The Industrial City in Transition:

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Saint John has played a significant role in the economic, cultural, and environmental history of New Brunswick and Canada.  In the nineteenth century, the city exerted considerable economic influence over an economic hinterland extending throughout New Brunswick, across the Bay of Fundy and around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (Wynn, 1981, Acheson, 1985).  Saint John merchants controlled regional trade from the well-protected ice-free harbour at the mouth of the 450-mile long Saint John River, and their interests extended from Liverpool to New England (Careless, 1969). 

By the mid-1870s, Saint John had railway connections to Central Canada and the United States, and the city had become a major disembarkation point for many trans-Atlantic immigrants.  Although claimed to be Canada's oldest incorporated city (1785), the city's contemporary spatial structure owes a considerable legacy to the industrial age.  Following a disastrous fire in 1877, the waterfront and central business district were redeveloped, and large warehouses replaced the small shops of the mercantile era.  High-density housing paralleled the railway line and altered the urban residential structure.  In 1893, an electric streetcar system replaced a horse-drawn street railway, and promoted the expansion of new suburbs like Simonds and Fairville.  Those who could afford to do so moved away from the downtown to upland locations in Mount Pleasant, overlooking the city to the north, or Douglas Avenue, to the west.  The railway also promoted residential growth in an exclusive suburb about 10 miles northeast of the city at Rothesay where “a country club atmosphere” flourished (Wallace, 1975: 20).

Beyond these broad sketches, our knowledge of the urban and economic structure of the city of Saint John, the range of unique neigbourhoods that evolved, and the growing suburban fringe, is limited.  For decades, sectarianism was a major fault line in social relations; there also were small minorities of Acadians, Jews, African Canadians and Lebanese Canadians.  We know that western Canadian grain gradually replaced wood as the city's primary export, and that the two world wars provided a significant stimulus to the region's economic and demographic base.  The shipbuilding industry was rejuvenated in these eras, and following World War II, a variety of large-scale industrial enterprises including: pulp mills, a sugar refinery, an oil refinery, and shipbuilding facilities, became the backbone of economic development in the city and surrounding region (Carleton University History Collaborative, 1993).  Industrial land use and infrastructure support had a major impact on municipal services, the tax base and the urban landscape.

Post-war urban renewal resulted in slum clearance, public housing development and, with the expansion of provincial and federal government activity, major investments in transportation infrastructure, education and health care.  The founding of a campus of the University of New Brunswick on a parkland site in the 1960s reflected the desire of the community to provide post-secondary education for local students.  Large but short-term projects, notably the expansion of the local oil refinery in the 1970s and 1990s, the building of a nuclear-power plant, and a multi-billion dollar shipyard contract to construct frigates for the Canadian Navy, supported a sizeable, skilled industrial labour force.

A downtown redevelopment scheme in the 1980s restored older waterfront buildings and linked the redeveloped waterfront Market Square complex (with indoor and outdoor malls, an exclusive hotel and a Trade and Convention Centre) to the historic city market via an indoor pedway system.  A major section of the downtown was also designated as a "heritage preservation" area (called Trinity Royal) to ensure preservation of the large collection of late Victorian buildings concentrated in and around the central business district (McGahan, 1982, 1999).  At the same time, many older, locally-owned retail and service firms went out of business, and major national and international retailers located to a low-density shopping area on the eastern fringes of the city. 

Nearby suburbs and several surrounding villages were amalgamated into the city in 1967, creating the largest city, by area, in Atlantic Canada.  Since then, suburban expansion has continued well beyond these municipal boundaries to the east and west of the city (Rothesay, Quispamsis, Grand Bay-Westfield).  A high-speed highway that divides Saint John's north end from the downtown core also permits more widespread commuting from more distant rural villages and hamlets as far afield as the Kingston Peninsula and Hampton (to the northeast) and St. George (to the southwest).

Despite its reputation as a blue-collar community, Saint John has played an important cultural role in both the province and region.  In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was home to the provincial law school, an influential group of cultural leaders associated with the New Brunswick Historical Society, the journal Acadiensis, and the Natural History Society; it was also an active site for commercial publishing.  The vibrant early twentieth-century cultural scene was capped in 1934 with the opening of the new provincial museum, dedicated to New Brunswick history, the visual arts and natural history.  The 1930s, with the work of Miller Brittain, Fred Ross and Jack Humphrey, was the beginning of a golden age of Saint John painting.  Although the Museum, private galleries and publicly funded programs supported the arts during the twentieth century, for the most part, the cultural scene in the region has been the preserve of amateurs and dedicated volunteers.  The most successful community-based cultural effort in recent years was the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the Imperial Theatre.  A more active francophone community also is contributing to cultural activity.

