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From Research to Action: Four Theories and Their Implications for Knowledge Mobilization
Janet Mosher, Uzo Anucha, Henry Appiah, & Sue Levesque
York University
Janet Mosher is Associate Professor, York University, Co-Investigator and Co-Chair of the Knowledge Mobilization/ Communication Committee for ACT for Youth. Email: email@example.com
Uzo Anucha is Associate Professor, York University, Principal Investigator, ACT for Youth. Her scholarship, teaching and professional activities focus on promoting equity and access for diverse communities within local, national and international contexts. Email: email@example.com
Henry Appiah is an undergraduate student in English and Philosophy at York University, youth research assistant for NOISE & ACT for Youth and youth research aid for CITY (Collective Impact for Toronto Youth). Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sue Levesque has a long-standing personal and academic interest in community engagement and mobilizing. As the founding Executive Director of the York University – TD Community Engagement Centre she assisted with the groundwork and launch of the ACT for Youth project and is the Co-Chair of the Knowledge Mobilization/Communication Committee. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Abstract: Integral to both knowledge mobilization and action research is the idea that research can and should ignite change or action. Change or action may occur at multiple levels and scales, in direct and predictable ways and in indirect and highly unpredictable ways. To better understand the relationship between research and action or change, we delineate four conceptualizations that appear in the literature. Reflecting on our experiences as collaborators in a community–university action research project that set out to tackle a "wicked" social problem, we consider the implications of these conceptualizations for the project's knowledge mobilization plans and activities. The major lessons point to the importance of building capacity by nurturing collaborative learning spaces, of drawing many others – situated differently and with varied perspectives – into dialogue, and of embracing change within the project itself.
Keywords: Action research; Capacity building; Collaborative entanglement; Community dialogue approach; Community-University research; Knowledge mobilization; Positive youth development; Systemic action research
A rich literature exploring diverse conceptualizations and practices of action research emphasizes the importance of the co-creation of knowledge and its movement into action (Plumb, Collins, Cordeiro, & Kavanaugh-Lynch, 2008; Reason & Bradbury, 2006; Reid, Tom, & Frisby, 2006). Similarly, while there are multiple conceptualizations of knowledge mobilization, each reflects an express goal of ensuring that the research will have an impact, that it will make a difference (Nichols, Phipps, Provencal, & Hewett, 2013; Sá, Li, & Faubert, 2011; Levin, 2008; Bennet & Bennet, 2007). Drawing from our experiences in the Assets Coming Together (ACT) for Youth project, below we explore knowledge mobilization in the context of community–university action research projects. We delineate various assumptions and theories about how change happens, particularly within the context of complex, multi-layered, or "wicked" problems (Phipps, Jensen, & Meyers, 2012; Bennet & Bennet, 2007). In seeking to tease out these theories, we draw from Bennet & Bennet's (2007) conceptualization of knowledge mobilization as a process of "collaborative entanglement" (p. 48) and Burns' (2014) model of "systemic action research" (p 3).
The ACT for Youth project
ACT for Youth is a community–university research alliance that brings together academics and graduate students from several disciplines, youth interns, and some 27 community-based organizations, the majority of whom provide youth-focused/youth-led supports in Toronto's Jane-Finch community. The community site for the project is located in the city's northwest quadrant and close to York University (the institutional home of the project). In a recent evaluation of the city's 140 social planning neighhourhoods against an equity benchmark comprised of indicators of economic opportunity (unemployment, low income, receipt of social assistance), social development (high school graduation, marginalization, postsecondary education completion), participation in decision-making, physical surroundings, and healthy lives, the neighbourhood of Black Creek at the core of the Jane/Finch community received the lowest score (City of Toronto, 2014b). The equity gap is striking: whereas Black Creek scored 21.38, the highest ranked neighbourhood scored 92.05 (City of Toronto, 2014a). Significantly, 66 percent of residents in neighbourhoods scoring below the neighbourhood equity benchmark are visible minorities, leading the executive director of Social Development, Finance and Administration for the City of Toronto to conclude that "systemic racism is playing an important role in shaping Toronto's neighbourhoods" (City of Toronto, 2014b). As these scores reveal, the Jane-Finch community faces the structural challenges of poverty, social marginalization, and racism. The neighbourhood has also been widely depicted in the media as rife with violence, guns, and gangs; youth living in the neighbourhood have been depicted as "problems" who pose "risks" (Janes, Ibhawoh, Razack, & Gilbert, 2014). This depiction fuels deeply troubling stereotypes that shape and limit young people's opportunities (McMurtry & Curling, 2008; Mosher, 2008). Youth in the ACT for Youth project have vigorously contested this one-dimensional and often sensationalized depiction, and have rendered visible the community's many strengths, their own capacities, and their deep affection for their neighbourhoods.
The project expressly seeks to challenge an existing "deficient" and "risk"-based framing of youth and to draw from, and instill, a positive youth development (PYD) perspective that promotes youth assets (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013; Levac, 2013). The PYD perspective challenges the "youth as problems" model and encourages the development of research, programs, and policies that create pathways to these assets within communities. ACT for Youth integrated this perspective with a social justice approach, recognizing that youth in marginalized urban communities experience social, political, and economic forces, such as racism, sexism, poverty, zero-tolerance policies, and unemployment that are toxic to their well-being. The layering of social justice atop a PYD approach draws attention to the structures that impede the development of young people's capacities (Levac, 2013).
The ACT for Youth project proposed, most broadly and fundamentally, to facilitate the transformation of the Jane-Finch community into an asset-building community capable of supporting a PYD approach. Through a process involving more than 30 meetings with community organizations and a half-day community forum, more detailed objectives were identified: the generation of local-level data to educate various sectors of the community about the asset philosophy; the development of job training and job-seeking strategies for youth that promoted completion of high school and attendance at college and university; and the articulation of strategies to alter public discourse and the predominant media frames that foster the negative stereotypes that so profoundly shape the experiences and opportunities of youth (a framing that youth in the project named as a form of violence) (Ollner, Sekharan, Truong, & Vig, 2011). To further these objectives, five central research questions were developed:
- What assets do youth in urban communities have and what are the possible ways that communities can increase their development using socializing systems within the community, including the family, neighbourhood, faith groups, school, youth organizations, and places of work? (Youth Survey Working Group)
- What are the perspectives of youth in urban communities concerning their needs and wellbeing? What are their perspectives on youth-on-youth violence, how do they understand and experience this violence, and how does it impact their life? What are their explanations for violence and how do they think it should be responded to? (Youth Voices Working Group)
- What are the diverse pathways of urban youth from high school into stable participation in the labour market? (Youth Economic Strategies Working Group)
- How can communities reframe the negative public discourse about youth to one that is supportive of positive youth development policies anchored in solid research evidence? (Reframing Public Discourse Working Group)
- How can we build a sustainable, equitable community–university research partnership that brings together a multi-sector alliance of community stakeholders (youth, academic scholars, and organizations from the non-profit, public, and for-profit sectors) to energize community assets that can support positive youth development within marginalized urban communities? (Program Evaluation and Monitoring Working Group)
Structurally, the project was organized to match these five questions, with a working group co-chaired by a community member and an academic assigned to each of the questions. The working groups, themselves comprised of academics and community members (including youth), developed the research methodologies best suited to answer their specific questions. The methodologies ranged from secondary data analysis, to surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, critical media discourse analysis, a photo-voice project and a traveling "speaker's corner." A research advisory group (composed of the co-chairs of the working groups), a youth-led sub-committee, and the full partnership group filled in other dimensions of the overall structure. In addition, a Knowledge Mobilization and Communication Committee (KM/C) was in place from the outset and, like the working groups, was comprised of community members and academics. One of the authors of this article is the principal investigator of the project and has participated in virtually all of the working groups, two of the authors have co-chaired the project's KM/C committee, and another has been a student intern with the project and actively involved in the youth-led sub-committee.
Conceptualizing action and impact
As noted at the outset, integral to both knowledge mobilization and action research is the idea that research can and should ignite change, impact, or action. Reid, Tom, and Frisby (2006) have argued that, notwithstanding the centrality of "action" to action research, the meaning of the term has received relatively little attention. "Action," they suggest, needs to be understood as multi-faceted and dynamic, operating at multiple sites and scales. Action or change may register at the level of the individual collaborators (both community and academic), in communities or collectivities, in policy or practice domains, or on the ideational plane (Plumb et al., 2008; Nutley, Walter, & Davies, 2007; Reid, Tom, & Frisby, 2006).
Beyond pluralizing the domains in which we might pursue, observe, and seek to measure change, we also need to attend to the question of how change occurs. As Burns (2014) has posited, "[i]f action research is a process which is designed to stimulate emancipatory change, then it is important that practitioners of action research … understand how change happens" (p. 5). Below, we delineate four conceptualizations of how change occurs, and then, drawing from our experiences in the ACT for Youth project, we consider how these conceptualizations might be mapped onto particular knowledge mobilization strategies. These conceptualizations are by no means mutually exclusive, nor are they meant to constitute an exhaustive survey of all connections between research and change. While there are some clear differences between these conceptualizations, and indeed some marked tensions, they are also interrelated in multiple ways.
Knowledge implementation
One approach, found in both the knowledge mobilization and action research literatures, posits a relatively straightforward implementation – the movement into action (be it policy or practice) – of research findings, understood as fixed and transferable. Temporally, change or action occurs at the end of the research process. No doubt in some circumstances, particularly where research findings are actively sought by those who have already identified a readiness for change, change is accomplished in this straightforward, linear manner. We might, as Molas-Gallart and Tang (2011) have suggested, look to see whether the research has had an impact by asking whether a stakeholder has done new things or done things differently: has there been a "productive interaction" (p. 219)? In this framing, a direct causal link is drawn between research and change. This approach is likely to work best for "bounded problems" with relatively clear solutions (Gamble, 2008). But even here, it may be necessary to "translate" research findings in order to make them accessible and relevant to the intended audience, a process that requires skill and know-how. In other circumstances, although the research findings may be accessible and point unambiguously to particular changes in policy or practice, a raft of factors often circumscribes the potential for change. These factors range from ingrained institutional practices, to costs, to cultural relevance, to other competing sources of knowledge, to purely political considerations (Levin, 2008; Dobbins, Rosenbaum, Plews, Law, & Fysh, 2007; Salsberg, Louttit, McComber, Fiddler, Naqshbandi, Receveur, Harris, & Macaulay, 2007). As such, strategies to move knowledge into action require anticipating these factors and, where possible, addressing them. It cannot be assumed that simply communicating research findings will have an impact or will generate change.
Capacity enhancement of collaborators
A second approach in conceptualizing how change occurs draws our attention to the research process itself and the potential to enhance the capacity of the research collaborators. Capacity building of the research collaborators is understood to be an integral component of community-based participatory research projects and is certainly acknowledged within strands of the knowledge mobilization literature (Reason & Bradbury, 2006). The notion of "capacity" is itself inflected with more particular possibilities, ranging from a narrow view focused on learning discrete pieces of knowledge or information, to the more expansive views characteristic of action research that include, for example, critical consciousness and empowerment.
In their work on knowledge mobilization, Bowen & Martens (2005) identify the new learning that occurs for research partners as an important conduit to impact. For community participants, this learning may include the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to research methodologies and the ability to critically evaluate research and purposefully question practice. For academic collaborators, learning may include new knowledge of the community, the appreciation of the varied perspectives and multiple forms of expertise of community members, and enhanced skill in establishing relationships of meaning (Bowen & Martens, 2005; Edwards, 2012). This mutual learning and capacity enhancement also helps to ensure the relevance of research questions, the quality of research instruments, and the likelihood that the research will result in changes to the practices or services of stakeholder participants (Sadler, Larson, Bouregy, LaPaglia, Bridger, McCaslin, & Rockwell, 2011; Plumb et al., 2008; Bowen & Martens, 2005; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005).
As suggested above, the possibilities are yet more capacious, encompassing political analysis and consciousness raising, finding voice, individual and collective empowerment, and leadership skills. Understood in this more expansive way, capacity building is linked to the liberation of consciousness and the possibility of not only individual action, but collective, political mobilization to demand from others – and to together create – change. In Reid, Tom, and Frisby's (2006) study with low-income women, for example, women spoke of their enhanced capacity to critique injustice and to be effective agents of change in their own lives and beyond.
Creating the spaces where these various forms of learning can occur and where these capacities can develop requires dedicated attention and resources. Both the knowledge mobilization and community-based action literatures identify the importance of early, ongoing and meaningful in-person dialogue and interaction in building the necessary foundation of trust (Phipps et al., 2012; Fenwick & Farrell, 2012; Molas-Gallart & Tang, 2011; Levin, 2008; Jacobson, 2007; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005). Establishing this foundation requires finding a way to move beyond skepticism (potentially held by all partners) and, in some instances, requires repairing a community's historically fraught experiences with academic researchers (Nichols et al., 2013; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005). Creating an environment of multi-directional learning in which all participants are open to new ideas, experience, and knowledge requires respect for diversity, explicit attention to how power is shared, and strong communication practices (Sadler et al., 2011; Flicker & Savan, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005). Values of participation, democratic inquiry, reciprocity, and empowerment are integral to the creation of productive learning spaces (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013; Paradis & Mosher, 2012; Sadler et al., 2011; Paradis, 2009; Reid, Tom, & Frisby, 2006; Flicker & Savan, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005).
A range of common challenges in establishing such spaces of learning have been documented, particularly in the context of community–university alliances; among them are differences in purposes, expectations, time frames, scale, and access to power and resources (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013; Sadler et al., 2011; Flicker & Savan, 2008; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005). In addition, particularly for large-scale projects with many participants and/or that extend for months or years, changes in membership that arise when participants secure new employment or when organizations shift their priorities can mean that partnerships are constantly being reconfigured, and relationships renegotiated (Plumb et al., 2008; Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, & Lewis, 2005).
Collaborative entanglement
A third conceptualization, while related to the second, deepens the theorization of knowledge co-creation, extending it beyond the research collaborators to include others drawn into conversation about the research. Rather than conceptualizing the intentional knowledge constructed through research methodologies as fixed and transferable, Bennet and Bennet (2007) describe a dynamic process in which the thoughts and behaviours proposed by researchers merge with and are altered by the thoughts and behaviours of others, including change agents and community actors. The intentional collision and interplay – not layering – of the expertise and perspectives of differently situated persons shapes what is "known" and by whom. Bennet and Bennet (2007) term these "mixing, entwining, and unpredictable associations" the process of "entanglement" (p. 18). Similarly, Fenwick and Farrell (2012) challenge a static concept of knowledge that is simply "mobilized," observing that as knowledge moves, it is "inevitably reconstituted with differently inflected meanings" (p. 3). In this process of knowledge construction, the boundaries of "producers" and "users" (or "production" and "use") are permeable and porous; change agents, community members, and others are as integral to the production of knowledge as are academic researchers, and all participants learn, benefit from, and, in some manner, "use" the knowledge of others. This conceptualization challenges the notion of separate domains of research and application, or of researchers and practitioners, that informs, for example, the first conceptualization explored above (Reason & Bradbury, 2006).
Integral to this conceptualization of "entanglement" is the notion of "collaboration," described by Bennet and Bennet (2007) as the facilitation "of the learning and sharing of knowledge through the conscious development of connections, relationships and flows of information" (p. 21, emphasis in original). This notion of collaboration offers, we suggest, a particularly helpful way of thinking about the construction of learning environments. In essence, it is collaboration that creates the possibility of entanglement. Important as well is the conceptualization of knowledge as "the capacity (potential or actual) to take effective action" (Bennet & Bennet, 2007, p. 24), a capacity that is created "whenever people are thinking, feeling, learning and interacting" (p. 19). Knowledge is active, not passive, the "source and energy of performance" that "builds and unleashes: ideas, energy, understanding, awareness, possibilities" (p. 27). Taken together, these ideas form a conceptualization of knowledge mobilization as a process (not an event) of "collaborative entanglement" (Bennet & Bennet, 2007). Conceptualized in this way, traces of impact or change may occur whenever and wherever ideas and thoughts are exchanged.
This understanding of knowledge suggests a particular theory of how participation in research may produce change. When people have the opportunity to come together, to share and debate ideas and learnings (including research findings), new knowledge – the capacity to take action – is produced. It is not merely that participants learn something more about research, or develop new capacities to use research (although these are important), but that the capacity to imagine new possibilities and to take action – to engage in new performance – is enhanced. The source of change is located not in the instrumental deployment of research findings but in the participants themselves. As Fenwick and Farrell (2012) suggest, knowledge may be more about empowering people and unleashing possibilities than the transference of "findings" or "innovations." In a similar vein, Reid, Tom, and Frisby (2006) observe that the seemingly local and isolated action of, for example, a project participant speaking to validate her experience of the world, may combine with life changes of others, and potentially contribute to structural or policy change.
Systemic action research
A fourth approach, building on the third, directs attention more specifically to how change occurs in relation to complex and seemingly intractable social issues whose roots are multiple and intertwined (Burns, 2014). Burns' articulation of systemic action research suggests the importance of a shift from a focus on "problems" to "systems." For Burns, a system is conceived as the "interconnections between people, processes and the environment in which they are situated" (p. 5), and it is these multiple interconnections and relationships that are the subject of inquiry. These connections and relationships are fluid and dynamic; change in one part of the system reverberates, often in unpredictable ways, elsewhere in the system. As such, we cannot expect change to unfold in a linear manner. Rather, change happens in "an iterative way – where one thing (or the interaction of many things) leads to another. This in turn interacts with new things, and creates new outcomes, and so the process goes on" (Burns, 2014, p. 5).
Burns' (2014) description of the discontinuous nature of change – of how, for example, problems may seem intractable, yet "[u]nder the surface, attitudes may be changing, innovations may be garnering support, and suddenly there is a 'phase change'" (p. 6) – combines with the notion of "collaborative entanglement" to suggest insights into knowledge mobilization. We might imagine constructing a knowledge mobilization strategy designed to maximize opportunities for contact – for sharing, interacting, and learning – between those involved in the research collaboration and a host of actors variously placed within the system of inquiry. As traces of impact proliferate, the potential that new ideas may catch hold is enlarged.
Our ability in this context to make assertions about a causal link between a particular social impact and a specific research undertaking is exceptionally limited. As Burns (2014) explains, while it may be possible to look back in time and observe causal relationships, it is impossible to predict them in advance, "because we cannot know how things will change with each iteration, and what choices will open up" (p. 6). Our traditional, linear, cause-and-effect models of thinking about impact need be jettisoned in favour of attention to the processes "in which knowledge and expertise circulates to achieve certain goals that are deemed relevant for the development of society" (Spaapen & van Drooge, 2011, p. 212). As Spaapen and van Drooge (2011) point out, ordinarily "in order to have impact you've got to have contact" (p. 213) between researchers and stakeholders. What follows from that contact is hard to predict, as research findings enter into the "dynamic process of actions and interactions between different stakeholders" (p. 213). But it is through these interactions that change and social innovation occur.
That impact may be unpredictable does not, however, signal pure randomness. Here, Burns (2014) offers us further insights. Significantly, he suggests that to facilitate system change, multiple simultaneous inquiries need be pursued, and later connected horizontally and vertically, to seek out patterns and to "enable learning to travel across the system" (p. 8). Such inquiries must involve people with differing – indeed divergent – perspectives on the issues. Although our inclination may be to seek out persons and institutions with similar values and interests, system change requires not that we neglect these connections, but that we move beyond them. It is when an issue, a story, or a framework "resonates" across differently situated groups that we have found the sweet spot, the real opportunity for system change. Burns' systemic action research approach, unlike much of the action research literature, embraces dynamic, rather than stable, group membership; a membership that fluctuates as connections or resonances are made between parallel inquiry processes and new lines of inquiry are opened up.
