RESEARCH INSTITUTE for URBAN WELLNESS

Our Approach

Our approach goes beyond traditional research by actively involving local and global communities. As residents and community leaders, you are invited to participate in our studies and ensure that our research captures diverse urban experiences and needs.

Areas of research

Our research focuses on the interconnectedness of urban wellness in areas such as health, environment, policy and housing. The enviromental crisis and the pursuit of reconciliation and social justice are at the heart of our work. We focus on these issues through five key research clusters.

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Municipal policy and governance

We work with municipal governments to understand issues such as trust in public servants and city councils and to design projects that provide answers to local problems.
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Connections

Research explores the topics that unite citizens in urban settings, including collective societal goals or connections to community, land and nature.
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Education and communication

It’s important to identify ways to integrate urban wellness into education and to provide experiential learning opportunities related to urban wellness for students in communications programs.
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(Re)imagining

Through creative arts, we imagine cities of the future by thinking concretely about how we want our cities to look and feel in 15 years.
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Data and visualisation

Research examines ways to make data available at the city level to ensure that residents have the facts they need to help solve local issues.
There are so many issues in cities, such as social isolation, loneliness—real phenomena you can feel. Urban wellness is telling you it doesn’t have to be this way; it can be so much better.
Dr. Marielle Papin, Director

Types of research

Our work explores and promotes urban wellness through several academic fields, including political science, sociology, anthropology, urban studies and health sciences. Conducting both conventional and community-based research with students, stakeholders and partners, we aim to approach research with interdisciplinary perspectives and strategies. This allows us to more clearly understand how policy, community and social factors shape urban well-being.

Conventional research

Conventional research typically involves working with individuals who complete surveys or participate in interviews but do not take part in project design, data analysis or knowledge mobilization activities.

Community-based research

Community-based research involves working with local community partners who are involved with all aspects of the research process, from analyzing data to proposing research topics that are important to their communities.