EVIANCE AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FUNDING TO LAUNCH NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJET TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 29, 2021

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Canadian Centre on Disability Studies Incorporated, operating as Eviance, is pleased to announce we are recipients of funding from the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Program, totalling $870,000 over 35 months. Together with community partners, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), ARCH Disability Law Centre, OCAD University, Ryerson University and St. Francis Xavier University, this national project will focus on closing knowledge and skill gaps in Canada regarding inclusive approaches to universal design for learning, instructional excellence, and student support with the goal of furthering the success of diverse students with disabilities in post-secondary education and decent work.

The United Nations and Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) was adapted in 2015, when Canada and 192 other United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This initiative is a global call to action that includes a focus on seventeen goals. The Government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Program Funding Program is focused on funding projects aimed at building awareness, increasing partnerships and networks, advancing research and furthering Canada’s Implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

“This project will help advance Canada’s implementation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 agenda by harnessing strategic partnerships (Goal 17), to build quality education (Goal 4), that leads to decent work and economic growth (Goal 8)”, said Cameron Crawford, Senior Data and Policy Officer with Eviance.

This project will bring attention and build Canada’s capacity at a national level. Eviance has been focused on inclusive education and decent work for individuals with disabilities for many of its 26 years in operation but this grant offers an opportunity to go deeper into the topic with strategic partners.

“We are thrilled to be able to collaborate with organizations, universities and thought leaders from coast-to-coast-to-coast in Canada. It is our hope that together we can: gain a deeper understanding of the issues facing students with disabilities in post-secondary education; share broadly current innovative practices, aligned with human rights and intersectional approaches, in post-secondary institutions; and, co-create solutions in identified gap areas that will advance these SDG goals together”, said Susan L. Hardie, Executive Director of Eviance.

This multi-year project will include literature reviews, environmental scans, data mining and analysis, and the development of two national social labs.

“We are excited to be a community partner in this work and to host the national social labs. These will be a great place for leaders to come together to explore the social issues surrounding these Sustainable Development Goals and innovate approaches that can continue to move Canada forward.” Dr. Melanie Panitch – Office of Social Innovation, Ryerson University.

For over 25 years Eviance has been helping Canadians with disabilities and their allies advance human rights through intersectional community-based research that is co-created with diverse disability communities and is committed to sustainable solutions rooted in action.

For more information, please contact the ED of Eviance – Susan Hardie, 204-960-4736, susan.hardie@eviance.ca