Similar ideas found in the developmental evaluation literature might also offer insights into conceptualizations of knowledge mobilization in addressing complex, seemingly intractable problems. Developmental evaluation proceeds from the premise that while the stepped and linear process of formative and summative evaluations works well in many contexts, it is ill-suited for complex system environments where social innovation is sought. The description of these environments as having a destination that is "a notion rather than a crisp image" and as having an unclear path forward (Gamble, 2008, p. 13) aptly applies to many community-based action research projects, Act for Youth included. What may be particularly relevant to take away from the developmental evaluation literature is the importance of embracing, rather than resisting, the reality that the path, the destination, and the players are constantly evolving. To embrace this requires ongoing flexibility (in project and methodological design, in partnership membership, and in knowledge mobilization strategies) and experimentation (an iterative approach). This insight is consistent with an understanding of action research as, itself, an emergent process that shifts and changes as research collaborators develop their skills and capacities in critical inquiry and knowledge production (Reason & Bradbury, 2006).
ACT for Youth and knowledge mobilization
The ACT for Youth project was framed by the "community dialogue approach" (CDA) developed by the principal investigator (Anucha, Dlamini, Yan, & Smylie, 2006). This approach, a species of the action research family, re-imagines research as a community dialogue and community engagement as a methodological practice. The six-stage CDA is centred on equitable collaborations with community stakeholders during all phases of the research process, from defining the focus of the research to dissemination and translation of the research findings. The CDA acknowledges the multiple memberships of community and allows for the inclusion of multiple voices by emphasizing multi-methods/multi-focal research.
The role of the Knowledge Mobilization and Communication Committee (KM/C) was initially understood to be that of facilitating dialogue within the partnership and between the partnership and a range of other actors and institutions. At the outset of the project, we imagined its role to be much like that of a traffic officer, keeping tabs on the planned knowledge mobilization activities within each of the research working groups, sharing information and ideas across the partnership, keeping a watchful eye on the distribution of activities over time, and facilitating the development of research themes that cut across multiple research working groups. Our thinking was embedded in a very linear track, assuming a logical procession of knowledge generation, "product" release or communication of findings, and an implicit assumption that change would follow.
As the project progressed, our thinking about knowledge mobilization evolved, and we embarked upon a more deliberative and strategic path. We devoted the better part of a day-long partnership meeting to the exploration of concepts of knowledge mobilization with a view to developing a shared conception for the project and crafting a knowledge mobilization plan. We identified maximizing opportunities for enlarging capacity – of both individuals and organizations – as central to the project's conceptualization of knowledge mobilization. Through the conversation, a variety of opportunities for capacity building were identified: the introduction to new skills; the development and application of existing skills in new contexts; the improvement of practices (individual and organizational); and the creation of space to engage with others, to learn and to share our learning.
We developed a template (attached as Appendix 1) that each working group filled in during the meeting to identify the key findings of the group's research and to match the following with each finding: the audiences that needed to know that finding, what the project hoped the audience would do with the finding, the approach or method most likely to engage each audience, the challenges and barriers the project might face in reaching each audience, the skills needed within the project to reach the desired audience, and our potential allies and partners. As each group reported back, we filled the template in on an overhead. From this, we identified common audiences, strategies, and skill gaps in reaching audiences. In the latter category, we prioritized the skill gaps needed to reach our audiences – or, to borrow from Bennett et al. (2007), the "integrative competencies … that provide connective tissue" (p. 70) – that had been most consistently identified by the groups. From this process, three integrative competencies were prioritized: the use of social media, critical discourse analysis, and policy advocacy. Our plan – yet to be fully realized – was to develop workshops (and here we envisioned youth interns developing and leading the social media and critical discourse workshops) that would be repeatable and scalable in each of these areas and to make them available not only to the partnership but to the wider community.
The plan that emerged bore elements of the first and second conceptualizations of the relationship between research undertakings and change discussed in the previous section. Consistent with the "implementation of knowledge" approach and its embrace of a linear progression of knowledge production and translation, the plan identified – but in a more systematic way than previously – the audiences we desired to reach and the barriers we anticipated encountering. Perhaps more significantly, the conversations had served to deepen our appreciation of the links between our research process, our project's goal of capacity-building, and knowledge mobilization. The project had recognized from the outset that the research process was integrally connected to the project's outcome (shifting to an asset-based view of youth); as such, youth capacity-building and the conscious modelling of an asset-based approach were key aspects of the project's design. Yet it was only later that we explicitly identified capacity building as integrally connected to knowledge mobilization.
In so doing, we shifted the temporal location of knowledge mobilization from a discrete, end-stage activity to an ongoing and embedded one. This evolution in our thinking about knowledge mobilization also reminded us of the importance of nurturing spaces for learning and capacity building not only for youth, but for all project partners. A mid-project reflexive evaluation of our project process that occurred a short time later confirmed that we needed to do more to nurture these spaces. While there were some positive examples of important learning across difference (especially in resolving tensions surrounding research instruments), both youth and community partners had not experienced equitable participation in the project and important learning opportunities had been missed (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013).
The community dialogue approach that frames our project emphasizes a commitment to an ongoing and active knowledge mobilization and communication (KM/C) strategy that targets both academic (including students) and community stakeholders (practitioners; policymakers; community members, including youth). Our KM/C plan targets these diverse audiences using multiple communication channels through both academic and community project members. Although the project has a KM/C plan, we have also been reflexive and flexible in our approach so we can take advantage of opportunities that unexpectedly arise. The culture and structure of ACT for Youth was created to privilege community and youth in the field of research. In addition to the dissemination activities listed in our plan, youth and community members have been heavily involved in the more traditional research dissemination activities, such as refereed publications and presentations. Community co-chairs, partnership members, and youth have been active in the publication, writing, and planning of academic journal articles, as well as articles more relevant to policy and programmatic affairs. The publication guidelines that we developed and adopted early in the partnership provided us with guidelines on how to equitably share the fruits of research processes.
From the many knowledge mobilization activities undertaken, we provide here a few examples to illustrate how knowledge mobilization practices might be aligned with the four conceptualizations of the relationship between research and change or impact. Consistent with the knowledge implementation approach were meetings with local schools to discuss particular findings. The Youth Survey Working Group undertook a survey of youth in grades 6–12 in five of the six middle and high schools in the community and in three high schools outside of the community that are attended by students who reside in the Jane-Finch area. The project mailed a total of 4,563 consent letters in nine languages to parents and students in the respective schools. A total of 1,756 students were granted permission to participate, of which 1,706 completed the working group's Survey of Student Resources and Assets. In the end, 1,592 of the surveys were usable. Data from the survey, which combined two frameworks for positive human development, offered a rich portrait of the assets and resources of youth in Jane-Finch, which helped the project understand the challenges youth face and the supports they engage to overcome them. A key finding was that youth self-reported a marked decline in their access to various assets (non-familial adult relationships and opportunities for community engagement, for example) as they transitioned from middle school to high school. Teachers were identified as a key audience who needed to know about these findings, and a Lunch and Learn series was settled upon as a format that would be accessible and conducive to dialogue. Very spirited discussions followed on the implications of the findings for success in high school and for youth pathways to postsecondary education. Consistent with the knowledge implementation approach, research findings generated through the project had been shared with a strategically selected audience who we hoped might do new things or do things differently.
A significant amount of activity focused on the second conceptualization, capacity building with youth participants. This goal was pursued in a variety of ways through the project: youth from the community were recruited and trained (though paid internships and summer community-based research institutes), with a view to building their capacities to undertake, evaluate, and utilize research; to assume roles as leaders and agents of change; and to imagine postsecondary education as a viable future pathway. Each working group had youth members, and as noted, a youth-led committee formed part of the overall governance structure. Youth participated in the design and implementation of various research instruments, analyzed data, organized a youth-led research conference, and blogged research findings (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013; Houwer, Anucha, Verrilli, & Wilkinson, n.d.). A modified "most significant outcome" evaluation of the internship program showed an increase in self-efficacy and self-awareness and a greater appreciation of possibilities for the future among the youth interns (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013; Houwer et al., n.d.). Access to previously inaccessible space (York University), relational and social networks that included graduate student research assistants, and engaged learning/research processes were key to these outcomes (Houwer et al., n.d.). These shifts in how youth think about themselves are fundamentally important impacts of the research process. The youth participating in the project also reported that the structure of the project was too top-down, and that they wanted more opportunities to take on their own research projects and to work more directly with academics. In other words, they showed that adults in the project were sometimes complicit in underestimating the potential of youth, and that issues of power require constant attention. This observation serves as a reminder that capacity building, like knowledge, flows in multiple directions through a variety of social processes.
Informed by the findings from the Survey of Student Resources and Assets, the project developed a research to action project: New Opportunities for Innovative Student Engagement (NOISE) for Social Change. The goal of NOISE was to pilot a model for enhancing the academic success of youth from the Jane-Finch community by providing them with engaged learning opportunities that energize and support their civic engagement and psychosocial well-being. The model was informed by research that shows that providing high school youth with expanded learning opportunities, which enable experiential learning in out-of-school settings and meaningful connections with adults and peers, can support school engagement and academic achievement (Harris, Deschenes, & Wallace, 2011). The first pilot of NOISE was in 2012/2013 with 40 Jane-Finch youth fellows and 40 social work student fellows who worked together in eight pods on community social action projects relevant to contemporary sociopolitical and socioeconomic conditions in the Jane-Finch community. An MSW graduate assistant facilitated each pod. The social action projects ground academic concepts in real-world contexts and allow the youth and students to learn from each other and from faculty. The NOISE model offers an innovative approach to mentorship and learning that differs from conventional mentorship models that operate within a deficit framework, whereby the mentor-mentee relationship aims to repair perceived shortfalls among people who are socially excluded. NOISE prioritizes multi-directional learning and accountability among all participants in the pod and recognizes that youth and students within a pod contribute important skills and experiences and mutually benefit from the multi-directional relationships. By bringing together youth from Jane-Finch and students and faculty from York, NOISE creates the space for relationships to form across difference, allows for knowledge of experiences to cross traditional boundaries, and gives the participants an experience of collaborative problem solving, shared power and decision-making. NOISE is now running for the third year, and in 2015/2016, NOISE will be piloted in another school of social work in another part of the province. An early evaluation indicates that NOISE has opened up learning spaces for the sharing of different perspectives, has facilitated civic engagement, and has enhanced psychosocial well-being (Houwer et al., n.d.).
While the plan envisioned a strategic and intentional drawing of others into the process, we were not explicitly working from an understanding of collaborative entanglement, nor did we have an articulated theory of how such interactions might produce change. Had we had this framing from the outset, we may have planned things differently, yet we do think some of the project's activities – especially those led by youth – offer some excellent examples of the change potential of collaborative entanglements. Significantly, the youth led subcommittee planned a number of knowledge mobilization activities, including a student led conference. For the conference (attended by some 300 students from local high schools), youth distilled the research findings into ten key messages that resonated most loudly for them. These messages, or as the youth described them, the "top ten truths about our community," included: We're NOT Who You Might Think; We WANT to Be a Part of Our Community; We LOVE Our Neighbourhoods; We DESERVE Opportunities for Thriving, Not Just Surviving; and We TELL Stories, We Make Change. They narrowed these to five truths for the conference T-shirts so that the 300 conference participants could all carry forward – literally on their backs – these key messages. The "Yell the Truth" contest, announced at the conference, was intended to draw youth further into an understanding of the research findings and also to engage them in the process by challenging them to find innovative ways to communicate these findings to their peers.
Both the conference and NOISE have brought significant numbers of young people, situated in a variety of social places and spaces, into the process of entanglement. While it is not possible to track a direct causal link between these entanglements and changes in policies or practices, at some future time it may be possible to make a few more modest claims. As Spaapen and van Drooge (2011) suggest, we might track (indirectly) the impact of research by analyzing the process – the many moments of "coming together" to discuss research findings – and what is "unleashed" or what transpires as a result. We might also claim, consistent with Burns' (2014) account of systems change, that as knowledge is shared and developed among an expanding group of participants, momentum may build toward embracing new approaches: ideas catch on; they build on each other, have an energy of their own, and precisely when, where, and how they will land cannot be predicted in advance. What might the impact be, for example, of 300 youths discussing research findings about their community for a day; of having new and positive frames on their T-shirts; or of seeing other young people as producers of knowledge alongside academics and graduate students?
Over the course of the five years of the project (2009–2014; extended to 2015), and consistent with Burns' (2014) description of systems, much was shifting in the complex social and political terrain in which the project was situated. In a modest way, but without a deeply informed systems analysis, the project responded to some of these changes. New actors were emerging, as were new interventions in relation to youth, and youth violence in particular. As debates, discussion, and advocacy around issues of race and policing were unfolding in real time, ACT for Youth added a new research project. A postdoctoral student in geography undertook a detailed mapping of the City of Toronto that compared police stops based on race (police use the categories of Black, Brown, and White) and the racial composition census tracts for Toronto. The finding of this project – that there were higher rates of stoppages of Black and Brown youth, particularly when they were "out of place" (in downtown Toronto, for example) – resonated with other project data and was highly relevant to an ongoing community dialogue on policing in Jane-Finch and beyond (Meng, 2014). In the summer of 2014, ACT for Youth was able to broker a collaboration with a research consultant who was hired by the Toronto Police Services Board to conduct a study on community–police relations in communities around York University. The consultant hired and trained 14 of the youth who are involved with NOISE to participate in a survey of 400 community stakeholders. The project provided them with an excellent experience in how solutions to local issues are developed. After the release of the project's report, they have been following the process of how research can be mobilized for action and change. They have become involved in tweeting and posting posts on Facebook about the findings from the report.
The systemic action research approach suggests opportunities for improvement in the design of the ACT for Youth project and its knowledge mobilization activities. There was scope for greater linkages between the research groups, more experimentation, and the active recruitment of a wider range of system actors with differing perspectives. There are, however, a number of factors that impeded this, ranging from the limited resources available to closely monitor changes within a complex system of many moving parts, to accountability to funders to undertake and produce what has been promised in applications for funding. Indeed, the mid-project evaluation highlighted a tension between the research plans set out in the project proposal and emergent project ideas from youth participants (Nichols, Anucha, Houwer, & Wood, 2013, p. 65).
Toward the end of the project, we found ourselves occupying the space so common to research action projects: out of funding and searching for a viable plan for sustaining the work the project had begun. We had hours of conversation about how to sustain the project's work. We debated the creation of a campaign, replete with glossy brochures and a pithy, catchy slogan. We considered how the project might build upon already established relationships with a broad array of community alliances and youth-focused initiatives that could continue the conversations about the research findings, their meaning, and their implementation. The creation of NOISE, described earlier, has thus far been our most affirmative answer to these difficult questions.
As we have discussed, the relationship between research and action or change can be understood in multiple ways. The four conceptualizations we have identified each offer insights into project design and approaches to knowledge mobilization. In some instances, particularly with careful attention to the audience to be reached, research has the potential to be moved into action in a relatively direct way, with predictable results. For many projects, a focus will be on building the capacities of the project collaborators. To do this well requires the conscious nurturing of collaborative spaces of productive learning (such as those created through NOISE). The concepts of collaborative entanglement and systemic action research suggest that, especially in tackling wicked problems, research projects must draw into the conversation a multiplicity of actors with varied (indeed divergent) perspectives and must themselves embrace change – in membership, in the focus of inquiry, and in methodology. These latter conceptualizations of the relationship between research and change suggest that while we can generate intentional knowledge through research, and while we can plan multiple opportunities to broaden collaborative entanglements beyond the partners to the research project, we ultimately cannot control – nor should we desire to control – the trajectories or the range of impacts of these entanglements. We can seed ideas, but how they grow, and what changes they ultimately spawn, cannot be fully known in advance or clearly traced retrospectively. We can design our research and knowledge mobilization processes in ways that maximize opportunities to develop the capacities of all participants to become agents of change, and this may be the most important legacy.
The authors, as members of the Assets Coming Together for Youth research project, acknowledge with gratitude the generous support provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
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Appendix 1
|Knowledge / Key findings
|Who Do We Want the Knowledge to Reach / Audience
|Function -- What would we want this audience to do with the knowledge?
|KM/C methods
|How will we most effectively reach this audience? What tool/method?
|Challenges and resources
|What obstacles might we anticipate and how can we address them?
|Time frame and act lead
|What is our time frame> Who will take the lead?
|What skills will we need to reach the audience? What is our plan to provide this skill training and to make the training known to our partners?
|Allies / partners
|Who will be involved?
CCSP Press
Scholarly and Research Communication
Volume 5, Issue 3, Article ID 0301161, 17 pages
Journal URL: www.src-online.ca
Received February 11, 2014, Accepted November 20, 2014, Published December 8, 2014
Mosher, Janet, Anucha, Uzo, Appiah, Henry, & Levesque, Sue. (2014). From Research to Action: Four Theories and Their Implications for Knowledge Mobilization. Scholarly and Research Communication, 5(3): 0301161, 17 pp.
© 2014 Janet Mosher, Uzo Anucha, Henry Appiah, & Sue Levesque. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Northern Ireland's Voice contenders will be hoping to wow Kylie Minogue once more in tonight's Knock-Out round.
Limavady schoolgirl Rachael O'Connor and Belfast salon receptionist Jai McConnell will perform uptempo songs in a bid to book their place in next weekend's live shows.
In a double bill this week, each of the four mentors will whittle their seven hopefuls down to three.
Rachael, 17, and 24-year-old Jai both set out to win Kylie over in their blind auditions and were thrilled to join her team.
And tonight viewers will see the pair try once again to impress her.
Rachael, the bookies' favourite to win, revealed she had finally succumbed to pressure. She added: "I chose a song I really liked – New York by Paloma Faith.
"It's a big song and I've always loved it. But during rehearsals, I started to realise how difficult it is to actually sing.
"I think the pressure started to get to me and during the performance the nerves got the better of me.
"When I finished singing, I was so disappointed I started to cry. I wasn't happy at all with how it went."
Rachael said watching the other members of Team Kylie perform had brought it home to her how much talent she was up against.
She added: "I hadn't really seen the others sing on their own before and seeing them up close like that made me realise what a tough decision Kylie had but also, how much I wanted it."
Jai said she also found the Knock-Out Round stressful. She added: "We were all on the stage together in a big line, then three went to one side, three to another and one stayed in the middle.
"We had to stand there and watch each other sing. It was exciting but also very nerve-wracking."
Jai, who had taken ill earlier on in the competition, chose Scissor Sisters hit Take Your Mama Out as her Knock-Out song and said she felt her performance was "OK".
She added: "I had to try and dance in stilettos, which wasn't easy. And to be honest, I was exhausted from having had the flu. I know I could have done better but I enjoyed the performance anyway."
Tonight will see Kylie and Tom Jones shortlist their singers from seven to three. Then tomorrow night, will.i.am and Ricky Wilson will choose their final three.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Adopted children at greater risk for mental health disorders - CNN Children who are adopted may be at elevated risk for mental health disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity, oppositional defiance, major depression and separation anxiety disorders, according to a wide body of research. There's also evidence to suggest that children adopted internationally could have much higher rates of fetal alcohol syndrome, autism and brain damage, said Dr. Ronald Federici, a clinical neuropsychologist who works with adopted children. In some cases, "the kids coming from the Eastern bloc and other countries, they've been languishing in deprived, neglected orphanages without proper care or education. So they come here with years of institutional damage -- alcohol, drug exposure, developmental delays, neglect, abandonment and all these issues that were never treated there," he said.


