Map the System Canada 2023
Map the System 2023 was held virtually for the fourth year in a row. 4 teams will travel to Oxford and represent Canada at the Global Final.
Canadian Final
On May 12th, 6 teams competed in the the 2023 Canadian Virtual Final for an opportunity to advance to the in-person Global competition in Oxford.
Showcase Document
Get a glimpse of what Canadian Students are interested in! The Map the System Canada 2023 Finalists Showcase contains the visual systems maps and project overviews of all 14 Map the System Canada 2023 teams.
Top 6 Canadian Finalists
Leaks in the Pipeline: Barriers to Student Success in the Post-Secondary System
The post-secondary system in Canada centres "traditional students" who can study full-time at conventional universities without needing to miss class. This excludes people who live far from a university, who have caregiving responsibilities, who have to work full-time and those who have medical needs requiring many appointments, among others. The complexity of the post-secondary landscape in Canada, involving multiple provincial funders each with their own requirements, industry regulators, and the ways of teaching and learning entrenched in the academy make change difficult as change in one area may cause issues in another. However, we cannot content ourselves by declaring a system which excludes those who are different as "good enough," so this project examines how non-traditional students are pushed out of university and what can be done, instead, to support them.
Global Finalist
Beyond the Bedside: The Nursing Shortage in British Columbia
Amidst growing publicity, we began this project with our expectations of the nursing shortage heavily influenced by the media. After critically examining the desperate cycle of staffing shortages, increased workloads and nurse burnout, we’ve discovered how multifactorial the healthcare system truly is. Any change to the system, be it in solutions or exacerbating factors, has diverse impacts on all other stakeholders. Our interviews underscored the necessary reciprocity in the system; solutions must both reduce workload and increase the supply of nurses. It's difficult to comprehend 70h work weeks, yet, this unfortunately is the reality for some nurses, many with families of their own and who are not exempt from the economic and social realities of the province. Beyond the bedside, the nurses that we publicly praise for their dedication and resilience must also receive this same support internally from the very system dependent on their vitality.
Global Finalist
Places We Live: Saving Up Valuable Energy
The residential building stock in Canada is energy intensive and in poor condition, limiting our ability to decarbonize the overall economy and negatively impacting the lives of powerless renters.
During cold weather, particularly in Quebec’s largest city, Montreal, the demand for electricity for heating is causing energy scarcity and power problems, leading Hydro-Québec to plan for production expansion. Even if the hydroelectricity grid is considered clean, dam projects perpetuate settler-colonial development patterns and damage ecosystems. Hence, to achieve its complete electrification and help its Northeast neighbours become net zero, Quebec has pressure to optimize its residential electricity usage by renovating its building stock. Although the rental stock is predominant in Montreal where half of Quebec's population live, measures, strategies, and incentives targeting this segment are particularly weak.
Regenerative Agriculture and Gender Equity in Mexico
Our research examines the relationship between regenerative agriculture, gender equality, and sustainability in Mexico. The country is experiencing the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture, exacerbated by resource-intensive farming practices. To promote sustainable agriculture and address gender inequality in the sector, we focus on women's role in agriculture and the challenges they face, such as crime, patriarchal systems, and poor governance. Using a systems thinking approach, we explore the potential of sustainable interventions to improve conditions for women and simultaneously promote climate-resilient farming practices in Mexico.
Sexual Health Education in BC School Systems
Comprehensive sexual health education (CSE) is recognized as a human right, however, this right is not upheld in many BC schools. The challenge that our project focuses on is the delivery of CSE in BC school systems. The mental models underlying the substandard delivery of CSE are rooted in shame and stigma surrounding sexuality, as well as negative stereotypes, which have led to barriers impacting how CSE is taught. Root causes such as lack of teacher training and absence of resources have created a reinforcing feedback loop between shame and lack of sexual health knowledge. Our project aims to investigate the current solutions that attempt to tackle our challenge, and also propose interventions that can be implemented to break and weaken the reinforcing feedback loops within the system.
Global Finalist
Family Physician Shortage: A Canadian Healthcare Crisis
The shortage of family physicians is a Canadian healthcare crisis that affects approximately 6 million Canadians. As a team consisting of a family medicine resident, a postgraduate Doctor of Pharmacy Student, and a health researcher, we are passionate to investigate this issue on a deeper level through Map the System. From issues of limited funding for family medicine residency positions, to a lack of medical student interest in family medicine as a speciality, and high administrative duties, we were able to identify several root causes of this complex issue. By researching the existing solutions from the lens of local, provincial, and national initiatives, we were able to identify some gaps and levers of change to find potential solutions to this far-reaching problem.
