also has a roster of 50+ volunteer student interpreters to draw on as needed. Students are involved in files right from the initial intake calls through to the completion of the files while receiving valuable mentorship from CLASP’s staff lawyers.  

“They manage the cases,” said Smith. “Everything they do goes through our supervising lawyers, but the students themselves meet with clients, conduct research, draft submissions and even examine witnesses at hearings and trials. They are the face of these cases and provide exceptional representation.” 

While Osgoode students enter the clinics as novices, they leave with a solid grounding in poverty law.  

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York breaks new ground with Indigenous Research Ethics Board

By Elaine Smith 

York’s ongoing efforts to  has led to the creation of a wholly autonomous Indigenous Research Ethics Board (IREB) – the first of its kind to be assembled by a Canadian post-secondary institution. 

Indigenous leaders throughout York identified a strong need for Indigenous-specific knowledges and leadership through research supports to ensure the appropriate understanding of cultural and community rights, roles and responsibilities across any Indigenous-related research. Work is underway to ensure the board is operational during the 2023-24 academic year and the IREB will mesh its unique approach with Tri-Council standards and requirements. 

“Our implementation group is meeting weekly to create the working procedures and develop a training process,” said Sean Hillier, a Mi’kmaw scholar and chair of the team that enabled the establishment of the IREB. 

The IREB will be made up of a council of five University faculty members, one undergraduate and one graduate student – all representing First Nations, Inuit and MĂ©tis Peoples and gender identities. It will also include three external Elders and Knowledge Keepers, as well as three non-University affiliated Indigenous community representatives. A call for community members went out in early August, 2023.  

The working group aims have board members finalized in Sept. 2023 in order to be approved by the Indigenous Council and formally presented to York’s vice-president of research and innovation for appointment. Subsequently, member training will take place and the board will be ready to review research proposals. 

“Recognizing the rights of Indigenous communities to steward knowledge production, it places the responsibility for ethical knowledge creation in the minds and hearts of Indigenous communities, which is where it must be,” said Susan Dion, York’s Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Initiatives. “It is a significant move in returning to Indigenous people agency, authority, and sovereignty in knowledge production on this land.” 

Hillier says there will be a quick review procedure for many research projects with minimal risk. Using a delegated review, projects will need to be reviewed by an academic, an Elder or Knowledge Keeper and a community member. Other proposals may require more engagement with the board to realign and refine the research to ensure there is meaningful and ethical engagement at the outset of the work.  

The board also plans to celebrate excellence when research projects are successfully completed – something that personalizes the research experience for researchers, participating communities and board members. 

The IREB working group has already received numerous inquiries from other Canadian universities who are interested in collaborating or learning from York’s experience. 

Hillier said, “We are not a pan-Indigenous board; given our limited membership we are not be able to represent the breadth and depth of all Indigenous knowledges.” He said that “by collaborating with other institutions and communities taking part in research, we can tap into a broader knowledge base. Many beautiful discussions are taking place.” 

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Casita Azul creates sustainability change makers in Costa Rica

By Elaine Smith

Casita Azul, “the Little Blue House,” is the smallest library branch in the żě˛ĄĘÓƵ Libraries' system, but it has a big presence at Las Nubes – żě˛ĄĘÓƵ’s Eco-Campus in Costa Rica, particularly in terms of its wide-ranging community impact.  

Casita Azul not only serves as a place for research and knowledge mobilization; it is also a community hub for research dissemination, citizen science, outreach and community engagement that is available to seven villages in the local area. Its stated mission is to cultivate a collaborative environment and engaged partnership that meets the needs and desires of the local communities. 

Since the Las Nubes campus has an environmental focus, library staff work closely with local groups to promote conservation, biodiversity protection and awareness as part of the University’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

This year, the sustainable use of resources is a key focus for Casita Azul’s community outreach. Library assistant Diandra Arias, in partnership with CEDUCA COBAS (the Environmental Education Coalition for the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor), has organized a recycling program for the library and local communities. Each month, Casita Azul and CEDUCA COBAS coordinate the collection of cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.  

This grassroots initiative has required extensive legwork to secure permissions from the municipal government to implement the program, while leveraging expertise, advocacy skills and commitment to partner with an organization that is willing to use these recyclable materials. 

“It began as a small project in the library that turned into a community project linked to an environmental organization, and now, people are committed,” said Dana Craig, director, student learning and success for żě˛ĄĘÓƵ Libraries, who oversees programming at Casita Azul along with teaching and learning librarian Tom Scott. “The intent for Casita Azul is to serve the community in a way that’s culturally appropriate.” 

Casita Azul has also collaborated with COBAS and the local Programa Conociendo Nuestra Biodiversidad to deliver programs in area schools about the environment and the native animal population using materials created by Costa Rica’s federal Ministry of Education. By cultivating student interest in the environment from a young age, the aim is to increase the likelihood of them becoming future stewards of the surrounding lands to ensure a sustainable ecosystem. 

“Our projects are community driven,” said Craig. “Ideas arise through informal conversations and it requires us to be open. If people are talking to each other, ideas blossom. It’s all about people talking, often in Casita Azul’s coffee corner.” 

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