text:
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text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 2:10 PM
Town Square
Medical pot club opens, against city's wishes
Original post made on Apr 21, 2010
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 2:10 PM
Comments (8)
a resident of Whisman Station
on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Open it in Campbell then..we all know it will not be 100% used by people who are ill.
Crime will increase!
a resident of Shoreline West
on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:54 pm
where do i get a membership? hahaha i am sure it will be open to the public. Get them out of MT view!
a resident of another community
on Apr 21, 2010 at 4:08 pm
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Apr 21, 2010 at 5:49 pm
DCS is a registered user.
I used to think that all "street drugs" had no medicinal value, until I read some literature about pain. Pain is very real, and affects people in different ways. Why do you think there are hundreds and hundreds of pain medication on the market? It is because everyone reacts to pain medication differently. One person might need drugs after surgery to relieve pain, another person might throw up the very same drugs, another person might take an NSAID (over the counter pain medication), and another person might take nothing. Nobody knows what type of pain another person is feeling, and judging people about their pain is the wrong approach. As a person with pharmaceutical experience, I would rather see medicinal pot distributed like other controlled substances.
a resident of another community
on Apr 21, 2010 at 6:39 pm
undrgrndgirl is a registered user.
GOOD ON YA Matt Lucero!!
To most of the above posters - GET EDUCATED...I don't even know where to start! Cannabis IS medicine. Dispensaries DO NOT sell to children (unless they have a proper recommendation AND a parent with them, just like when kids get prescriptions for ritalin and adderall (both amphetamines); nor do they increase the crime rate...NO drugs are 100% used medicinally - i mean really - let's get realistic here...Try reading Drug Crazy by Mike Gray, and just about anything on the NORML web site (especially the pages related to medical research)...and go from there!
Furthermore, none of you seems to have a problem with the sale of tobacco and/or alcohol around minors or caffeine TO minors...
YES on TAX AND REGULATE CANNABIS 2010!!
a resident of North Whisman
on Apr 22, 2010 at 3:06 pm
B.D. is a registered user.
I believe that safe and affordable access to medical marijuana will be a reality in a very short time frame here in Mountain View. The city staff is currently working on a compassionate ordinance to allow Medical Cannabis Dispensing Collectives in our city. And before Matt Lucero jumped in and made a personal decision to blatantly open a collective in spite of the ordinance. I was hoping to see this ordinance in June before the Summer break for the Council. Now I am not sure what to think as the city resources are now focused on this new development. Thanks Matt. I believe in your movement just not in your methods.
a resident of another community
on Apr 22, 2010 at 7:28 pm
rsteeb is a registered user.
Allow me to boil it down for you, Skippy/UGHH!!!: To keep Cannabis illegal while tobacco and alcohol are dispensed freely would be *MURDEROUSLY STUPID*.
ANY questions?
Web Link
Web Link
Web Link
-Richard Steeb, San Jose California
a resident of Jackson Park
on Apr 23, 2010 at 9:02 am
FamilyMan is a registered user.
The same people who are DISGUSTED with marijuana are the same people who use the more dangerous 'prescription' drugs that are far more addicting , have dangerous 'side-effects' and are sometimes deadly. Yet these 'prescription' drugs are sold at pharmacies. Why NOT control and regulate marijuana? I support the legalization of marijuana in a regulated form. TAX IT!!!
Burger chain Shake Shack to open in Palo Alto
By Elena Kadvany | 20 comments | 5,070 views
Couples: When Wrong Admit It; When Right; Shut Up
By Chandrama Anderson | 0 comments | 786 views


