Development for sustainable poverty alleviation requires engagement with the values and cultural frames that enable or constrain communities to steward ecosystems and maintain their capacity to support human well-being. Rooted in a social-ecological systems (SES) perspective, this thesis explores the concept of sense of place to understand how emotional and cultural connections to place mediate human responses to change and influence interventions for development. Sense of place is both the attachments to place, as well as the descriptive meanings to which one is attached. Paper I presents an approach and agenda for studying sense of place in SES that emphasizes place attachment and meaning underlying stewardship actions and responses to change. This is empirically explored through a case study on the Wild Coast, South Africa - an area with multiple contested meanings. In this former Bantustan (an area set aside for black South Africans), Apartheid created interdependence between small-holder agriculture and labour migration, where rural homesteads relied on remittances from migrant household members. Today, the contribution of agriculture to livelihoods has declined and many households rely on income from social grants. Interacting social and ecological factors in this region have resulted in social-ecological trap conditions and circular migration continues to be the pattern. Community conservation and ecotourism is one strategy for local socio-economic development. Papers II and III explore community tensions around a proposed nature reserve declaration. In Paper II, a focus on the meanings of locally-defined ecotopes (e.g. forest and abandoned fields) illuminates the interpretations of underlying social-ecological processes. Paper III examines the use of place meanings in narratives of change to show tensions in the discourse of win-win conservation. The stalling of this particular intervention indicates the importance of engaging with multiple meanings of place and the cultural importance of nature. Papers IV and V focus on declining agriculture and continued labour migration. From a theoretical model of people’s abilities, desires and opportunities, Paper IV develops a typology of responses that may contribute to maintaining or resolving social-ecological traps. For this case study, the model identifies the mismatch between i) cultural expectations that frame the desire to farm, and ii) the decline in opportunities for off-farm income to support agriculture. Paper V demonstrates that these expectations are expressed in the idea of emakhaya (the rural landscape of home) as well as reinforced through cultural rituals. The paper identifies a place-based social contract between the living and the ancestors that helps to maintain circular migration and agricultural practices. This suggests that sense of place contributes to system inertia but may also offer opportunities for stewardship. Sense of place is socially constructed as well as produced through experience in ecosystems, and thus constitutes an emergent property of SES. The thesis demonstrates the use of participatory methods to produce an inclusive understanding of place and SES dynamics. The application of place meanings through these methods facilitates critical engagement with imposed interventions. Finally, the thesis shows that sense of place and culture are key for understanding inertia in SES and the capacity for transformation towards stewardship. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>

Education facilitates community involvement, participation, and acceptance, but not for students with significant disabilities who are taught in separate settings. The policy of separate education derives from arcane beliefs, limited research, and misconceptions that result in people with disabilities having choices made for them not with them. The All IN Pix YPAR asked six high school students with significant disabilities to photo document a week in their high school yearbook class. Each day after school, the students discussed a single photo using a modified photovoice method in structured interviews using the SHOWeD questioning protocol. After data capture, during a Zoom focus group interview, participant photographers picked 10 pictures and identified themes. Study district schoolteachers opted into the ALL IN Pix Gallery Exhibit Survey and shared their reactions to the images and student comments. The teachers found the exhibit impactful in providing a view of the students’ world, giving voices to students, and teaching the teachers more about the people beyond their disabilities. Students felt empowered in classes where they had choice in their education. Student participants became advocates for change over the course of the study. Recommendations for practice include, adopting students’ requests for experiential and choice driven instruction, incorporation of photovoice into individualized education plan development, club involvement, and teacher development. The All IN Pix YPAR study empowered student participants through self-advocacy and personal autonomy, which align to the study theoretical frameworks of empowerment education theory, critical disability theory, and the social model of disability theory (Kunt, 2020).

Using a youth-led participatory action inquiry and photovoice methodology, this study investigated the self-perceptions of Black girls in a suburban area of Northern California. The objective of the project was to explore the perspectives and lives of Black girls. It is through gained insight from their lived experiences that we can come to understand their needs and develop approaches to advance their own holistic empowerment. By gathering self-perceptions of Black girls using photovoice, the project aimed to inform youth workers, educators, and youth-serving organizations such as Magic Black Girls Leadership Institute (MBG) on how to meet the needs and cultivate developmental assets among Black girls. Magic Black Girls was conceived to empower young, Black women to create their own space to grow, become personally aware of their own worth, and stand in their own power. The findings of this study indicate a need for positive counterspaces in which Black girls can generate a counter narrative, gain cultural awareness, experience a sense of community, experience joy, and build skills of activist leadership. The developmental tasks of adolescence for Black young people are complicated by the added context of oppression and racial discrimination which makes it essential to recognize and take action to create supportive environment that nurtures the positive development of Black girls. Further, the findings of this study contended that the use of innovative, holistic youth empowerment strategies are essential in the formation of spaces dedicated to encouraging, enlightening and empowering of young Black girls.