Like many former industrial cities in Canada, Saint John is facing many challenges.  These include: labour force restructuring, the decline of heavy industry, out-migration of the young, population loss to suburbs, low rates of immigration, and an aging public infrastructure.  Together with increasing municipal costs, a shrinking municipal tax base, and increased downloading of services from the provincial and federal governments, Saint John, like many other Canadian cities, is under serious fiscal stress (Vander Ploeg and Berdahl, 2002, Bradford, 2002).  These conditions have resulted in the privatization of major facilities such as the airport and port, increased use of user fees for public services, and a shortage of resources for a variety of social, cultural and recreation resources.  They have also resulted in a concentration of elderly, fixed-income, and vulnerable populations in older urban neighbourhoods.

At present, a number of energy, development, and remediation projects with profound implications for environment, health, and quality of life are on the horizon.  They include: the clean-up of the Saint John Harbour; New Brunswick Power Corporation’s proposed burning of orimulsion to generate electricity; future plans for the aging Point Lepreau atomic energy plant; and plans for a Liquefied Natural Gas terminal to the east of Saint John.  An active environmental network in Greater Saint John is observing these developments closely.  The current Waterfront Development Project signals that the port, historically dedicated to commercial and industrial uses, may be entering a new era.  In recent years, economic development organizations have attempted to promote traditional tourism and eco-tourism.  Since the mid 1990’s the port has received up to 80 cruise ship visits per season during Summer and early Fall.  The nearby Fundy Trail has also been attracting local and out-of-province tourists (Beaudin, 2001:93).

This Community-University Research Alliance program will focus on four broad and interrelated themes that will address many aspects of the Industrial City in Transition.  Research themes include:

1.  The People of Saint John: A Community and Neighbourhood Profile

Eight projects will contribute to this broad research program.  The significance of multiculturalism will be examined in three studies of the city's ethnic and minority populations, including the significant Irish, Francophone and Jewish communities in Saint John.  A study entitled, “The Growth and Decline of the Jewish Business Community in Saint John, 1858-Present, will be coordinated by the New Brunswick Museum; a study of “The Irish in Greater Saint John” will be led by Dr. Peter Toner (UNBSJ); and a study of “The Significance of the Francophone Community in Greater Saint John” will be led by Dr. Paul-Emile Chiasson (School District 8 and UNBSJ).  This latter study will also analyze initiatives recently implemented in the city to promote bilingualism, including the "Advantage St.-Jean Advantage" program -- that highlights the social, cultural and economic advantages associated with a bilingual workforce -- and the legislative responses of local municipalities to recent Provincial legislation requiring the provision of bilingual services in New Brunswick municipalities.  Collectively, these projects will address the perceived homogeneity of Saint John -- reflected in the "The Loyalist City" promotional slogan that was used for many years to market Saint John. 

A labour force analysis will identify the scale of labour force restructuring that has occurred in Saint John in the period 1960 to the present.  Led by Dr. Robert MacKinnon (UNBSJ), this study will document the current economic base of Greater Saint John, using Statistics Canada Labour Force data, and will establish a useful benchmark for future comparative analyses.  This will be complemented by an historical study of Saint John's labour force during the important late nineteenth century industrialization era.  Using manuscript census schedules for 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901, Dr. Peter Toner (UNBSJ) will compare trends in occupations to characteristics such as ethnicity, religion, gender and age.  Those occupations that were exclusive, or nearly exclusive, to particular ethnic or demographic groups will be identified. Overall, this study will contribute significantly to our knowledge of the crucial decades during which industrialization shaped not only the economic geography of Saint John but also the twentieth century economic future of the Maritime region.

A contemporary demographic and socio-economic study of Saint John will address a variety of issues associated with the social consequences of de-industrialization.  Led by Randall Hatfield (HDC), and Dr. Robert MacKinnon (UNBSJ), and entitled "The Morphology of Contemporary Saint John", this project will develop a set of community maps that will describe the socio-economic geography of the urban region.  Community strengths and weaknesses at the neighbourhood scale will be highlighted.  The interpretation of these maps by members of the Human Development Council and other members of the CURA research team will be used for the promotion of social policy initiatives and to address local concerns regarding the spatial concentration of poverty within Greater Saint John that have already been identified (Murdie and Teixeira, 2000: 207).  Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, 2001 census data, as well as qualitative information, this study will provide a useful foundation of socio-economic information that can be used by other researchers involved in this CURA. 