text:
To Speak Of Wolves will release Find Your Worth, Come Home on May 22 through Solid State Records. You can listen to the album's leadoff song "Hivemind," streaming here.
"'Hivemind' was the last song we wrote for the record," explains drummer Phil Chamberlain. "In fact, we actually wrote it in the studio after we were done arranging the rest of the songs on the album. We wanted a song that was fast and a little chaotic, but also short and sweet to open the record, and that became 'Hivemind.' Lyrically, the song is about coming from a broken home and wanting to make everything better, but you can't."
This is the band's sophomore album after their successful 2010 debut Myself < Letting Go.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Evolve Over Hate & Substream Music Press Present:
Find Your Worth Tour with TO SPEAK OF WOLVES, HARP & LYRE
May 6 Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
May 7 Lexington, KY @ The Aura
May 8 Goshen, IN @ The Goshen Theater *
May 10 Chicago Ridge, IL @ Bobby Mcgee's *
May 11 St Louis, MO@ Cicero's *
May 12 Joplin, MO @ Solace w/Harp & Lyre *
May 14 Wichita, KS @ Eagles Lodge *
May 17 Boise, ID @ The Venue
May 18 Centralia, WA @ Quesadilla Factory **
May 20 Camas, WA @ Revolution Room **
May 23 Las Vegas, NV @ The Sanctuary ***
May 25 Canoga Park, CA @ Cobalt Cafe ***
May 27 Albuquerque, NM @ Amped Performance Center
May 28 Amarillo, TX @ Vintin ****
May 30 Victoria, TX @ Downtown Bar and Grill ****
May 31 Athens, TX @ Church of Nazarene ****
Jun 1 Dallas, TX @ Sons of Herman Hall ****
Jun 2 Oklahoma City, OK @ Frontline Church ****
* With WOLVES AT THE GATES
** With FALLSTAR
*** With LIONS! TIGERS! BEARS!
**** With SET THE SUN


