OTTAWA – When Senator KelvinOgilvie looked for taxpayer-fundedresearch projects that have demonstrablebenefit to the lives of children and youth,he picked seven projects operating withinCanadian universities.Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU)federally funded “Acting Together”Community University Research Alliance(AT-CURA) project was one of them.A small delegation travelled to Ottawalast week to present the highlights of ATCURA’sgang prevention research projectin a kiosk event hosted by SenatorOgilvie on parliament hill. The teamincluded: Dr. Gira Bhatt, project teamdirector and principal investigator; RobRai, Safe Schools department managerfor the Surrey school district; KPUundergraduate student research assistantJordan Buna; as well as Dr. Jason Dyer,KPU associate vice-president ofresearch. The event was coordinated inpartnership with ResearchImpact, a networkthat connects researchers with peopleand organizations seeking sustainablesolutions to social, environmental, economicand cultural challenges.About 100 parliamentarians, parliamentarystaff and bureaucrats visited the ATCURAkiosk to learn about the community-engaging research project that targetsprevention of youth involvement inviolence and criminal gangs.Instead of focusing on risk factors anddeficits of vulnerable youth, AT-CURAresearchers surveyed 421 high school studentsto examine their characterstrengths, social connections, beliefsabout crimes and several other aspects ofyouth life. The team has now identifiedprotective factors that likely keep youthaway from violence and possible involvementin gangs.“Instead of pointing fingersat parents, at teachers, at police andpolicy makers for the youth involvementin criminal gang activities, let’s work together to pull in ourexpertise, resources and wisdomto ensure that we keep our youthprotected from the lures ofgangster lifestyle,” says Dr.Bhatt. The impact and benefitsof the AT-CURA project arereflected in a series of strengthbasedactivities for youth. Over150 at-risk youth have participatedin community gardening, and21 have developed employablevideo and digital skills.Additionally, the project broughttogether eight of MetroVancouver’s police agencies and14 Sikh temple leaders, alongwith youth members, to developaction plans for youth gang preventionlast fall. B.C.’s anti-gangpolice agency CFSEU-BC hasbased its gang-prevention mediacampaign in part on the researchresults of the project, and theCity of Surrey created gang-preventionhandbills for parentswith evidence-based informationprovided by the AT-CURAproject. “We use evidence-basedresearch such as the ones thatAT-CURA has provided todevelop our programs for youthin high schools,” says Rai. “Weneed local solutions to localissues as our B.C. demographicsand gang dynamics are quiteunique.”B.C. MPs Joyce Murrayand Elizabeth May spent extendedtime at the AT-CURA kioskand have invited the team tocontinue the conversation aboutthe project.
