Evaluation of the Harris Centre's Applied Research Fund

This report was developed for the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial
\nUniversity to assess the impacts of the Centre’s Applied Research Fund (ARF). The evaluation focused on
\nthe first three rounds of ARF funding (2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08), as 2008/09 projects have not yet
\nbeen completed, however the latest round of projects are discussed in this report where appropriate. The
\nevaluation was conducted by assessing ARF’s impacts through the lens of the Harris Centre Evaluation
\nFramework. Findings were drawn from Harris Centre documents and ARF reports as well as from
\ninterviews and discussions with Harris Centre staff, ARF researchers and relevant external stakeholders
\n(i.e. community representatives, including government departments and agencies, community
\norganizations, businesses and business organizations, and individuals).
\nThe Harris Centre has a mandate to coordinate and facilitate Memorial University’s educational, research
\nand outreach activities in the areas of regional policy and development. The Harris Centre created the
\nApplied Research Fund to stimulate research activities relevant to Newfoundland and Labrador’s regional
\npolicy and development needs and opportunities by offering funding up to $15,000 to Memorial faculty,
\nstudents and staff to conduct such research. The Harris Centre also utilizes ARF to encourage researchers
\nto mobilize the findings from their work to stakeholders in the community who can make use of them.
\nARF has received funding from the NL Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (INTRD)
\nand the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). In the first four rounds, funding to ARF totalled
\n$100,000 each year. Consistent with the mandates of INTRD and ACOA, the Harris Centre places
\nemphasis on providing ARF funding to projects that seek to contribute to economic and rural development
\nin Newfoundland and Labrador’s regions (see Appendix E for project descriptions).
\nSince ARF’s inception in 2005, 31 projects have been funded (21 in the first three years; see Appendix D for
\ntable of all projects). Two additional projects were awarded funding, but were cancelled due to extraneous
\ncircumstances; with permission from the funders, the Harris Centre reallocated these funds to further
\nknowledge mobilization of other ARF projects (Appendix F). There were substantially more projects
\nawarded to males and Memorial faculty than females and staff or students; the large majority of applications
\nwere from males and faculty members, which indicates that the Harris Centre should address the marketing
\nof ARF so that it reaches and speaks to the other demographic groups. Gender parity was achieved in the
\nlatest round of funding (2008/09), so it appears that marketing has been corrected in this area.
\nARF funding is filling a valuable need by stimulating research that can assist external stakeholders in
\nmaking policy and development decisions in Newfoundland and Labrador. ARF provides Memorial
\nresearchers with funding for projects that address Newfoundland and Labrador’s regional policy and
\ndevelopment issues, contributing to understandings of the province’s unique context, needs and
\nopportunities. Many projects funded through ARF would not likely have qualified for funding from other
\ntraditional academic sources, because other available sources are not likely to support:
\n• NL-specific projects (which many other funders regard as only being of interest to a small readership),
\n• the collection of base-line data (which is crucial in providing context for planning, but may not have
\ndirect or immediate impacts in itself), and/or
\n• Research that crosses sectors (which is important for holistic approaches in policy and development).
\niv
\nARF also acts as a ‘seed fund’, in that once projects have received funding from ARF, researchers have
\nbeen able to leverage much funding from other sources. The fifteen researchers interviewed were awarded
\na total of $202,950 through ARF. Three of these researchers reported that the funding they received
\ndirectly led to leveraged funding of $5,215,000 plus in-kind funding, three researchers reported that ARF
\nwas helpful to them in obtaining more funding, one researcher reported that other sources took a greater
\ninterest in the project once ARF funding was received, and one researcher reported receiving $47,600 from
\nother sources for a follow-up project (see ‘Evidence of importance of funding to projects’, Evaluation
\nQuestion 3).