text:
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text:
Next doubles workforce at Abbey Centre flagship shop
Retail giant Next has created 30 new jobs at its new flagship store in Newtownabbey - part of a multi-million pound redevelopment at the Abbey Centre.
Letting agents Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) have also let out the former BHS store at the centre, following the administration of the chain earlier this year.
The new tenant will be revealed early next year, LSH said.
Abbey Centre's 43,000 sq ft two-storey Next store will double the number of people employed at the branch, bringing the total to 60.
Around 10 new retailers have opened in the Abbey Centre over the past 18 months, and work is also being carried out to extend the existing Dunnes Stores unit by 13,000 sq ft.
Retailers such as Holland & Barrett, Vogue and Argento have additionally increased the size of their units within the centre, LSH said.
The Abbey Centre is owned by London-based firm NewRiver REIT, which also owns Cookstown Retail Park in Co Tyrone.
According to LSH, NewRiver REIT has created 55,000 sq ft of retail space at Abbey Centre since buying it from Abbey Centre Ltd two years ago.
LSH and joint letting agents McMullen Wilson also announced that restaurant chain Nando's would open a branch at the centre in spring.
Criona Collins, head of retail at LSH, said: "Next's flagship store is one of the largest in Northern Ireland and the Dunnes Stores extension is currently under construction, with completion planned for next summer.
"Both of these multimillion-pound investments signal the confidence that Next and Dunnes Stores have in the centre and highlights New River's ongoing commitment to enhancing the overall retail environment."
Last month Next announced a deal with Northern Ireland coffee company Ground Espresso to include outlets in 50 of its stores across the UK.
The chain's Abbey Centre branch will employ 18 staff.
Ground Espresso currently runs 19 stores and employs around 270 people full-time.
Belfast Telegraph


