Summary

La Table de quartier Vivre Saint-Michel en santé -VSMS- a pour mission de réunir les acteurs du quartier Saint-Michel (Montréal, Canada) afin d’œuvrer à sa revitalisation, à la lutte contre la pauvreté et l’amélioration des conditions de vie. C'est un mécanisme intersectoriel reconnu, regroupant des organismes communautaires et publics, des entreprises et des citoyens. Fortement ancré dans sa communauté, VSMS a adopté en 2020 un nouveau plan de quartier, avec l’ambition de mettre de l’avant un nouveau mode de concertation qui garde le citoyen.ne au cœur des choix dans ses espaces de changement: alimentation, habitation, réussite éducative, mobilité, et culture, ses projets\ -la serre quatre saisons, le projet SAVEUR et la maison communautaire- et enjeux\ : environnement, sécurité, sports-loisirs.\ Des acteurs impliqués dans le fonctionnement de VSMS et des acteurs associés aux espaces de changement ont été rencontrés. Plusieurs projets peuvent être mis en lien avec les enjeux environnementaux car ils sont traités de manière transversale, dont le projet SAVEUR de l’espace Alimentation, qui facilite l’accès à une alimentation saine et abordable, tout en favorisant la réussite éducative et professionnelle. Mis en place par un financement philanthropique, il mobilise\ l’agriculture urbaine\ et l’économie circulaire.\ Les résultats révèle que l’actualisation de la transition socioécologique est traversée par les besoins socioéconomiques de la population. Certains participants considèrent qu'ils seraient plus criants que les besoins liés à l’environnement. Ainsi, il serait difficile de traiter la transition dans un contexte de défavorisation économique, quoiqu'on observe que plusieurs projets menés par VSMS sont cohérents. VSMS supporte des initiatives citoyennes (corvées de nettoyage, jardins communautaires) et le projet de Maison Communautaire, un bâtiment carboneutre. Toutefois, la transition socioécologique ne fait pas l’objet d’un projet identifié et mené par VSMS. À notre sens, cela est cohérent avec l’intention d’intégrer l’environnement de manière transversale dans les différentes actions.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Summary

The current ecological crisis (combining climate and environmental crises) is an unprecedented global challenge that concerns all sectors of activity and all levels of intervention. The same applies to all the social crises afflicting our societies (denial of democracy, growing inequalities, exacerbated polarities, etc.). These crises call for a transition that must take place on all fronts, leading us to transform not only our ways of producing and consuming, or our modes of transport and housing, but also our democratic practices and our representations of the world (narratives). In short, the whole paradigm of how we live together is being transformed. So where do we start? How do we go about it?These changes can emerge from processes of local democracy and solidarity, such as those implemented by territorial community development initiatives, of which there are almost 300 examples in Quebec. We define these as more or less formal collaborative bodies bringing together third-sector organizations, the public and sometimes private sectors, and citizens in a given territory. By mobilizing local players, they target collective issues related to living conditions and quality of life, with the aim of carrying out collective actions in response to jointly identified priorities. At present, there is little focus on ecological issues, but initiatives do exist or are emerging around themes such as: public or active transport, short circuits, the fight against heat islands, local food systems, building conversion, mobilization against deforestation, etc.\ How have the efforts required to counter the ecological crisis been incorporated? How is their expertise in collective action to meet territorial needs being showcased? And, above all, how do collective workers, especially those trained in social work, play a decisive and singular role, depending on the particularities of each territory?

Keywords (separate with commas)

social-ecological transition, territorial community development initiatives, collective action, collective workers, concertation\ \ 

Summary

The research project aims to investigate the traumatic experiences marginalized individuals employed during the pandemic, and to develop a list of strategies to share with agencies in the area. It includes a survey to agencies to identify participants’ utilization of local support and challenges agencies faced. In addition, thirty individuals were recruited for interviews to discuss the challenges they faced and mitigations employed to ease the situations. Agency staff shared the challenges in maintaining an optimal level of service delivery and how the pandemic has negatively impacted organization’s capacity to assist the needs of clients. Some of the themes are staff shortage, funding cut, higher demand for services, particularly for first time users, and non-compliance of Covid-19 safety protocols.\ Thirty individual interviews revealed both primary and secondary traumatic experiences, from hospitalizations and close to dying, loss of loved ones, mental health illnesses such as anxiety and depression, to loneliness. Coping mechanisms shared by participants that mitigate the traumatic symptoms include a positive mindset, mindfulness exercises, seeking help, maintaining good health, social connections with family and friends, and community organizations. A report will be compiled to circulate among local agencies to share the research findings.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Trauma, challenges, mitigations, coping mechanisms, social connections, marginalized populations

Summary

Responding equitably to climate change justice requires examining the inequitable ways women, indigenous, and queer populations have been presented in climate change research. In this study, we use critical ecofeminism, queer ecology, critical Indigenous feminism, and postcolonial feminism perspectives that amplify the agency of women, queer communities, and indigenous peoples in conducting a\  scoping review of their struggles and challenges and the ways they have curated their knowledge and praxis within their ecological environment. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. This review focused on studies from 1995 to 2022. We used the following keywords “women” or “woman,” “queer,” “indigenous,” “LGBT,” “climate change,” “climate,” “environment,” “environmental,” “justice,” “impact” “conservation” and “ecology” with inclusion criteria of peer-reviewed articles, quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and systematic reviews. Articles were excluded if they were from the grey literature, such as dissertations, books, and conceptual papers. We used several search engines, including Google Scholar, PubMed, selected EBSCO, Medline, CINAHL, AMED, ASSIA, IBSS, and ISI Web of Knowledge. The preliminary search yielded 1,960 articles, of which 680 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final review resulted in n=24 articles. Findings reflect on categories of research on activism and social movements, local conservation projects, struggles over livelihoods, concerns for health and mental health, and collective identity, among others. Studies were represented from various global north and global south nations. We are at a critical juncture of environmental change; honoring and listening to the collective voices of indigenous, women and queer peoples’ knowledge will help promote a sustainable earth system.\ We recommend co-developing scientific knowledge by partnering with women, queer communities, and Indigenous peoples who have been stewarding nature for sustainability since time immemorial and can create bottom-up approaches to sustainable climate change, adaptation, and mitigation.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Climate Change, critical ecofeminism, postcolonial feminism, Women, Queer, Indigenous, LGBT, Marginalized populations, environmental justice, ecology, conservation, scoping review