Beth Savan

Contrasting Approaches to Community-based Research and a Case Study of Community Sustainability in Toronto, Canada

Community-based research (CBR) describes a range of research approaches that link community members and external researchers in investigations that promote progressive social change as well as deeper understanding of specific issues important to communities. Increasingly, CBR is being carried out through community-university partnerships in which the research course-work of undergraduate and graduate students is integrated with the research needs of community organisations, providing much-needed intellectual resources to community groups while giving students invaluable experience in applying their academic skills. This article contributes to the understanding and practice of community-based research by situating a number of specific research approaches within a broad framework of CBR and by describing in detail one CBR initiative in Toronto, Canada.

Beyond professional ethics: Issues and agendas

Many professional bodies now include activist committees devoted to better serving the broad public interest. Some of the different ways that these groups operate are explored and analyzed. In particular, professional activist groups are divided into two general categories: those dealing mainly with standards of professional practice, and those dealing with political and social issues relevant to the larger social milieu. By participating in such groups, professionals can give the public an alternative view of their profession, and set the stage for public demand for more responsive, socially controlled, professional practices.

Analyzing Barriers to Energy Conservation in Residences and Offices: The Rewire Program at the University of Toronto

Conducting a barriers analysis is an important first step when designing proenvironmental behavior change interventions. Yet, detailed information on common barriers to energy conservation campaigns remains unavailable. Using a pair of original surveys, we leverage the theory of planned behavior to report on the most important barriers for fourteen energy conservation behaviors common in university residences and offices. Our results provide key information for individuals designing community-based social marketing and other behavior change campaigns in an educational setting, particularly for energy conservation efforts. Results also provide guidance for the process of conducting effective barrier assessments.

How to facilitate (or discourage) community-based research: recommendations based on a Canadian survey

Community-Based Research (CBR) is gaining recognition as a strategy for bridging the gaps between theory and practice and between universities and neighbouring communities. How effective is CBR and what factors have promoted and hindered its proliferation as a tool for research and capacity building? A web-based survey was conducted to investigate barriers and facilitators for CBR. CBR is hindered by the lack of resources, systemic institutional culture, and bias. Facilitators for CBR for academic and community practitioners are explored, and recommendations are presented for funders and universities to support university–community partnerships and to recognise their achievements.

Barriers to Energy Efficiency and the Uptake of Green Revolving Funds in Canadian Universities.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency projects in Canadian universities, including access to capital, bounded rationality, hidden costs, imperfect information, risk and split incentives. Methods to address these barriers are investigated, including evaluating the efficacy of revolving funds. Design/methodology/approach – Senior administrators of 15 Canadian universities were interviewed, making use of both structured and open-ended questions. As university executives and senior technical directors are responsible for investment in energy efficiency at Canadian universities, these individuals were the focus of our study. Findings – The results offer a curious contradiction. While “Access to Capital” was found to be the largest barrier to energy efficiency in Canadian universities, and while respondents agreed that green revolving funds are both an effective method to address these capital funding constraints, and may be an effective me...

Practicing Sustainability in an Urban University: A case study of a behavior based energy conservation project

This case study of the University of Toronto Sustainability Offices energy conservation project, Rewire, explores the implementation of a social marketing campaign that encourages energy efficient behavior. Energy conservation activities have reached approximately 3,000 students and staff members annually, and have saved electricity, thermal energy, and water. Rewire helped develop an “ethic of sustainability” on campus, conferred legitimacy on student and staff environmental leaders, and has catalyzed other environmental activities.

Translating strong principles into effective practice: environmental assessment in Ontario, Canada

This paper examines two fundamental and inter-related tensions relating to environmental assessment between the desire to be proactive, promoting sustainable development and the more traditional practice of preventing harm, as well as the need to balance a predictable, expeditious and efficient process with transparency and inclusive deliberation. Proposed reforms to the environmental assessment process in Ontario, Canada, are examined as a case in point, showing how the recommendations in Ontario are consistent with international trends. In particular, over-arching principles need to be embedded in more precise sector-specific policies to enable environmental assessment processes to meet these competing goals.

Social drivers of technology adoption and use in the workplace productivity context

In a usability test of a pre-commercialization product designed to minimize interruptions, we examined the ease of use and intuitiveness of the product through lab testing, while also surveying test participants on their perception of interruptions in the workplace. The results suggest that despite high ratings of ease of use and tool intuitiveness, participants were uncertain about likelihood of use in the office context. This discrepancy indicates usability is perhaps a necessary but insufficient driver of adoption, and other factors, such as the establishment of a receptive context and supportive social norms, are also important considerations when predicting new technological adoptions.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Beyond the Information Campaign: Community-Based Energy Behavioral Change at the University of Toronto

For three decades, many environmental practitioners have used the information campaign as their tool of choice. Yet most simple information appeals remain ineffective and are rooted in an outdated understanding of human behavior. In this article, we report on policy lessons from the Rewire program, an innovative energy conservation campaign at the University of Toronto that has grown to reach over 12,000 community members in Canadas largest university. Drawing from the Rewire experience, which evaluated the program by using a mix of psychological, electricity, and qualitative metrics, we suggest cost-effective methods for delivering policy interventions in a complex institutional setting and explore effective methods to generate widespread changes in energy behaviors through a community-based social marketing approach. Campaign designers should move away from single-tool policy interventions to employ a coordinated set of tools and techniques that address a wide range of determinants of human behavior. By training community-based coordinators, campaign designers should also move away from hierarchical policy implementation and toward decentralized deployment of modular and locally adaptive campaigns. For behavioral change to make a meaningful contribution to energy policy, we emphasize the need for more regular dialogue between social science research and the community of energy conservation practitioners.