Building on the research and information strengths of the Saint John Human Development Council, a second project, coordinated by the HDC will focus on the development of a set of social indicators that can serve as a benchmark for the future measurement of social development in the region.  "The Social Indicators Project" proposes to identify a series of quantitative and qualitative indicators for Greater Saint John that can be used to promote social development policy in the urban region. These may also potentially be usefully applied to other municipalities in the Province.  This project will also permit the Saint John Human Development Council to share information and methodological approaches with other similar interest groups across Canada, such as the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre, GPI Atlantic, and the Community-University Institute for Social Research, and will thus provide important networking opportunities for the HDC (CUISR, 2003).

The community information function of the Human Development Council will be further extended by the participation of members of this CURA in the development of a new, on-line, indexed version of the printed Human Services Directory for Greater Saint John that the HDC regularly publishes.

All of these projects reflect the research strengths and interests of participating UNB researchers and community partners.  Collectively, they will provide a much clearer picture of the demographic and economic base of Saint John -- past and present -- than presently exists in the popular or academic literature.  Socio-economic patterns of contemporary Saint John will be highlighted.  Key time eras and phases of historical and economic change will be identified.  In addition to providing a useful foundation for other studies proposed in this CURA, the results of this research program will provide a foundation of information for the University, the Human Development Council, the New Brunswick Museum, and other community agencies that may be used for curriculum development, social policy development, museum exhibits, and public education purposes.

2. The Environmental History of Saint John

This research program of eight projects will trace the evolution of the impact of human activity on the land, water and air of the region, as well as on plant and animal life.  This theme explicitly embraces the notion that “cities are massive consumers of non-renewable resources and producers of solid wastes not easily disposed of or broken down” (Bradford, 2002: 43).  Thus, the concept of the “ecological footprint” of the city will be addressed from historical and contemporary perspectives in the various projects proposed (Bradford, 2002:44).  Ultimately, this thematic research program will contribute to a public discussion of the environmental sustainability of the Greater Saint John Urban region.  The New Brunswick Museum (NBM) and The Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) will play leadership roles in this broad research program that is heavily dependent upon field work.

Dr. Stephen Clayden (NBM) and Dr. Kate Frego (UNBSJ) will lead a project entitled: “Lichens as Indicators of Air Quality in the Saint John Region: A 30 Year Retrospective and Baseline for Assessing Future Change".  Interest in lichens as biological monitors of air pollution is well acknowledged in the scientific literature (Richardson, 1992, Gries, 1996, Henderson, 2000).  Studies elsewhere have shown that industrialized areas display a decrease in the diversity and coverage of lichens.  An unpublished study of lichens in the city of Saint John in 1975 and 1976 established this connection and developed an index of atmospheric pollution (Hinds, 1976).  This CURA project will establish a new baseline against which changes in the lichen flora (and by extension, the air quality of Saint John) over the last three decades can be measured.  During this period two major pulp mills in the city have installed improved scrubbers, and emissions of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide have been significantly reduced.  Still, air quality in Saint John remains a very significant public concern, and, this lichen study will provide a basis for future environmental monitoring.

Dr. Don McAlpine (NBM) will coordinate a study entitled "Upstream, Downstream, and the Industrial City: Diversity of Freshwater Mussel Communities in the Lower Saint John River and Their Impact on Water Quality."  In this project, mussels, which play a major role in particulate filtration, will be used to monitor the health of the Saint John River's  aquatic ecosystem.  A related study coordinated by Dr. David Methven (UNBSJ, entitled "Fishers and Fisheries in an Industrial City," proposes to examine fish community changes with increasing distance from the city and harbour.  In addition to collecting field samples, this project will involve interviews with local fishers and collaboration with ACAP members and other members of "The Industrial City in Transition" CURA team.  These studies will permit an assessment of the environmental health of the Saint John River system and the degree to which decades of industrial development has altered this ecosystem.

 “Understanding Saint John’s Geological Past”, led by Dr Randall Miller (NBM), will identify and interpret significant geological sites in the Greater Saint John region.  Based on field and archival evidence, this research on important geological and palaeontological sites will highlight the cultural and ecotourism potential of the city's geological heritage.  Results from this project will contribute significantly to waterfront and park development plans currently under discussion by the City of Saint John.