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Funny polar bears - are touching, cute, small. Carry a symbol of love and kindness ... And very, very fond of sleep and easily create Christmas mood.
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Download Cristmas Bear live wallpaper.
Home screen - wallpapers - live wallpapers - Cristmas Bear live wallpaper.
Main menu - Select Cristmas Bear live wallpaper - Set wallpaper.
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appsmary part of our Personalization and have average installs from 5000 to 10000. Last Update Dec. 10, 2013. Google play rating is 82.6667. Current verison is 1.1. Actual size 2.0 MB.
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Lovely Bears HD Live Wallpaper4 Comments
4 Comments
Mary Komisarz
There's a picture a half a picture you can't move it you can see the whole picture matter what I do I can't get the whole picture everyone is thiss I checked and the same so that reason I do not care save the polar bears pictures I can't touch it to make an arborist or make sound but the whole point of the pictures I see the whole picture the whole play in the picture is baby to move it I can't move it. Realize what's a live about something if you can't move that makes a lot doesn't and I can see the whole
Melody Oconnor
christmas bears very cute and beautiful and the scenery is nice too.
Karen Zakowski
I like the Christmas bear alot
Cassy Ridley
Polar Christmas Lovely Xmas theme on phone.


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Churchill Cellars
in Pinot Noir Wineries, Chardonnay Wineries
Churchill Cellars specializes in the production of premium Pinot Noir from grapes grown on less than 2 acre estate vineyards. We believe that small, precision-farmed vineyards in the coolest regions of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
1574 Olivet Road
Santa Rosa, California 95401
United States
Review This Winery
Churchill Vineyards
in Syrah Wineries, Riesling Wineries, Merlot Wineries, Gewurztraminer Wineries, Cabernet Sauvignon Wineries
Churchill Vineyards is named Nevada's Only Estate Winery, making the most Nevada Wine made from Nevada Grown Grapes.
1045 Dodge Lane
Fallon, Nevada 89406
United States
Review This Winery
Claiborne & Churchill Vintners
in Riesling Wineries, Pinot Noir Wineries, Pinot Blanc Wineries
Claiborne & Churchill is a small, family owned and operated winery, inspired by the wines of Alsace, we specialize in premium dry wines.
2649 Carpenter Canyon Rd
San Luis Obispo, California 93401
United States
Review This Winery
(805) 544-4066


