Crystal Tremblay

Who are our informal recyclers? An inquiry to uncover crisis and potential in Victoria, Canada

What is considered garbage embodies a recoverable economic value, and environmental cost if not recycled. Throughout the world, the often marginalised and impoverished population earns a living through informal recycling. This is also true for Victoria, British Columbia, one of the most affluent cities in Canada. This paper discusses results of a participatory socio-economic survey involving informal recyclers in Victoria, BC to determine their livelihood determinants. The findings reveal that “binning” is an important survival strategy to generate income. A new waste-management model that considers the social and environmental context is needed. Inclusive public policies can respond to the livelihood concerns outlined in this paper by facilitating access to recyclable materials, devising occupational safety improvements and educating about alternative strategies for resource recovery. This model can contribute to the overall sustainability of the community by reducing the waste of resources and people, empowering marginalised populations and reducing the environmental impacts of natural resource use and waste disposal.

Community knowledge co-creation through participatory video

This article describes the process and outcomes of a participatory video project with 22 catadore/as (‘recyclers’) from recycling cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. During a week-long workshop (April 2008), leaders from participating cooperatives were trained in video technology, storyboard development, and postproduction media as a strategy to improve community–networking opportunities and to stimulate awareness and education of inclusive and integrated recycling programs. Through a participatory action research initiative, four short documentaries were then co-produced between 2009 and 2011 and a collaborative research design was developed to use the videos as a communication tool for enhancing dialogue with policy makers in three municipalities. This article explores the methodological and theoretical contributions of using participatory video as a strategy for mobilizing community knowledge. This research demonstrates the use of participatory video as a creative avenue to capture and nurture valuable knowledge often on the periphery, which can have powerful impacts when brought into centre stage. It also reviews theories of Community-based Participatory Action Research and Knowledge Democracy as central to expanding processes for participatory development and citizenship. The results reveal enhanced mobilization of this community and document the strengthening of partnerships between recycling cooperatives and municipal governments in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.

Where Pedagogy and Social Innovation Meet: Assessing the Impact of Experiential Education in the Third Sector

The Vancouver Island Social Innovation Zone (VISIZ) is an innovative collaboration between higher education institutions and community organisations in the Vancouver Island region. The Social Innovation Cohort is a pilot initiative of VISIZ, matching selected social innovation initiatives and social enterprises with financial support, as well as a partially funded full-time co-op student between January-April 2016. During this time, students engage in workshops and education, and have an opportunity to learn together through their paid work experiences in local social innovation initiatives and social enterprises. The goal is to provide valuable learning experiences, apply “classroom‐based” knowledge to the real world, and add capacity to local initiatives. The overall goal is to strengthen and support Vancouver-Island research that connects students and researchers to communities and build a strong eco-system for impact business and social enterprise on Vancouver Island. The findings explore impact in the following specific areas: (a) The extent of student impact through the cohort pilot model including new knowledge, and applied skills in social innovation and social enterprise, and (b) The extent of social change and increased capacity in the community including the tangible outcomes as a result of the collaborations with students and post-secondary institutions. The findings from this evaluation can help inform curriculum development and learning competencies supporting student engaged learning in social innovation. The results will also inform at a systems-level, including variable such as structure, governance and relationships between institutions and community organisations including the match of social innovation needs to relevant supports, assets and challenges in identifying and mobilising these assets.

Participatory Video as an Approach for Strengthening Collective Social Entrepreneurship: The Recycling Cooperative Movement in Brazil

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to document the use of Participatory Action Research methods as an effective approach for community empowerment and strategies for more inclusive public policy. Design/methodology The methodology draws on a “participatory video” project with recycling cooperatives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and documents the process, benefits, and challenges of using action-oriented methods and tools as an approach to build capacity for political and social change. The authors provide a step-by-step process of facilitating a PV project, its application for policy engagement, and some of the major dilemmas in using PV, including representation, power, and vulnerability. Findings The research findings conclude that the application of Participatory Action Research as a research method in social entrepreneurship, contributes significantly to build transformative capacity in participating members, in addition to creating new spaces for inclusive policy. Originality/value The research is unique in that it points to creative and transformative methods of engagement for inclusive governance, embracing multiple forms of personal identity, knowledge and creative expression in moving toward new solutions for equal opportunities and possibilities for change. Participatory video is argued to be an innovative avenue for the inclusion of multiple voices in these arenas, voices of people otherwise left on the margins. Participatory video is an approach that has the potential to transform the way we (local and global) move toward greater social equity, human compassion, and environmental flourishing.

Arts-Based and Participatory Action Research with Recycling Cooperatives

Worldwide, participatory action research along with arts-based methodologies has been applied in the context of marginalized groups to spark dialogue amongst participants with the ultimate goal of promoting social change. Here, we present two visual methodologies (Gossip Circle and Participatory Video) that we have developed as part of the Participatory Waste Management Programme (2006–2012) in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The stories shared by members of the recycling cooperatives affiliated with this programme illustrate the transformative potential these two methodologies embody to disrupt the status quo and engage participants in political conversations that affect their well-being.

Recycling Stories: Lessons from Community Arts-Based Process and Exhibition in Brazil.

How can we create meaningful adult education and engagement opportunities for people who work in the recycling industry in Brazil and suffer marginalisation? This question guided the development of a series of community arts-based workshops and public exhibits in São Paulo. In this article, we share the stories of two workers from the recycling industry (i.e. recyclers), and describe how they experienced the potential of art-making and public exhibits. We worked in collaboration with an environmental adult education organisation that aims to expose the recyclers’ realities of poverty, their difficult working conditions and their fight for greater visibility and social inclusion. The stories show how community created art exhibits constructed important visual meaning-making openings, attracted broad public attention and even provided income generation for those involved in the recycling industry.