Second round Sustainable Society Small Grants 2022 awarded

Five excellent proposals have been awarded a Sustainable Society Small Grant.

In our second round of Sustainable Society Small Grants 2022, we congratulate dr. Bettina van Hoven, dr. Caitlin Ryan, dr. Kristin McGee, dr. Rieneke Slager and dr. Seonok Lee. Read more about their research.

Dr. Seonok Lee (Faculty of Arts)

will be collecting data for a study of ‘accent racism in English teaching higher education.’ Her research will employ mixed methods including survey and semi-structure interviews to examine attitudes towards different accents in English of the university teaching staff members. The goal of her research project is to develop a more inclusive diversity policy and environment in higher education. For this, she will organize a public workshop at the end of the research phase.

Dr. Caitlin Ryan (Faculty of Arts)

receives a grant to disseminate research findings to stakeholder communities in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to do this in a way that is culturally appropriate, useful, and intelligible. The processes of ongoing land reform in Sierra Leone and Liberia relate to the wider research interests of the Sustainable Society, particularly to Sustainable Landscapes. Land reform in both countries aims to give more formal/statutory land ownership rights at the level of communities. This can make land governance more inclusive of women and youth, and will decrease conflicts. Land reform of the type being pursued in Sierra Leone and Liberia is a key aim of international projects and indicators, such as projects funded by the UN.

Dr. Bettina van Hoven (University College)

will produce and distribute a booklet about a participatory research project with marginalised (indigenous) youth in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. It showcases research on the alternative, active-based education ‘Streetfront.’ This is a unique programme which uses (marathon)running to build self confidence and positive outlooks on life, in particular for youth growing up in adverse circumstances. It includes 16 original and highly inspirational in-depth interviews with (indigenous) youth and teachers from Streetfront. The students have a history of addiction, poverty, broken families, murders, foster care, and more, but are also the largest group of teenage marathon runners in the world.

Dr. Kristin McGee (Faculty of Arts)

studies soundscapes in Groningen in an interdisciplinary context to assess how transformations of the urban environment impact both humans and non-humans. A soundscape is the total acoustic environment as perceived by humans in a particular context. Amongst other things, soundscapes indicate levels of local biodiversity. They also provide vehicles to assess the sense of well-being experienced by residents because of exposure to ‘natural soundscapes’ in densely populated areas. In a moment of rapid urbanization, coupled with diminishing green spaces, studying soundscapes offers a unique opportunity to understand how human-engineered changes can impact the health of both urban species and spaces in the city.

Dr. Rieneke Slager (Faculty of Economics and Business)

is collecting additional data in researching the effect of benchmarking corporate human rights.

Corporations are increasingly expected to ‘know and show’ the impact of their activities on the enjoyment of human rights by individuals. They are encouraged to do this by undertaking human rights due diligence and by publicly reporting on their human rights practices. However, corporate human abuse continues to be a challenge for global justice and social cohesion. With the Small Grant, Sustainable Society supports additional data collection efforts in this ongoing multidisciplinary research project. In the second stage the project plans to enrich the analysis with qualitative evidence from stakeholders involved with the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB); including companies, the World Benchmarking Alliance, investors, and human rights organizations. Using interviews and document analysis, it seeks to qualify the results from the configurational analysis. Approximately 25-50 interviews will focus on the methodology, experiences and usage of the CHRB by different stakeholder groups.