Democratizing public consultation processes: Some critical insights

Critical analysis of the Ontario government's Lands for Life public consultation process uncovers the myriad ways in which the government put forward an economistic construct of Crown land, privileging industrial interests over all others. By reflecting on how this process went awry, future consultation processes might be further democratized, such that they would stand up to ethical scrutiny. This paper details several prescriptive suggestions and reflections as constructive input towards democratizing future land use planning processes. Specifically, it addresses a number of considerations that might be taken into account when posing the following questions: Who should consult the public? Who should be consulted? What should they be as

Climate Change and the Residential Development Industry in Ottawa, Canada.

This paper is intended to inform discussions between industry and government policymakers in and beyond Ottawa, Canada about climate change and potential impacts on residential development regulations and corresponding industry practices. Ultimately, both private and public stakeholders must acknowledge the impacts of urban form on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and, conversely, the impacts of climate change on cities, for any meaningful progress on urban sustainability to ensue. Section 1 introduces the basic relationships between urban development and climate change. Urban form is directly tied to energy consump

Faith missions and church redevelopment in Ottawa, Ontario

In certain Christian denominations in North America, as church officials cope with shrinking and aging congregations, opportunities to repurpose church properties have come to the fore. Understood within an urban planning context, churches provide solutions to challenges faced by municipal sustainability planners, infill developers, and social housing providers. The following commentary focuses on Anglican and United Church activists in Ottawa, Ontario and their accomplishments in drawing attention to the possibilities for simultaneously rejuvenating churches, congregations and neighbourhoods. This paper spotlights an emerging social phenomenon: faith-based redevelopment of urban church properties, a topic not yet fully explored in the academic literature

The Impact of Sensitive Research on the Researcher: Preparedness and Positionality

There is currently limited research exploring the impact of undertaking sensitive or challenging research on the researcher, although some textbooks explore researcher preparedness. This article presents a discussion of the findings from a research project which engaged with the seldom heard voices of researchers themselves. The aim was to explore researchers’ experiences of undertaking research on sensitive topics, or with marginalized groups, as this can expose researchers to emotionally disturbing situations throughout data collection and analysis, which can be psychologically challenging. Although ethical codes of practice include discussion around protection of both the researcher and the participant, in practice, the ethics approval process rarely considers the impact of the proposed research on the researcher. Their experiences are therefore seldom acknowledged or heard, resulting in potential distress for the researcher. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with social science researchers from a range of discipline backgrounds and at different points in their research careers (n = 10). This article explores two themes emerging from the data: preparedness and positionality. It considers what these themes mean in terms of supporting researchers who encounter challenging research data, and issues related to supporting researcher reflexivity and the requirements for institutional support offered to researchers will also be considered