The Atlantic Coastal Action Program will coordinate three projects that collectively contribute to a broad-based Environmental History of Greater Saint John.  These include: (a) The Saint John River Watershed and Saint John Harbour: An Environmental History; (b) The Effects of Industrialization on the Morphology and Distribution of Freshwater and Marine Features in Greater Saint John; and (c) A Paleolimnological Evaluation of Recent Lake Sediment Contamination in Response to Industrialization in Saint John.  Field Methodologies and archival research plans for each of these projects have been developed, and ACAP will draw upon its strong track record of coordinating community-based initiatives to maximize the sphere of influence of these research projects.  These projects will be primarily field-based, but additional information will be drawn from a diverse array of institutions and community groups, including the Saint John Port Authority, Saint John Naturalist Society, the Maritime Fisherman's Union, and the City of Saint John.  City of Saint John Departmental records will also be utilized where appropriate (Planning and Development, Water and Sewage, and Parks and Recreation).  Tim Vickers, Executive Director of ACAP, will coordinate these projects and will supervise student researchers and ACAP volunteers involved.

The final study in this research program will examine the extent and distribution of Urban Green Space in Greater Saint John, and how this important element of the urban area has evolved over time.  The results of this study, coordinated by Dr. Keith Dewar (UNBSJ), will also contribute significantly to the “Social Indicators” project led by the Saint John Human Development Council. 

Collectively, the projects proposed under this research program will address the environmental impact of industrialization on the natural environment of Greater Saint John.  They will also contribute to local policy initiatives on ecosystems planning and will engage CURA researchers and other members of the community in a dialogue on "urban sustainability".  Research results will contribute to waterfront and harbour-front park planning currently underway in Saint John, and will enhance current interpretive programs at the New Brunswick Museum.

3.  Urban and Regional Planning: the Changing Shape of Greater Saint John

Because planners have had such a significant impact on urban form in the Greater Saint John region, this research theme is designed to analyze the planning strategies implemented in the past and those currently in place to prepare for the future.  Modern planning strategies in Saint John began in 1922, but the first Master Plan for the city was not completed until 1946.  Planning reached a new level in the 1960's and early 1970's when "slum clearance", public housing projects, amalgamation of adjacent municipalities (Simonds Parish and the City of Lancaster) and the development of a comprehensive Community Plan took place.  The extent to which planning strategies have addressed, or are addressing a range of urban issues in Greater Saint John will be assessed in this research theme.  Specific projects will deal with both urban and rural issues, the relationship between municipal planning and Provincial and Federal governments, and the long-term impact of urban and regional planning on the shape of the Greater Saint John region.

The eight projects proposed in this research program, and the coordinators of the respective research teams, include: (a) A History of Urban and Rural Planning Strategies in the Greater Saint John Region (Dr. Greg Marquis and Dr. Robert MacKinnon, UNBSJ), (b) The Waterfront in Transition: 1785-2010 (Dr. Elizabeth McGahan, UNBSJ), (c) Urban Renewal and Housing in Twentieth Century Saint John (Dr. Greg Marquis, UNBSJ), (d) War-Time Housing in North and East Saint John (Gary Hughes, NBM), (e) A Rural Community in Transition: The Kingston Peninsula (Kingston Peninsula Heritage Inc.), (f) Community and Economic Development on the Urban Fringe: Grand Bay-Westfield and Saint Martins, 1945-Present (Dr. Robert MacKinnon and Dr. Greg Marquis, UNBSJ), (g) Cultural Rural Tourism and Community Economic Development (Dr. Lee Joliffe, UNBSJ in cooperation with Kingston Peninsula Heritage Inc.) and (h) Visualizing Rural-Urban Boundaries: Where Does One Begin and the Other End? (Dr. Susan Machum, Saint Thomas University, in cooperation with Kingston Peninsula Heritage Inc.).  All of these projects involve collaboration between research coordinators, student researchers and various members of the community.

