Exploring rural children’s perspectives of health and the built environment: A case study of Bruce County, Ontario
This session will explore recent research conducted by Emma Borho and supervisor Dr. Leia Minaker, at the University of Waterloo on youth perspectives of health and how rural built environments contribute to or hinder health. Youth perspectives have historically been undervalued in all sectors, including in planning and public health. Understanding youth perspectives on health and their surroundings can help to create better policies and plan for spaces more suitable to vulnerable groups like youth and children. The setting of the research is the rural community of Bruce County, located in Southwestern Ontario, about 1.5 hours from Kitchener-Waterloo and 2.5 hours from Toronto. Presented by:  Emma Borho

Understanding Mobility Behaviour of Immigrants in Metro Vancouver
The research responds to the mobility needs of immigrants in Metro Vancouver and proposes a framework responsive to the travel behaviour of immigrants as projected for 2050. In the long run, this work can potentially inform TransLink’s vision to support the region’s climate, sustainability, and equity goals as highlighted in Metro 2050. Presented by: Sayani Mandal

Creating a Bus Priority Implementation Framework for Metro Vancouver
This project looks at the physical and institutional barriers in the way of implementing robust bus priority measures on the 152nd Ave corridor in Surrey, BC. Through various research methods, our team has provided a visual guide for inserting these measures on a mixed land-use corridor with varying agricultural, suburban residential, and dense mixed-use areas. Presented by:  Alex Hailmann, Caroline Dunaux, Molly Barkowksi

Helping Flood Mitigation Projects Become Agile
There is an assumption that we can predict and mitigate flooding with carefully designed solutions, and therefore, long project implementation timelines are justified (Beekharry et al., 2016). However, climate change, as well as rapid urban and rural development, are modifying hydrological conditions, making flood risk less predictable.  This presentation will discuss the concept, methodology, and results of my research into how flood mitigation projects can benefit from flexible thinking.  How can we change the current culture of flood risk mitigation, which largely uses a waterfall project management framework, to one where flood risk is addressed earlier in the project timeline? Presented by:  Kimberly Bell