Problématique et objectifs : Quels sont les comportements et les choix alimentaires d’un travailleur du secteur de la restauration rapide, continuellement exposé à des aliments majoritairement frits ou ultra-transformés? Peu de données sont disponibles pour répondre à cette question. L’étude de cas de la rôtisserie participante permettra de générer des données exploratoires afin de décrire les comportements alimentaires des employés et d’identifier les déterminants individuels, sociaux et contextuels susceptibles de les influencer. Méthodologie : Des entrevues individuelles intégrant des photographies d’aliments consommés au travail, prises par les participants, ont été menées dans une rôtisserie de type restaurant-minute. La grille d’entretien est inspirée du modèle socio-écologique de Zorbas et al. (2018). L’analyse des verbatims faite avec le logiciel NVivo combine une approche inductive et déductive. Des histoires de cas ont été produites pour chacun des participants afin de synthétiser les données. Une approbation éthique fut obtenue. Résultats : Un total de 17 participants, répartis en termes de genre, âgés de 18 à 53 ans, ayant de 6 mois à plus de 20 ans d’expérience à différents postes ont participé à l’étude. Tous les participants consomment de façon épisodique ou régulière des aliments ou des boissons en provenance des lieux du travail. La solution pour pallier leurs ressources limitées en temps, argent, compétences culinaires et au peu de motivation reliée à l’acte culinaire est de s’alimenter à partir de l’offre alimentaire en milieu de travail. Celle-ci s’avère être très accessible et peu coûteuse. La praticité, le goût, l’accessibilité et le prix des aliments sont prioritaires à la santé dans le processus de choix alimentaires de ces travailleurs. Les conditions de travail et les normes sociales contextuelles à l’emploi imposent aux travailleurs une pression supplémentaire à la consommation d’aliments au travail. Des attitudes ambivalentes y sont reliées. Conclusion : Un emploi en restauration rapide est susceptible d’exercer une influence défavorable sur l’alimentation des travailleurs. Ces derniers ne sont pas supportés dans l’adoption d’habitudes plus saines. Au fil du temps, le tout peut mener à des patrons alimentaires délétères pour la santé. Ces connaissances mettent en évidence le défi de développer des interventions pour les protéger d’un environnement alimentaire difficilement modifiable. Ces actions devraient agir sur l’ensemble des déterminants tant individuels que contextuels. / Context and objectives : What are the behaviors and choices of fast-food workers, those who are continuously exposed to fried and ultra-processed food? Few data are currently available. This case study of a chicken fast food restaurant aimed to describe workers’ food behaviors at work and to identity individual, social, and contextual determinants of influence. Method : Individual interviews using pictures of food and beverages eaten at work and taken by fast food workers of a chicken fast food restaurant was used. The interview guide was based on a socio-ecological model adapted by Zorbas et al. (2018). Analysis of verbatims was made with NVivo with an inductive and deductive approach. Case stories were written for data synthesis purpose. Ethics approvals were obtained. Results : Seventeen male and female fast-food workers from 18 to 53 years and working from 6 months to over 20 years at different positions participated in this study. All participants ate food or drank beverages from work on an occasional or regular basis. They generally are time and money constrained with few culinary skills and motivations. This leads them to eat food that is of easy access and cheap at work. Commodity, taste, accessibility, and price are more important than health in the decision-making process. Labor conditions and contextual social norms at work impose additional pressure on workers to consume food at work, despite ambivalent attitudes. Conclusion : Working in a fast-food restaurant is likely to exert an unfavorable influence on the diet of workers. They are not supported in adopting healthier habits. This can lead to unhealthy eating patterns over time. Those evidence highlight the challenges of developing interventions to protect people working in a food environment that is difficult to modify. These actions should act on all determinants, both individual and contextual.