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Steelmaking reborn at Teesside site
Metal production is back under way at one of the UK's biggest steel plants, with the first usable slabs of iron due to be produced within days.
Photographs have been released of the blast furnace being relit at the plant in Teeside in the north-east of England, which was rescued from the prospect of closure a year ago by Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) of Thailand.
A gas lance was used to reignite the furnace in a special ceremony. The move will mark the resumption of steelmaking on Teesside following the mothballing of the plant in February 2010.
Around 1,700 workers are now employed on the site and the figure will increase to 1,800, similar to the numbers on site under the previous ownership.
Win Viriyaprapaikit, president of SSI, donned a white hard hat while attending the ceremony in Redcar.
He said: "This is a very proud day for us in SSI and for me personally. I believe that the investment we have made at Teesside will result in a very successful business which will benefit all of the stakeholders involved, including the local community and employees for generations to come."
Phil Dryden, chief executive of SSI UK, said: "I would like to pay tribute to all those who have made this day possible, including the stakeholders for their investment and the people who have worked so hard on the restart project. We now look forward with confidence to resuming the long tradition of steelmaking on Teesside and establishing SSI UK as world class steelmaker."
SSI bought the Teesside Cast Products plant from Indian firm Tata a year ago for around £400 million, rescuing the site from the prospect of closure.
Redcar will produce steel slab, almost all of which will be exported to Thailand.
A spokesman said: "Initially all the steel will go to Thailand but that is not to say in the future it will be sold on the open market if it is viable."


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Mood [Happy]
Currently Playing [Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts]
Day to night in one palette. Creamy smooth powder blends to a silky velvet finish. 6.4 g total net weight. Available in 3 shades: Not so Neutral, Plum Essentials and Starry Nights as of October 2014. Retail for $15.00 CAD
Day Look:
Apply a neutral shade to your lid, then smudge a slightly darker shade along the bottom lash line to create a subtle smoky look.
Take Your Day Look into Night in 3 Easy Steps:
1. Blend a slightly darker shade into the crease and outer corner of the eyes
2. Apply the lightest shade to the brow bone and inner corner
3. Smudge a dark shade along the top lash line or an eye liner effect. Use purples or blues to punch up the drama.
Avon eyeshadows have always been a hit or a miss for me and never anything in between. In the case of the new 8-in-1 eyeshadow palettes, these are a major miss in my books. Unlike the previous Avon eyeshadows that I have reviewed Eye Dimensions Eyeshadows & the Mark. Avon Colour Swing Mix It Up Eye Compact, this palette is anything but silky/smooth. While I do love the sleek compact design and the colour selections, the chalky-ness of the shadows are too prominent to ignore. Take a look at the swatches below:
As you can tell from the photo, the glitter shades are hardly visible. While the darker colours do have better pay off, they are not very easy to blend, thus, not possible to create a velvety look. The baby blue colour on the bottom row would have been my favorite because it's such an unique colour but too bad it's just not pigmented enough. On top with a price tag of $15.00 CAD, I think there are other better alternatives on the market for the same price.
Product (1/5)
Cost (2/5)
Ease of Use (3/5)
Packaging (5/5)


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By Mike Weege
Evergreen Fire/Rescue has been planning to build a training facility for years. Research of building types and locations began in 2010, resulting in a proposal presented to the fire district board early in 2012.
I encourage community members to base their opinions on accurate information. In our current political environment, both locally and nationally, accurate information can be difficult to come by. Please do your own research, gather the facts and listen to both sides of the conversation before forming an opinion.
The questions I am most frequently asked are, "What is the best bird book for this area?" or "What is the best bird book for identification? or "What book do you use?" Actually, I use three books most frequently.
Survivor: Elk Meadow Park
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Waldo, the well-known book character, Evergreen businesses are offering in-store searches for him.
Cardboard cutouts of the little fellow in the striped shirt and black-rimmed specs can be found while visiting 20 businesses and nonprofit organizations through the month of July.
Those who spot Waldo are eligible to win prizes, including buttons, books and more.
"The idea is to come into the stores," said Marcie Dahlen of HearthFire Books of Evergreen.
An elk cow chased two dogs and their owner recently while they were at the dog off-leash park at Elk Meadow Open Space. Because of the incident, the Waggin Trail of the park was closed for one day, said Jeffco Open Space Ranger Jason Hamburg.
"The elk was doing what elks do," Hamburg said. The elk was probably protecting her calf from the canines, he explained.
Although normally fairly docile, elk can be on the aggressive side in the spring and fall, Hamburg said. Calving season is in the spring and summer, and fall is rutting time for the bulls.
Wielding picks, rakes and shovels, Jeffco teens were hard at work building a trail at the Elk Meadow off-leash park on June 20.
"It's a challenge, but it's worth it," said Zackery Gillham, one of 80 members of the Trail Stewardship Team selected by Jeffco Parks and Open Space staff.
While Gillham chipped away at a stump in the middle of the trail-in-progress, Michaela Martinez was digging up rocks embedded in the dirt.
Cancer survivor Traci Rush is looking forward to the Mountain Area Relay for Life on Aug. 24 at Conifer High School.
"I just finished my second Relay for Life this past weekend," Rush said. "It is the most uplifting, incredible experience to go through … I loved it."
For Rush, being a part of the American Cancer Society fund-raiser is a celebration of the progress she has made in her battle against the disease, and a way of connecting with others who have faced similar struggles.
High temperatures and a lack of rain are taking their toll on the Evergreen water supply.
In addition to the water-use restrictions enacted last week, the Evergreen Metropolitan District is asking residents to delay large landscaping and gardening projects.
"I'd hate to have people spend money on landscaping and have it die," said Metro District general manager Gerry Schulte.
ARVADA — After a sloppy loss to Pomona in Game 1 of a doubleheader, the Evergreen Cougars summer baseball team bounced back to top the host Panthers with a somewhat unlikely player leading the way.
Lute Moss, who sat out most of his junior high school season due to injury, went 3-for-3 and pitched two solid innings en route to a 12-9 victory on June 24.
"I felt good pitching for the first time in a while," Moss said. "I'm just trying to get it stronger right now."
Copyright © 2018
Canyon Courier is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Evergreen, Colo, and the surrounding area.


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Smart Negotiating: How to Make Good Deals in the Real World
first edition
1992 · New York
by FREUND, James C.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. Fine/Fine. First edition. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Sticker on rear dustwrapper Light shelf rubbing to dustwrapper. Nice condition. Please Note: This book has been transferred to Between the Covers from another database and might not be described to our usual standards. Please inquire for more detailed condition information. (Inventory #: 225957)


text: It's never to late to start over. It's early again and I'm up at the crack of dawn, drinking some hot tea, doing some laundry and writing. It feels so good to be writing again. So what do I have to say today? It's never too late to start over. As I Read More


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Hi there!
Thanks for visiting Puget Sound Professionals. Here, we aim to bridge the gap between professionals and the community.
I'm from Tacoma, moved to New Orleans with my twin sister Amanda to attend Xavier University of Louisiana.
My first college job came as a junior. I was a production assistant at the local FOX station. Also while I was there I was an associate producer and eventually the stations first ever traffic reporter.
After several years at FOX I moved to NBC where I finished out my New Orleans TV career.
After 11 years of Big Easy living, I decided to make the move back home to Tacoma. I'm very excited to spend the next chapter of my life here. Let's share and enjoy all the great things this place has to offer. From Olympia to Seattle, and the areas between- please let me know of any events, festivals, meetings, marathons, cookouts, forums, restaurants,bars, theaters, people, concerts, plays, shows, parties, businesses or anyting happening in the area.
Susan Isaacs
CEO Puget Sound Professionals


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Auld Lang Syne – part 3on January 1, 2015 at 12:01 am
I put the Zombie Roomie Facebook page members through the classic groaners last night and today.
So they're ready to make a deal like Mini.
I had an idea for tomorrow's comic plotted out in my head and went to bed… only to forget it. I even thought to myself, "Nah, I don't need to write that down. I'll remember."
Now I have to try to remember or come up with something else.
Stupid brain.


