Prototyping and Testing Evaluation Tools to Improve Wellbeing for Edmontonians

As an urban wellness project, Recover (City of Edmonton, 2021) works to connect and help people thrive in Treaty 6 Territory (Edmonton, Alberta). Long-term wellbeing and urban transformation is linked to feelings of ‘connectedness.’ Thus the objective of the internship project undertaken is to design, prototype, and test a toolkit (series of actions, activities, and communication mechanisms) related to evaluation, and tools that will help Recover understand how they can measure “wellbeing” via ethnographic methods. I will fulfill the organization’s short-term needs by working with applied anthropologists, ethnographers, and Recover team members, supporting, acting, and taking the initiative to analyze data gathered and produce a comprehensible information gathering and dissemination tool that will directly engage, impact, and support Edmontonians. My job will essentially be a ‘researcher’ and ‘data analyst’ who collects information about community experiences with our tool prototypes (according to COVID safety protocols in place). The expected benefit of this project is to support Recover’s efforts to center connection and create a deeper understanding about its importance as it relates to well-being. Improving connectivity and Edmontonian’s overall wellbeing will be critical following the pandemic.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jennifer Long

Student:

Partner:

City of Edmonton

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Public administration

University:

MacEwan University

Program: