Apprenticing With A Problem Grant Recipients
Check out what past Map the System students are up to!
Menstrual Inequality in Canada
Zeba Khan & Niki Oveisi
Team Free Periods Canada competed in 2020 and placed in the top 6 for Map the System Canada and went on to present at the Oxford Global final. Free Periods Canada used a systemic approach to understand menstrual inequality in Canada. After Map the System, the team pivoted to gain more understanding about the use and accessibility of Reusable Menstrual Supplies (RMS). Partnering with Alise, an RMS company based in Vancouver, Canada, team Free Periods conducted a pilot project and saw an increased interest in the use of RMS. The team used a survey to gather more information about user habits to inform some actionable steps that Aisle would use to increase access to RMS. Free Periods Canada wanted to share the information they gathered through the research and did that through a blog post, social media posts and a webinar.
Final Report & Survey Results Video
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2020
Is Canadian Charity Designed to Fail?
Ashley Dion & Jill Mah
The Mount Royal University team competed in 2020 and went on to compete in the Oxford Global final with the 5 other top Canadian teams. The Mount Royal team’s project “Is Canadian Charity Designed to Fail?” sought to understand how structures, mental models and behaviours impact the ability to solve problems in the long-term. The MRU team took the opportunity to dive deeper into the complexities of the nonprofit and charitable sectors through AWP funding. Through partnership with the Trico Changemakers Studio and Calgary Foundation, the Mount Royal team utilized storytelling to create an engaging 20-minutes documentary, Liminal, that featured 4 interviews with 6 subject-matter experts. Their goal was to gain more understanding about the challenges and failures of the old charity system. Additionally, the team was able to engage the audience of Liminal in conversation on social media by using storytelling as a different approach to understanding a system.
Watch the Documentary “Liminal”
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2020
Wildfire Education Program
Devan Parmar, Vanessa Sun & Joanne Nellas
Team Inferno participated in Map the System 2019 and were successful in winning the Global Map the System competition at Oxford University. The team remained dedicated to wildfire prevention and identified education as a key lever of change and gap within the BC systems. In collaboration with youth educators and the Richmond Fire Department, team FireSide Kids created interactive educational tools targeted at youth at 7-11 that could be done independently or brought into a classroom. All the tools are available on their website for your educational and viewing pleasure.
Wildfire Kids Website
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2019
Transit-Induced Gentrification
Emma McDougall & Kaitlin Webber
The team from the University of Waterloo competed in Map the System in 2020, achieved a top 6 spot and went on to compete in the Oxford Final. The UWaterloo team researched transit-induced gentrification and the effects of the newly installed Light Rail Transit that was built in Kitchener-Waterloo has on low-income groups. Moving forward with their research, the UWaterloo team updated their case study to include affordable housing and the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on housing affordability. The final deliverables included a published article in a peer-reviewed academic journal, preparation and submission of a short article to the Ontario Professional Planners Institute’s (OPPI) Y Magazine and audio-visual presentation to present at a virtual affordable housing symposium. The UWaterloo project created some movement around housing affordability and gentrification at the local and regional levels of government.
Links to Deliverables
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2020
Future Farmers
Sheldomar Elliott & Hansel Igavboa
Ryerson participated in Map the System 2019 and competed with the project focusing on the affordable rental housing crisis in Toronto. A piece of research that came up in their Map the System project was “‘The Challenge of Food Sovereignty for Black Farmers in the Greater Toronto Area” and the team decided to pivot towards this using their AWP funding with the help of community partner, Afri-Can Food Basket. The Future Farmers team is focused on building relationships with community stakeholders, including Black farmers, food growers, activists, and also to develop documentary series with Black youth in mind as their audience. The Ryerson team goal with the documentary series is to inform and educate Black youth on food insecurity and food sovereignty, amplify voices of the folks doing work to serve the community, to understand the causes of food insecurity in Black households. Additionally, the documentary series will be used as a resource that sheds light on the struggles of food insecurity in Black communities. The documentary series will be premiering in 2022.
Youth Homelessness in Vancouver, BC
Raisa Jose
The Corpus Christi team competed in both the Canadian and Global editions of Map the System 2020. The team project, Click to Connect, focused on the gap between youth without homes in Vancouver, BC and the organizations that provide resources to support individuals without homes. Using a systems approach, the team discovered there are only short-term solutions for homelessness. For their AWP project, Corpus Christi partnered with Employ to Empower for support on the Click to Connect, which aims to aid in the coordination and organization of youth-specific resources and connecting youth to these resources. The team is planning to build a website in order for youth to have better access.
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2020
Metlakatla Food Security
Braden Etzerza
The goal of this project is to increase food security for members and people in the Metlakatla region. In collaboration with the local First Nation Government, Etzerta planned to reintroduce food production on the north coast region of British Columbia. Over the past few months Braden has been working with Metlakatla to develop a food security sustainability plan, as well as a planting reintroduction plan. Due to Covid-19 the project implementation has had to adjust and in an effort to promist physical distancing Braden has installed smaller, more spread out gardening beds instead of larger communal gardening spaces.
Top 6 Global Finalist Map the System 2017
Flooding Crisis in Canada
Ali Alfossol & Bo Simango
Team Holocene from Memorial University achieved a spot in the top 6 at the Canadian 2020 Map the System final. Using the flooding crisis in Canada as their focus, team Holocene sought to understand the systems of disaster planning, preparedness, response and recovery capabilities for natural disasters. As a follow-up to their Map the System project, the team planned to create an awareness campaign, with Grade 12 students in Newfoundland as their primary audience, using a short webinar series.
Top 6 Finalist Map the System Canada 2020
MMIW Education in Canada
Sierra Shade, Payton Glagau
Team Kistoonon participated in Map the System 2019 and were successful in placing in the top 3 during the Map the System National Final and competed in the Global Map the System 2019 Finals at Oxford University. Team Kistoonons initial research was centered around the Missing and Murdered Indigeous Woman (MMIW) crisis in so called Canada. After competing in MTS, team Kistoonon pursued the AWP funds to produce age appropriate materials for school aged children to educate and empower them with the knowledge to combat the MMIW crisis. Team Kistoonon has been working closely with Elders, women and advocates with the Blackfoot Confederacy and Treaty 7 region to produce a documentary and teaching resources that could be used in grade 5-9 classrooms. In partnership with Indigneous community members and a teacher within the Calgary Board of Education, Team Kistoonon will premier their documentary and teaching resources in the classroom in early 2022.
Top 3 Finalist Map the System Canada 2019
Quebec’s Energy Transition; Waste Valorisation and Biogas Production
Jean-François Plante-Tan
Prior to the pandemic, Leplante was working diligently on the production of a 30 minute public education documentary on the barriers and public perceptions on Quebec's biogas transition. In an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses and diversity in the energy sector, Quebec has been investing in numbers of biogas facilities. In Leplate’s 2019 Map the System research, he found that there was minimal public engagement in the transition, much of which was due to the lack of educational resources available to Quebec residents. Due to the pandemic, Leplante is no longer able conduct in-person interviews and will now be producing a 20 minute video essay. The goal of the video essay is to provide enough context, research and locally relevant content to allow viewers to decide for themselves if and when biogas is a good solution to reducing GHG emissions in Quebec. An online screening and panel discussion will be held in fall of 2020.
Top 3 Finalist Map the System Canada 2019
Mental Health Services for Racialized Youth
Stephanie Lam, Hussein Elhagehassan & Janani Ravikularam
In July 2019, Team Bridging the Gap ran a two day community dialogue event in Toronto. The focus of these events is to create a safe space for learning, action and collaboration for mental health organizations serving racialized youth in the Toronto area. At the event students, local youth and providers gather to deepen and broaden the understanding of the specific needs and factors related to mental health of racialized youth. Team Bridging the Gap also presented their findings and MTS research at the Canadian Institute of Planners Conference - Generation 2019. They will continue to work with individuals from Jack.org, a national mental health advocacy organization, to develop curriculum for their training modules related to immigrants/newcomers.