Abstract Background: There has been minimal research conducted on the unique experiences of Black youth who transition out of the child welfare system, and as well as the factors that contribute to their success or failure to accessing housing. Purpose: The purpose of study is to explore the needs and experiences of Black youth using Critical Race theory, BlackCrit and Social Capital theory to better understand their experience accessing safe, affordable housing within the Greater Toronto Area after transitioning out of child welfare. Methods: Five Black youth were recruited using site sampling and snow-ball sampling to participate in an arts-based and narrative study. The data was then analyzed in a constant comparative method. Findings: The findings from this study suggest the following things: The emotional roller coaster of being in care, the importance of community and sense of family, youth voices in decision-making process, unpreparedness for independent living, the unawareness of housing options, youth definition of good housing, more resources are needed prior to departure of child welfare. Implications and Recommendations for Change: In light of the findings in this study, a number of recommendations are proposed for improving outcomes for Black youth leaving care and their access to housing. Below is a summary of recommendations: A. To focus on building and providing genuine relationships through a caring adult and permanency for Black youth in care B. Centralize and value the voices of Black youth in care throughout their post-care planning, policy development and research C. To address and respond to the unique experiences that Black youth with disabilities face within the housing market when preparing them for independence outside of the CWS D. To apply a Housing first Youth approach It is my hope that this information will be used to support policy changes and program development in child welfare and the rental housing market that can result in more successful outcomes for Black youth. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Comment un photographe peut-il documenter le quotidien des habitants d’un milieu dont il ignore les codes et les habitudes ? Comment doit-il procéder afin d’échapper aux stéréotypes qui figent leur image aux yeux du monde ? Ce mémoire mène une réflexion sur les pratiques que les photographes documentaires pourraient adopter afin de s’éloigner des codes de représentation dictés par la culture dominante et ce faisant tendre vers une approche du vécu plus directe. Le cas d’étude choisi est la population du bassin minier du nord de la France, plus précisément des environs de la ville de Valenciennes. L’objectif est de mettre en avant le quotidien et les spécificités culturelles de l’une des régions caractérisés de la France périphérique. La méthodologie choisie combine deux techniques, celle du photovoice et celle de l’entretien basé sur la photo-élicitation. Les données sont collectées directement auprès des quatre participants à l’étude. Le présent document mobilise des théoriciens des études critiques afin d’aborder notamment les notions d’idéologie et de représentation. Une collecte de données au plus proche des habitants permet de mieux les connaître et d’en savoir davantage sur leur sentiment d’appartenance à leur région et à leur culture, leur rapport à l’image, aux médias et leur représentation aux yeux du monde. 
 Ce travail permet notamment de réaliser que dans le bassin minier du nord, les habitants n’ont pas comme réflexe de se mettre en avant en tant qu’individus et voient plutôt la photographie comme un moyen de mettre en avant leurs occupations du quotidien. Cette recherche permet également de faire état de l’omniprésence de stéréotypes sur la région, point particulièrement développé dans la section discussion. 
 Le recul acquis suite à ce travail sur le terrain couplé à la mobilisation de connaissances théoriques offre une réflexion proposant de nouvelles manières d’appréhender un sujet et d’utiliser le médium photographique. / How can a photographer document people’s daily life in a region with specific codes and habits ? How should he proceed if he wants to escape the stereotypes freezing their image in the eyes of society ? This thesis is focused on the practices that documentary photographers can adopt in order to distance themselves from the codes of representation imposed by the dominant culture. The case study chosen is the population of the mining towns located in north of France, more precisely those nearby of the city of Valenciennes. The purpose is to highlight the daily life and the cultural specificities of one of the characteristic regions of peripheral France. The chosen methodology combines two techniques, the photovoice and the photo-elicitation interview. The data is collected directly from the four participants in the study. This paper mobilizes critical studies theorists to address notions like ideology and representation. A data collection close to people allows us to know them better and to learn more about their sens of belonging to their region and their culture, their relationship with the image, the media and their representation in the eyes of the world. In particular, this work allows us to realize that the inhabitants of the mining towns in the north of France do not automatically put themselves forward as individuals and rather see photography as a means of highlighting their daily occupations. This research also points out the omnipresence of stereotypes about the region. This find out is particularly developed in the ‘‘discussion’’ section. 
 The hindsight enabled from this fieldwork combined with the mobilization of theoretical knowledge offers proposition of new ways to approach a subject and use the photographic medium.

An all-of-society approach is foundational for increasing disaster resilience and creating adaptive capacity in the face of disasters and climate change. Youth participation within disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) is an inclusive strategy to engage youth in an all-of-society approach. While this is an emerging and fast-growing area of study, ingraining social inclusion in practice is slow. Through a series of four articles, this dissertation describes two separate qualitative studies exploring youth participation in DRR and DRM through the youth perspective. Participatory research methodologies dismantle power dynamics inherent in traditional research, and they are well-suited for research on youth participation. As such, our first study used Photovoice methodology to explore youth perceptions of youth capabilities in disasters, and to understand their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples of youth participation initiatives in DRR are scattered, necessitating exploration of the process of participation in diverse contexts and types of disaster events. We conducted the second study using case study methodology to explore facilitators of - and barriers to - youth contributions towards DRR efforts in the context of local flooding, tornado, and pandemic events in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This dissertation provides insight on how to promote youth resilience, capacity, and strengths in disasters. Based on these findings, we argue that a paradigm shift in DRR towards an asset-based approach is essential to implement youth participation in practice. An asset-based approach aligns with the capability-oriented worldview in youth participation literature and theories. The complexity arises in attempting to apply asset-based lessons from the literature into the traditionally needs-based orientation of DRR policy and DRM practice. More research is needed to document youth actions in DRR and to determine asset indicators to evaluate implementation efforts. This dissertation begins an important conversation around applying an asset-based approach to youth participation in DRR through the perspectives of youth.