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Focused Efforts

NWP’s Centre for Community Enhancement and Social Innovation (CCESI) uses innovative research approaches to tackle complex social issues. By applying rigorous social science methods in partnership with our community and government stakeholders, we help policymakers, non-profits, and public sector entities make data-driven decisions that bridge service gaps and improve community programs.

 The CCESI has completed two Tri-Council-funded projects, including Civic Belonging in a Northern Resource Economy and Grande Prairie Police and Crisis Team Evaluation. Whether we’re conducting local program evaluations, engaging in large-scale partnered projects, or training the next generation of social science researchers, our team is committed to creating a more resilient and inclusive community through increased understanding, student research assistant opportunities, and work-integrated learning.
 

NWP’s Centre for Community Enhancement and Social Innovation (CCESI) uses innovative research approaches to tackle complex social issues. By applying rigorous social science methods in partnership with our community and government stakeholders, we help policymakers, non-profits, and public sector entities make data-driven decisions that bridge service gaps and improve community programs.

 The CCESI has completed two Tri-Council-funded projects, including Civic Belonging in a Northern Resource Economy and Grande Prairie Police and Crisis Team Evaluation. Whether we’re conducting local program evaluations, engaging in large-scale partnered projects, or training the next generation of social science researchers, our team is committed to creating a more resilient and inclusive community through increased understanding, student research assistant opportunities, and work-integrated learning.
 

NWP psychology instructor, Connie Korpan. NWP psychology instructor, Connie Korpan.

Office of Applied Research

Meet our Lead Researcher

Civic Belonging in a Northern Resource Economy

Learn about how we are learning, every single day.

Primary Researchers

Principal Investigator/Project Director: Dr. Connie Korpan
Researcher: Dawn Moffat McMaster

Background

“Our hope is that the young co-researchers will gain a means of contributing to social change and feel empowered by the experience.” – Dr. Korpan on the use of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) in the Civic Belonging Study.

This project represents the first regional use of the youth participatory action research (YPAR) approach. This Community Enhancement Research project will address the issue of low community connection and engagement among youth in resource-dependent northern Alberta communities. Lack of community connection and engagement is associated with higher instances of poverty and crime, lower levels of education attainment and other poor social outcomes. Young people are especially likely to report low connection and engagement, and recent evidence suggests that many people living in northwestern Alberta communities experience a relatively poor sense of place belonging.

Korpan, Moffat McMaster, and their co-researchers will perform interview research with engaged and disengaged youth in Jasper and Grande Prairie to identify factors that aggravate and mitigate community connection. They will use Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), which involves recruiting students and other young people in the community to act as co-researchers.

Objective

Identify the relationship between northern resource economy contexts and youth sense of connection, how this relationship affects youth decisions, and how, in turn, these decisions affect connection and belonging.

Expected Outcome

Furnish municipal leaders, social support funders, agencies, and service providers with evidence to inform funding priorities, identify service needs and overlaps, and to capitalize on existing community strengths.

Partners

  • City of Grande Prairie – Community and Social Development
  • Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta
  • RCMP Grande Prairie Detachment
  • Sunrise House
  • Jasper Community Team

Get in Touch

Connect with us about how we can help launch your research project.

Office: E401E

Campus: Grande Prairie Campus

Phone: 780-539-2078

Email: research@nwpolytech.ca