Thinking spatially
Eva Dodsworth is the Geospatial Data Services Librarian at the University of Waterloo (UW) Library where she is responsible for the provision of leadership and expertise in developing, delivering, and assessing geospatial data services and programs offered to members of the UW community.
Examining Tourism and its contributions to human flourishing and well-being
Multiple knowledge platforms have thus far emerged in tourism studies, yet one important knowledge platform remains under developed. A humanist body of knowledge is needed that explains what enables host communities to flourish, what encourages workers in tourism to thrive, and what characterizes optimal tourist experiences. The aim of building this knowledge platform is to establish conditions for human flourishing and well-being in tourism contexts and to outline strategies for building greater well-being of tourism stakeholders. In this way, Professor Filep is working towards developing positive tourism, principally grounded in well-being theories from positive psychology (the study of what makes life worth living).
A focus on transformative placemaking
A healthy community requires healthy connections, and healthy connections require quality places in which meaningful social ties can develop and thrive. Accordingly, Troy Glover, professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, director of the Healthy Communities Research Network, and member of the Placemaking Leadership Council of the Project for Public Spaces, focuses his attention on what he refers to as transformative placemaking, the creation of positive change for people and communities through the (re)shaping, (re)territorializing, and (re)making of community.
Pets and their implications for community well-being
Exploring the role of hosting friends and relatives in community integration
Tom's research interests revolve around visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel, specifically the experiences of immigrants in Toronto who host friends and relatives and the implications for individual and community development, as well as for tourism service providers and destination marketers.
The landscapes of everyday life
How important are parks, playgrounds, farmers’ markets, restaurants, or even streets and sidewalks to our quality of community life? Amanda Johnson's research endeavours to explore these landscapes of everyday life to understand the community-based meanings and perceptions associated with these places. Specifically, her research examines how people interact in everyday places to understand how these places can be managed to allow for everyday and practical uses by a diversity of individuals and communities.
Prioritizing urban nature
Women, leisure, and social justice
Diana Parry is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo. Utilizing a feminist lens, Diana's research explores the personal and political links between women's leisure and women's health, broadly defined. Her work privileges women's standpoints and aims to create social change and enact social justice by challenging the medical model of scholarship.
The role of youth in building healthy communities
Studying women in transition
Bronwen’s research focuses on the social determinants of health for women in marginalized or changing communities, including mothers, immigrant adolescent girls, and federally sentenced women.