Research methodologies have been developed for each of these projects.  They include traditional archival research, using the New Brunswick Museum's extensive Library and Archival holdings, and the City of Saint John's Planning Department's records (projects a, b, c and d); field-based observations, combined with census and other record and data analyses (projects e and f); and interview techniques (g and h).  The Cultural Rural Tourism project (g) will involve the participation of UNB Saint John's Hospitality Tourism students in a survey of visitors to the Kingston Farmer's Market and the Carter Tea Room.  The Visualizing Rural-Urban Boundaries project (h) proposes a unique community-based methodology, involving the use of photography by local residents to document the land marks, symbols and visual indicators that people use to mark the transition from urban to rural space (and vice versa).  The CURA Co-Directors, in collaboration with the coordinators of each of these projects, have already established a tentative research schedule that indicates the timing of each these projects, the necessary fieldwork periods, and an estimate of the amount of time required in Archives and Libraries to complete the proposed projects.

Collectively, these projects will contribute significantly to our understanding of the contemporary urban form of Greater Saint John and of the planning strategies that have significantly influenced it.  They will also engage university faculty, students, and museum curators with various members of the community in their respective research collaborations (e.g. Saint John Planning Commission, Waterfront Development Inc., Kingston Peninsula Heritage Inc.).  Research results will be compared to available research on other Canadian industrial cities (Forward 1982, Weaver and Doucet, 1991, Lewis, 2000, Hodge, 1998, Hodge, 2002).  Planning strategies in international cites experiencing a similar industrial-post-industrial transition will be investigated.  To date, Belfast and Leeds have been identified as potentially useful examples for comparative purposes.

4.  Cultural Representations of Greater Saint John

The seven projects planned in this research theme are intended to address the manner in which Greater Saint John has been represented, and is currently being represented, in cultural terms in a variety of media.  Ultimately, this research will assist the New Brunswick Museum in re-evaluating the position of Greater Saint John in its Provincial exhibits; it will also highlight the centrality of culture, as a cornerstone of the changing economy of Greater Saint John.

Coordinated by Ms. Jane Fullerton (Director, NBM) and Dr. Robert MacKinnon (UNBSJ), a project entitled, “Relevancy in a Changing World: Understanding and Engaging the Audiences of the Greater Saint John Region,” will address the dialectical process of museum use and the role of the museum in representing the cultural dimensions of the community to its’ users.  This will involve research on the demographic and geographic make-up of New Brunswick Museum attendees (using Museum records, and surveys) as well as on the manner in which Saint John is represented in current Museum Exhibits.  This study will benefit significantly from the research results of other projects proposed in this CURA.  Ultimately, this study will assist with future planning for the New Brunswick Museum, and its wide range of public programming.

Important aspects of Greater Saint John's “cultural capital” will be assessed in six projects.  Dr. Debra Lindsay (UNBSJ) and Dr. Randall Miller (NBM) will coordinate a project on the Scientific Achievements of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. This study will specifically address the role of this society in the development of the New Brunswick Museum.  In addition, this study will highlight New Brunswick’s contributions to the emergence of late nineteenth and early twentieth century “Canadian Science,” through an examination of the contributions of local geologists and paleontologists as well as those from elsewhere working in the region.  The vibrant Art scene of Saint John in the 1930's and 1940s will be addressed in a project coordinated by Mr. Peter Larocque (NBM); and the manner in which Greater Saint John has been represented in Literary terms in the growing body of Maritime regional fiction will be led by Dr. David Creelman (UNBSJ).  Through an examination of Saint John’s literary productions, this latter study will attempt to demonstrate that the transformation of the city’s economy had a significant impact on writers’ production of fictions. 

Three projects will specifically address cultural change.  The Church as an Index of Urban Change (coordinated by Dr. Elizabeth McGahan, UNBSJ) will examine the changing role of the parish in Greater Saint John during a period when inner city urban renewal and population decline resulted in a transformation of the concept of “the parish” from a local spatial unit to an institution no longer exclusively based on location.  Imagining and Inventing Saint John: the Evolution of Tourism Promotion in Greater Saint John (also coordinated by Dr. Elizabeth McGahan, UNBSJ), will trace the evolution of “branding” by the city in its ongoing attempt to secure a stronger niche in the tourism market.  Missionaries and Mariners: Understanding Saint John’s International Connections (coordinated by Andrea Kirkpatrick, NBM) will trace the changing origins of donated objects to the New Brunswick Museum, and their links to Saint John’s pre-industrial and industrial past. 

Collectively, the projects in this research theme will highlight aspects of Saint John's “cultural capital” just as projects identified elsewhere in this CURA explore characteristics of the city's "social capital".  By focusing on cultural representation from a variety of perspectives, this research program can offer new insights into Saint John’s cultural heritage that can be used by the New Brunswick Museum in public education programmes, and by other researchers involved in this CURA.  Together with the research results of related projects outlined in the other three research programs, some of these specific projects can contribute to local cultural tourism initiatives.

