In a country which emphasizes authority and collectivism in their culture, how can an organization with strongly egalitarian and individualistic culture fit in and survive? The existing independent NGOs and government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) in China provide us a great platform to examine different cultures of these two types of organizations and their interaction with national culture. People talk about culture everyday, but as a researcher, I would unpack this whole concept into different dimensions to examine.

How can public legal education and information help Canadians get justice in our legal system? With the demand for publicly-funded or low-cost legal services far exceeding the supply, public legal education and information (PLEI) is filling an increasingly larger role in meeting the legal needs of people with modest means. Yet we know relatively little about how PLEI can help people deal with their legal problems. examines the effectiveness of PLEI in helping low- and modest-income people address their legal problems.

This project aims to provide much needed evidence to service providers and program managers working in the field of early childhood development (ECD). Early childhood programs are required to provide evidence of tangible outcomes to validate the impacts of their programs. Organizations, though, do not always have the knowledge, resources, or capacity to support such processes and the intent of gathering such evidence is interpreted differently depending on the individual sector.

The overall aim of the research is to increase the influence of citizens in governance activities in Vietnam through bilateral development assistance from Canada. The research will compare the Canadian and Vietnamese characterization of “governance” and “good governance,” notably how governance is conceptualized and measured. The research will document specific Canadian approaches to and international norms for engaging civil society organizations in governance processes, in comparison to Vietnam.

We want to learn about the video game “Get Water!” at the Linden School for Girls in Toronto with students between the ages of 10 – 14, from their perspective. This research will involve their teachers and parents as co-researchers who will be asked to keep a journal for two weeks about anything the girls may say directly about the game, or about global water issues or girls education, or anything the girls may do in relation to the game or water issues, for example research on the internet about water or girls education.

In 2009, the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) signed a self-governance treaty with the Canadian and British Columbia governments, the first to do so under the Federal-Provincial treaty process. The impact of obtaining self governance outside the Indian Act is, therefore, something that is important, not only for TFN, but as an example for other First Nations communities in British Columbia. This project will carry out an interview survey to determine the well-being of the TFN.