University of Calgary
AC-9: Research and Scholarship

*See attached list

For the purposes of this inventory only full-time faculty members were considered (Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors) currently employed at the University of Calgary. Our six strategic research themes, part of the University of Calgary’s Eye’s High Strategy, were used to identify the researchers. For a department to be counted in the inventory, there must have been a researcher identified from the department within these themes. Only formal Academic Departments and Academic Schools conducting research were included. To determine if research was sustainability focused, related or not related a rubric was used. The rubric had four criteria: sustainable development, community, resource focus and dimension. Faculty research interests were pulled from department websites, personal websites and publications, and the rubric was applied. In addition to the rubric, a keyword search was utilized when looking at a faculty members’ research interests and specific keywords were associated with sustainability and sustainability-related research. Sustainability focused research concentrates on the concept of sustainability, including its social, economic and environmental dimensions, or focuses on an issue utilizing a sustainability lens. Sustainability research is a uniquely interdisciplinary field of research that crosses the realms of social issues, economic conditions and environmental health and problems relating to the challenges society is facing by looking at them holistically from a systems approach. Sustainable development may refer to the sustainable utilization of energy, food, water, land and other natural resources. In addition to these natural resources commonly identified, human capital as a resource was considered as well. Research into the development of these resources should consider at least two of the environmental, social and economic dimensions. Sustainability-related research may focus only on a single dimension. Environmental considerations include, but are not limited to, ecosystem services, climate change & adaptation, biodiversity, air & atmosphere quality, hydrology, water quality, renewable and non-renewable energy, land use, environmental design, agriculture processes etc. Social considerations include, but are not limited to, social equity, gender equality, personal & public health, community development, cultural and religious diversity, peace & human security, corporate social responsibility, intellectual growth and development, etc. Economic considerations include, but are not limited to, energy and resource management, policy and regulations, health economics, true-cost or triple-bottom line analysis, organization behavior, carbon markets, etc. In the context of sustainability research, communities are defined broadly. Community may refer to a rural or urban population, a specific industry or group of practitioners, indigenous peoples, vulnerable populations or ecological systems. When research is being assessed it should demonstrate tangible application to a community, actively engage and/or collaborate with relevant communities in order to optimize sustainable development. In the context of sustainability related research, it may not be seeking community engagement or application, however, it should be apparent that application of this research to a community may address sustainability challenges.

Academic departments and schools were counted in the research inventory based on the University of Calgary’s six strategic research themes. For a department or school to be included within the total headcount, there must have been a researcher identified in one of the themes holding an academic appointment in that department or school. These academic departments and schools identified were cross-referenced with information on each faculty’s website. From this list, any department with at least one researcher conducting sustainability or sustainability-related research was included in the headcount of departments conducting sustainability research. This approach, used to conduct a comprehensive research inventory, whereby departments or schools are identified based on researchers within, accounts for the difference in department number (49) listed in IC-3.