Dr. Jim Robson began a post-doc with the CGRF in late 2010. His work through 2011 and early 2012 focused on exploring the public’s understanding of the phrase “common ground” as, locally, it is applied to several distinct and unrelated initiatives and concepts. Not surprisingly, he found that the term connotes diverse meanings for different people. As such, his work, published in the paper What’s in a name? The search for common ground raised a caution for those who might use the phrase to represent a given initiative or ideology without first defining what they mean by the phrase.
For the remainder of 2012, Jim co-authored research papers and an invited book chapter, all of which were published early in 2013.
Jim’s final research with the CGRF examined how different people and groups use the trails and off-trail lands on Tunnel Island.
Dr. Robson is now a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability.
A selection of Jim’s publications stemming from his tenure with the CGRF are listed here:
Robson, J.P., Sinclair, A.J., and Diduck, A. 2015. A study of institutional origins and change in a Canadian urban commons. International Journal of the Commons, 9(2): 698-719. http://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.548
Robson, J.P., Sinclair, A.J., Davidson-Hunt, I.J., and Diduck, A. 2013. What’s in a name: The search for common ground in Kenora, northwestern Ontario. Journal of Public Deliberation 9(2): Article 7.