Joshua Evans
Appointment
Junior Fellow Academy - Alumni
Institution
Athabasca University
Country
Canada 
Joshua Evans was a CIFAR Junior Fellow in the Successful Societies program from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. He is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Global and Social Analysis at Athabasca University. Joshua completed his Ph.D. in 2009 at McMaster University’s School of Geography and Earth Sciences, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Wilton. He obtained his B.A. and M.A. in Human Geography at the University of Alberta, where he also minored in Sociology.
Joshua is a human geographer with a specialty in urban social geography. His most recent research activities have focused on social issues such as homelessness. His primary interest is in how public policy shifts and urban processes have reshaped the social landscape of homelessness in Canadian cities. To understand these changing landscapes, he has drawn on theory from sociology, anthropology and geography and used a number of social research techniques, including participant observation, interviewing, and focus groups. For example, he recently chronicled the experiences and perspectives of those who are homeless, those who are involved in providing frontline services, and those responsible for devising homeless policies, in order to evaluate the impact of ‘housing first’ policies (approaches to homelessness that prefer supported housing over temporary shelter) and ‘harm reduction’ service delivery models (models that aim to reduce the harmful consequences of drug use). As a Junior Fellow in the Successful Societies program, Joshua plans to expand on his research by focusing on a specific type of urban social policy most commonly referred to as ‘area-based initiatives’ (ABI). ABIs are community-based social and economic programs designed to address the social consequences of neighborhood poverty through partnership building and citizen-engagement. This approach to concentrated poverty has spread amongst urban policymaking circles in the U.S., U.K., and now Canada. Joshua is interested in understanding how these policies have ‘traveled’ and how they are adapted when they arrive in Canada. He is also interested in how ABIs pursue ‘citizen-engagement’ and to what ends.
Joshua is a human geographer with a specialty in urban social geography. His most recent research activities have focused on social issues such as homelessness. His primary interest is in how public policy shifts and urban processes have reshaped the social landscape of homelessness in Canadian cities. To understand these changing landscapes, he has drawn on theory from sociology, anthropology and geography and used a number of social research techniques, including participant observation, interviewing, and focus groups. For example, he recently chronicled the experiences and perspectives of those who are homeless, those who are involved in providing frontline services, and those responsible for devising homeless policies, in order to evaluate the impact of ‘housing first’ policies (approaches to homelessness that prefer supported housing over temporary shelter) and ‘harm reduction’ service delivery models (models that aim to reduce the harmful consequences of drug use). As a Junior Fellow in the Successful Societies program, Joshua plans to expand on his research by focusing on a specific type of urban social policy most commonly referred to as ‘area-based initiatives’ (ABI). ABIs are community-based social and economic programs designed to address the social consequences of neighborhood poverty through partnership building and citizen-engagement. This approach to concentrated poverty has spread amongst urban policymaking circles in the U.S., U.K., and now Canada. Joshua is interested in understanding how these policies have ‘traveled’ and how they are adapted when they arrive in Canada. He is also interested in how ABIs pursue ‘citizen-engagement’ and to what ends.