MSSI has announced the results of its latest Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Ideas Fund competition. The SSH Ideas Fund awards seed funding to explore bold projects and novel ideas drawn specifically from humanities, arts, and social sciences research with the potential to illuminate or solve sustainability-related challenges.
Read more about the funded projects below.
Preferences over Sustainable Trade Policies: Building Sustainability Coalitions in Canada
Leonardo Baccini (Political Science)
Carrying out international trade with an eye to its environmental and social impact entails costs for the average Canadian citizen. This trade-off between economic goals and sustainability-related objectives is at the core of this project. Using an original survey experiment, this project aims to understand individual preferences regarding sustainability in international trade, especially among communities that are vulnerable to climate change and social inequalities. The results will help facilitate the design of policies that minimize market distortions, while taking into account the distributional consequences of trade sustainability.
Museum Climate Infrastructure in the Tropics
Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol (Art History & Comm. Studies)
This project will bring the latest research on environmental histories of art and architecture in Southeast Asia to bear on the development of policy and institutional design recommendations for art museums in the tropics. While current standards for museum climate control rely on energy-intensive HVAC systems to regulate temperature and humidity in minute intervals, tropical history points to an alternative genealogy of climate technology rooted in passive systems and organic construction materials. This project aims to build upon previous research regarding the connection between tropical architecture and the development of conceptual artistic practices in Southeast Asia, with emphasis on the use of ephemeral, organic, and renewable materials. With MSSI funding, the next step is to enter these histories into dialogue with recent international conversations on the future of sustainable design for art museums. Through interviews and engagement with industry practitioners, the project will produce new paradigms for infrastructural and curatorial practices rooted in the climatic realities of the tropics.
In addition to the SSH Ideas Fund, the MSSI also supports sustainability research at McGill through its Innovation Fund and Ideas Fund. Visit the MSSI website for more information and the latest funding announcements.