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LINCOLN, Neb. – Arizona's Senator Jeff Flake recently stepped in alpaca poop and he should be regretting it now.
It appears that when he released his recent report "Tax Rackets: Outlandish Loopholes to Lower Tax Liabilities," he decided to use alpaca farmers as an example of waste and abuse. In his announcement, the Republican claimed "innocent alpacas" are being abused and used as a tax shelter. He pleads with his constituents to help him save alpacas.
Unfortunately, many in the survival industry see this for what it is: a hypocritical stunt to support his legislative agenda. And farmers are fighting back by accusing the senator of targeting hard working business owners, causing potential harm to an industry. Surely, the senator supports tax breaks for other businesses.
"Sen. Flake's accusations of the abuse of alpacas is disingenuous," said Bud Synhorst, executive director of the Alpaca Owners Association. "I am stunned that the senator would go on national television without all of the facts about the North American alpaca industry!"
Alpacas are raised in North America for their fleece, but in an interview on Fox & Friends, Senator Flake claimed the fleece industry "never developed." In reality, alpacas are still a relatively new livestock in North America, compared to other livestock industries.
The senator did not mention that the industry has been steadily growing in North America for more than 30 years. He stated that there are currently around 150,000 alpacas in North America when, in fact, there are more than 250,000, according to the AOA.
Synhorst said U.S and Canadian alpaca business owners are striving to build the highest quality herd in the world. Existing strong genetics, scientific breeding programs for genetic advancement, a DNA tracked registry program and superior breeding facilities have already given the North American alpacas a reputation of being the best amongst international judges.
According to the AOA, fleece has been a focus of alpaca owners since the industry began in the 1980s. Many people utilize their alpaca fleece on a cottage level and still many others focused on fleece by working to breed alpacas which produce high quality, finer fleece, which is what is desired by producers. Successful alpaca owners know the traits of the best quality of fleece and their focus is breeding animals to create top quality product.
Synhorst says that as the national alpaca herd continues to grow, the industry, through marketing, will build a higher demand for their unique fleece and a variety of end products.
He said Sen. Flake dismissed the idea that an agricultural business is something that people desire and seek. Alpacas are a business venture that people make a successful living from. When compared to other livestock, they are a safe animal for children to work with as well – the entire family can get involved.
"With his family's agriculture background, why would he launch an attack on the North American ag industry," questions Synhorst. "The ag industry is the backbone of America."
He also said it is a shame that during these difficult economic times, the senator cannot celebrate the fact that Americans are succeeding in a business that makes them happy.
In a statement the AOA said, "The alpaca industry is, in many cases, 100 percent American made from start to finish. In this economic environment, employees are being hired to work on the farms, creating jobs for Americans. Alpaca owners employ builders, veterinarians, farm managers, professionals who build and maintain websites, buy hay, straw, feed, tractors, donate to pay for research conducted at universities…the list goes on. The industry contributes millions of dollars through these things in addition to more than 40 alpaca shows at facilities throughout the country."
The recent National Alpaca Show, held in Denver contributed to that community. The upcoming Alpaca Owners Association National Fleece Conference in Sacramento, Calif. will do the same.
"Sen. Flake was unprepared to talk about the tax code as it relates to the alpaca industry," said Synhorst. "He misused the facts by stating that alpacas were singled out. In quoting section 179 deductions, Sen. Flake was attacking small businesses and their capacity to deduct equipment and software. They are treated like any other livestock including cattle, hogs and sheep."
Business owners also receive no "special alpaca tax benefit." They have the same deductions as any other livestock or small business owner in America. These amounts can vary by state and even local laws.
"Why would a U.S. Senator attack small business owners when his own report was unable to determine the cost of the deductions?" said Synhorst. "Senator Flake, after over 16 years in Washington, D.C., hasn't apparently made a name for himself so he's grasping at ways to gain attention and is attacking small business owners in the process."
Alpaca may not be a mainstream livestock choice within American agriculture today and enjoy the recognition of traditional livestock, it is none the less federally recognized as livestock and continues to grow a national herd and develop.
Headquartered in Lincoln, Neb., the Alpaca Owners Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that provides the world's largest, internationally recognized pedigree registry, alpaca show system, judge training program, and an Expected Progeny Difference program. AOA facilitates education and marketing support to current and prospective owners throughout the world.
AOA's primary purpose is to maintain an official DNA validated genealogical registry system, administer a show system, provide education about the operation of sustainable alpaca businesses, promote alpaca ownership and related products and encourage scientific research to the benefit of the industry.


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Since LeBron James first entered the NBA ten years ago, fans have been waiting for him to enter the Slam Dunk Contest. Ten years on and they're still waiting. Well, it may be time to stop waiting, because according to LeBron, it's probably never going to happen.
James was asked Friday if he thought he would ever participate in the same competition that so many other legends participated in. His response?
"I'm getting older," he said. "It ain't looking good."
LeBron is 28. "I'm getting older"? Give me a break. Dominique Wilkins won the dunk contest in 1990 at age 30. Julius Erving participated in 1985 just weeks from turning 33. You're getting older at 28?
Granted, the dunk contest is more of a young man's contest these days. Even so, 28 is hardly old. If LeBron wanted to enter the dunk contest, he would enter the dunk contest, regardless of if he was 18, 28, or 38. He doesn't want to do it, probably because he only has one dunk in his arsenal (though that never stopped 'Nique from winning…). Maybe we should just stop asking him.


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A BACKPACKING Manchester graduate is recovering in a Thai hospital after losing his leg.
Peter Doyle, who graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in September, had to have the leg amputated above the knee after a motorbike accident and is now recuperating in a Bangkok hospital.
His parents flew to the country to be at his bedside and have now spent more than a month with the 25-year-old, while a group of his friends are trying to raise cash for him when he eventually arrives home.
Peter went to Thailand in October after getting an English degree and studying for another qualification allowing him teach English as a foreign language, which he was planning to use when he moved on to China in March.
Peter, who had lived in Stretford for several years before making the trip, had met up with a group of friends and had been travelling around the country on a motorbike.
He had been unaffected by the Boxing Day tsunami, which killed tens of thousands of people in the region. In fact, he didn't even know about the disaster until several days later because he was in another part of the country at the time, and information had failed to reach him because of slow communication links in the area - in spite of it being major news in Britain.
He was involved in a crash several weeks later when his bike was in collision with a car.
Although he was not seriously injured in the accident, Peter developed blood poisoning because it took medical staff several days to transport him to a hospital in Bangkok, and he had to have his leg amputated as well as other operations including skin grafts.
His parents, who were on holiday in the Dominican Republic at the time, flew to Thailand as soon as they heard about the accident and have been staying in a Bangkok hotel near the hospital ever since.
They have told friends his condition has been "up and down" and it is not known when he will be able to return home.
Meanwhile, a group of friends have been trying to raise money to help him out on his return and have now made more than over £1,000.
A fundraising night was held at his old local, the Hopwood Arms in his home town of Middleton, and a charity football match was held at the Whalley Range High School's Vida Centre, where he used to play five-a-side games.
More than 20 teams took part in the event, which itself raised £560, and ex Manchester City players, including Peter Barnes and Neil Poynton, also got involved. Former schoolmate Ian Scullion, who helped organise the event, said: "I've been in touch with the family a few times, but it's difficult for him to talk because of all the operations he's had.
"His parents say he's been up and down a lot. They don't know when he'll be able to come back - it might be a couple of months but it's difficult for them to put a date on it.
"Obviously it's very upsetting but they're being very positive about the whole thing.
"We're just trying to raise funds because he won't have a job when he gets back and we know it isn't going to be easy for him.
"We've not put a figure on how much we want to raise, we'll just keep on going with it and the money will be there for him when he comes home."


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At first, this may look like your standard buffet makeover. Better After reader JoAnna found it for $10 at a yard sale, refinished the top, painted the body and changed out the hardware. But wait … there's … more. Oh yeah, there's more. Are you ready? Can you handle it? Look closely and you might be able to tell …
Boom! It's a patio cooler! What!? I know! Her cooler is cooler than your cooler. And it's way cooler than my cooler, which we use so rarely, that one time we discovered a dirty diaper had been in there for several months. I don't even know. But we stopped using that cooler.
But pretend I never told you that story, and let's look again at this awesome cooler:
***The Ugly Lamp contest is coming soon! Submit your original ugly lamp photo to enter! BetterAfter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp. Deadline is August 15th. More info HERE.***