This thesis focuses on the idea that food insecurity and access are real issues in the lives of many Americans. Simply stated, food insecurity is when a person does not have enough food to eat or does now know where his/her next meal is coming from. More importantly when looking at food insecurity is the realization that healthy, local food access is even more prevalent an issue – with increasingly more under-resourced individuals and families being food insecure and unhealthy at the same time. This thesis includes a literature review on diet and nutrition in the United States, a chapter on methodology, history of Bowling Green, Kentucky, where this case study is focused, the benefits of shopping at farmers’ markets, perceived barriers to shopping at those farmers’ markets, and suggestions for overcoming these barriers. Local, sustainable food is the hope for a future of planet earth. It is what nourishes and sustains lives. And, it should not be a privilege. Through researching the benefits and barriers to farmers’ markets, examining these barriers, developing suggestions for overcoming these barriers, and implementing as many as these initiatives as possible in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I have not only compiled a detailed thesis, but I have also been a small part of creating change in the food community in Bowling Green. This thesis can serve as a nationwide model and describes the way to overcome food accessbarriers in urban/rural communities.

An emphasis on citizen engagement, which has direct bearing on conservation and community organizations, is emerging within the corporate realm. Businesses are beginning to view local involvement as a strategic component of their corporate social responsibility mandates, suggesting that it provides win-win benefits in branding them as leaders in the field while advancing noteworthy causes. Concurrently, conservation groups are seeking to partner with corporations in an effort to diversify funding sources, accomplish much needed work and find creative methods for outreach to a “non- traditional” support base. This research explores employer supported volunteer initiatives, an emerging facet of corporate community engagement where businesses form alliances with community organizations to facilitate donation of staff time to carry out hands-on conservation activities. Using a literature review, a series of global case examples and data collected from key local (Ontario-based) conservation and corporate-based informants, this study assesses the challenges and opportunities associated with cross-sectoral collaboration while investigating the potential of employer supported volunteer programs to foster conservation stewardship. Respondents from both sectors face such challenges as finding or maintaining suitable contacts, organizing team volunteer opportunities with mutually beneficial outcomes and understanding each other’s frames of reference. Despite these hurdles, they also realize that employer supported volunteerism can raise awareness about stewardship and the importance of volunteerism in general, provide opportunities for enhanced collaboration and demonstrate leadership in the arena of corporate social responsibility. Collective experience from both sectors provides the basis to determine thirteen principles for effective partnerships. Accompanied by a set of best practices to forward conservation programs, these principles supply an essential “how to” guide for cross-sectoral partners to work together effectively. The implementation of these principles will assist in providing a stepping stone to tap more fully into the potential for joint partnership and even garner greater capacity for stewardship than could be achieved by civil society or corporate players alone.

An emphasis on citizen engagement, which has direct bearing on conservation and community organizations, is emerging within the corporate realm. Businesses are beginning to view local involvement as a strategic component of their corporate social responsibility mandates, suggesting that it provides win-win benefits in branding them as leaders in the field while advancing noteworthy causes. Concurrently, conservation groups are seeking to partner with corporations in an effort to diversify funding sources, accomplish much needed work and find creative methods for outreach to a “non- traditional” support base. This research explores employer supported volunteer initiatives, an emerging facet of corporate community engagement where businesses form alliances with community organizations to facilitate donation of staff time to carry out hands-on conservation activities. Using a literature review, a series of global case examples and data collected from key local (Ontario-based) conservation and corporate-based informants, this study assesses the challenges and opportunities associated with cross-sectoral collaboration while investigating the potential of employer supported volunteer programs to foster conservation stewardship. Respondents from both sectors face such challenges as finding or maintaining suitable contacts, organizing team volunteer opportunities with mutually beneficial outcomes and understanding each other’s frames of reference. Despite these hurdles, they also realize that employer supported volunteerism can raise awareness about stewardship and the importance of volunteerism in general, provide opportunities for enhanced collaboration and demonstrate leadership in the arena of corporate social responsibility. Collective experience from both sectors provides the basis to determine thirteen principles for effective partnerships. Accompanied by a set of best practices to forward conservation programs, these principles supply an essential “how to” guide for cross-sectoral partners to work together effectively. The implementation of these principles will assist in providing a stepping stone to tap more fully into the potential for joint partnership and even garner greater capacity for stewardship than could be achieved by civil society or corporate players alone.

Mineral projects in the global South have been subjected to increasing opposition, especially from adjacent communities, ultimately forcing some firms to abandon government-permitted and financially viable projects. Consequently, the mining literature has become saturated with prescriptions for firms seeking to engage with impacted communities. This literature is limited in that: it has primarily focused on conflict-ridden situations; the role of context has been largely ignored; and there has been little validation of what works and why. This thesis responds to these limitations through an assessment of the Canadian firm Kinross Gold at Paracatu, Brazil, where company-community relations have seemingly been healthy for years. Kinross has exerted considerable effort to engage with the community through several initiatives. While not all initiatives have been effective, community relations are strong, especially when compared to other foreign-owned mines in Latin America. However, Paracatu also boasts a diversified economy, and positive population and governance characteristics. This research shows that both context and company practice are important in determining company-community relations.