\nThe ARF projects funded between 2005/06 – 2007/08, provide context and understanding of Newfoundland
\nand Labrador’s unique history, needs and opportunities in regional policy and development. Some projects
\nset out base-line data on which further inquiries can be addressed while other projects investigated
\nassumptions, policies and practices relevant to management decisions. This evaluation categorizes the
\nARF projects by themes under Evaluation Question 2 and in Appendix E to identify the relevance of projects
\nto Newfoundland and Labrador’s regional policy and development issues. The six themes identified were
\namong Newfoundland and Labrador’s most pressing needs and opportunities:
\nA) Fisheries
\nB) Renewable energy
\nC) Natural resources
\nD) Economy
\nE) Governance and Community Organization
\nF) Culture
\nThrough ARF projects, Memorial researchers have developed expertise in applied regional policy and
\ndevelopment research and in maximizing the impacts of their findings by transferring them to external
\nstakeholders who can use them. External stakeholders have also developed expertise through the
\ncollaborations stimulated by ARF’s emphasis on applied connections to community needs and
\nopportunities. The expertise developed by researchers and external stakeholders were often viewed by
\ninterviewees as only incremental to their prior, substantial expertise. ARF had the most impact on
\ndeveloping expertise where researchers had little prior experience in applied research with community
\nrelevance and applicability. Overall, both researchers and external stakeholders gained appreciation for the
\npotential for academic / community collaborations and felt optimistic about seeking out future opportunities
\nfor collaborations.
\nFindings and reports from ARF projects have been widely communicated to external stakeholders through
\nan array of means. ARF’s requirement that applicants develop a Knowledge Mobilization Plan has
\nencouraged researchers to think about how they can deliver their findings to maximize the likelihood of
\nimpact. The Harris Centre has provided many opportunities for researchers and external stakeholders to
\nengage in two-way knowledge transfer, but should continue working to maximize dissemination
\nopportunities as outlined in the current Request for Proposals (Appendix C).
\nDirectly connecting changes in policy and practices to a singular piece of research can be difficult. Before
\nresearch is adopted and implemented by external stakeholders with capacity to affect change, there is often
\na substantial time lag in which knowledge is diffused and previous understandings and approaches in
\nsociety must be shifted. Despite these difficulties, it is clear that the findings from many ARF projects are
\nreaching external stakeholders who can make use of them – findings from many projects have been taken
\nunder advisement by external stakeholders and there is ongoing discussion between researchers and
\nexternal stakeholders on several projects. Several ARF projects have substantial potential for affecting
\ndirect change, and are close to realizing their full impact in economic and regional policy and practices.
\nAppendix E provides a summary of ARF projects (2005/06 – 2007/08) and their potential benefits and
\nimpacts. Some of the most notable of these are recapped below:
\n• Dag Friis’ design of a hull for a pleasure trawler boat will assist boat builders in Newfoundland &
\nLabrador in adapting to changing market trends, while maintaining a ‘home-grown’ feel and developing
\nv
\nskills within the province. The Glovertown Shipyard is prepared to begin building the hull once it is
\nready. (2005/06 ARF project)
\n• James Feehan’s report on declining trends of federal government presence within the province (in both
\nemployment and decision-making capacity) has been relied on by NL stakeholders (including the
\nprovincial government and the City of St. John’s) in applying pressure to the federal government to
\nrestore and improve levels of federal government presence. (2005/06 ARF project)
\n• Tariq Iqbal designed hybrid energy systems for the northern and remote Labrador communities of Battle
\nHarbour Island (2006/07 ARF project) and Port Hope Simpson and Cartwright (2007/08 ARF project),
\nbased on renewable resources available in each. The systems are being reviewed by stakeholders in
\nthe communities for feasibility.
\n• Trevor Bell’s workshop on the impacts of climate change on Labrador’s renewable resources increased
\nstakeholder (including government departments and local communities) understandings of the issues
\nand their capacity to develop strategies for adaptation. (2007/08 ARF project)
\n• Michael Wernerheim’s report on the conditions in localities necessary to support industries can inform
\ngovernment on how to maximize the likelihood of economic success through strategic placement of
\nindustries within the province. (2005/06 ARF

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