Major Features

Each of these distinct research programs is not intended to be a discrete or isolated "pillar" of research activity.  It is intended that research results from specific projects will inform research strategies of subsequent projects identified in related research programs.  Indeed, all participants have expressed a commitment to interdisciplinary activity and, as the identified research programs illustrate, many university and community researchers are involved in several projects.  The Co-Directors of the CURA will be responsible for informing research coordinators and individual researchers of potential areas of interdisciplinary interest that may not have been identified in the research design phase, as preliminary research results begin to appear.

There is no single research methodology employed across these research themes.  Instead, a variety of methods have been identified for each research program, including: traditional archival and library research, statistical analysis, computer mapping, field methods, survey and questionnaire design, and unique community-based research activities such as the use of photography by local residents to identify people's perceptions of where rural and urban life begin and end (The Visualizing Rural-Urban Boundaries project).  Overall, the collective results of this research activity will not only build research technique capacity among research partners, they will inform local decision making among community partners.  In addition, these results will provide a valuable knowledge base that can inform citizens and political leaders (both civic and Provincial) of key social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects of industrial-post-industrial change.  This CURA intends to stand as an example of both collaborative knowledge creation and collaborative knowledge translation.

Student Training is a central feature of this CURA.  The projects identified provide a unique setting for research mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students.  The research design of these projects is heavily dependent upon a large number of student researchers.  Student participants will acquire a wide array of expertise and applied skills, including: data collection (both published statistics and field data) academic and technical writing, qualitative research methods, computer skills (including GIS), and advocacy strategies, through close interaction with representatives and volunteers from the community partners -- New Brunswick Museum, Human Development Council, Atlantic Coastal Action Program and the Kingston Peninsula Heritage Inc. (see section 7. Training for more details).  At present, there are only limited opportunities for student work of this type in Greater Saint John.

The University, at large, will benefit from the enhancement of research skills of undergraduate students as well as from the promotion of graduate activities by this CURA.  Apart from a small number of specialty areas (Marine Biology, Psychology and Business Administration) the UNB Saint John campus is primarily an undergraduate institution.  The CURA will provide an opportunity to enhance graduate activity, especially in the fields of History and Sociology, by attempting to attract two Master of Arts students and at least one Ph.D. student to this CURA.  Graduate research positions will also be budgeted for, which should further enhance graduate activity.  The university will also use this CURA to explore the possibility of developing service-learning courses in the fields of History, Sociology, Geography, Biology and Hospitality Tourism.

Community partners will also benefit considerably from this collaborative research partnership.  Student research assistants working with each of the community partners will not only enhance the research capacity of these institutions, they can play an important role in disseminating knowledge of these partner agencies and their programs in the wider community.  The use of the New Brunswick Museum library and archives by researchers and student assistants will also serve to promote this valuable research and educational resource in the community.

Research Coordinators have produced a list of planned outcomes for each project identified in each of the four Research Program areas.  The interim Research Reports of each project, due at the beginning of year three, will form the basis of a mid-term CURA conference.  At the end of the funding period, another conference will showcase the most significant results. Throughout, specific projects, as well as the overall collaboration, will be highlighted locally via research partners' communication networks, and periodic press releases.  Co-applicants, collaborators and student participants will also participate in conferences and submit papers to academic and popular publications.  Exhibits based on this CURA will become part of the New Brunswick Museum's collection.  A Student-Curated Exhibition Program will be designed for presentation at the NBM and in local schools; and a “Brown-Bag Lunch series”, organized by student researchers, will raise public awareness of this CURA.  Finally, research results from this CURA will contribute to, and promote, the University of Brunswick's long-term plan to establish an Urban Studies Institute at the Saint John campus (see section 3 for further details on Communication of Results).

Dr. Robert MacKinnon (UNBSJ) and Ms. Jane Fullerton (NBM) will serve as Co-Directors, managing the day-to-day operations.  Together with representatives from each of the community partners, they will form a steering committee overseeing the entire CURA (see section 5. Description of Team, and section 6. Partnerships and Alliances, for further details).

Ultimately, this CURA aims to produce a greater community understanding of the myriad of forces that are shaping Greater Saint John, as it makes the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial city, more reliant and dependent upon its cultural, environmental and historical resources.  It will also considerably enhance the knowledge-based workforce in Saint John through its significant student training component.