This thesis is an investigation of the multi-dimensional impact of disaster on community engagement with respect to capacity and vulnerability factors. The historic community of Goderich, Ontario, ravaged by an F3 tornado August 21, 2011, was the study population. A mixed-methods approach utilizing surveys, semi-structured interviews, and key informant interviews was employed in an effort to yield a more confident set of data and help facilitate understanding. Testing results revealed that the community was very aware of its capacities and vulnerabilities and utilized the disaster situation to affect positive change in these conditions. However, disaster itself was only found to stimulate engagement patterns in its immediate aftermath. Therefore, while disaster does not adversely affect community engagement, it also does not encourage sustained engagement activity. It does, however, stimulate extended associations of connection to the community, which may hold the key to long-term engagement motivation.

As the world shifts and changes, so do its people, and every day, more refugees are forced out-of-place, out of their homelands, and into a foreign and unfamiliar context. Many of these refugees are women, single mothers, who along with their children, are set to face many challenges in the process of re-settling into a new cultural landscape. This project is a study on how the design of an interior can aid in the difficult process of transitioning between lands and cultures. Within it, I explore the making of place through the design of a transitional residence for women and children refugees, set within the dynamic urban landscape of West Broadway in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I proceed through this project through an exploration of four conceptual frameworks and examine the project and its users in relation to movement and migration, to boundaries, to the contact zone, and finally to weaving.

As models and methods of educational pedagogy are altered by social media and digital technology, so too are the spaces where learning takes place. Creative education, particularly the education of design students, does not fit into the “typical” higher education classroom, and therefore requires a different physical setting. Despite changes in learning styles, there are many unchanged traditions and functions of the physical setting of design education. The lack of changes has continued to isolate architectural education from the real, urban experience of the city. This practicum aims to address these issues by proposing a satellite campus in an authentic urban environment for the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture students and teachers. I will investigate theories regarding emerging trends in higher education, the importance of place in education, and the process of educating designers. Throughout this investigation, emphasis is placed on creativity, collaboration, and flexibility in design education.

The land-grant university and the cowboy church are two social institutions designed to engage communities. Research is abundant on the former and limited on the latter. The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive report on cowboy churches, while identifying the potential for university-cowboy church collaborations and examining the direct implications to Cooperative Extension. Rogers' Diffusions of Innovations conceptualized this study and was employed to evaluate the acceptability of university-cowboy church collaborations. This basic qualitative study utilized a purposive snowball technique to identify key informants of the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches (AFCC). Ten subjects participated in semi-structured, face-to-face and phone interviews. Data were analyzed for common themes and patterns within the context of each of this study's objectives. Findings described cowboy churches affiliated with the AFCC, the interpersonal and mass media communication channels used by these churches, and subject awareness of Cooperative Extension. Conclusions and implications suggest university-cowboy church collaborations are an acceptable innovation, especially in the context of Extension collaborations. There are relative advantages for such collaborations, shared compatibility through each institution's mission, and ample opportunities for trialibility. County agents should initiate contact with cowboy church pastors and collaborations should be initiated regarding in information exchange, horses, livestock shows, and youth.

As the world shifts and changes, so do its people, and every day, more refugees are forced out-of-place, out of their homelands, and into a foreign and unfamiliar context. Many of these refugees are women, single mothers, who along with their children, are set to face many challenges in the process of re-settling into a new cultural landscape. This project is a study on how the design of an interior can aid in the difficult process of transitioning between lands and cultures. Within it, I explore the making of place through the design of a transitional residence for women and children refugees, set within the dynamic urban landscape of West Broadway in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I proceed through this project through an exploration of four conceptual frameworks and examine the project and its users in relation to movement and migration, to boundaries, to the contact zone, and finally to weaving.

As models and methods of educational pedagogy are altered by social media and digital technology, so too are the spaces where learning takes place. Creative education, particularly the education of design students, does not fit into the “typical” higher education classroom, and therefore requires a different physical setting. Despite changes in learning styles, there are many unchanged traditions and functions of the physical setting of design education. The lack of changes has continued to isolate architectural education from the real, urban experience of the city. This practicum aims to address these issues by proposing a satellite campus in an authentic urban environment for the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture students and teachers. I will investigate theories regarding emerging trends in higher education, the importance of place in education, and the process of educating designers. Throughout this investigation, emphasis is placed on creativity, collaboration, and flexibility in design education.