Current Projects

UNICATA

A university with and for waste pickers, where informal workers attend educational and training opportunities on diverse topics relating to social responsibility, entrepreneurship, waste management, circular economy, and more to promote sustainable livelihoods.

Diverter’s Collaboration

Building on previous work that highlights the key role of Diverters — Victoria’s locally organized waste pickers — in driving Circular Economy flows, Katya’s research in connection with the Community Based Research Lab (CBRL) explored the potential impact these actors could have on advancing holistic sustainable development within Victoria’s local food systems.

Creative Resources for Community Knowledge Co-Creation

For almost 20 years UVic Geography’s CBRL has been involved in numerous research projects with many local and international communities, co-generating new knowledge of discard and waste studies and climate change action research.

Zero Waste in Schools

Zero Waste has the main goal to improve waste management, so that organic materials are redirected into composting and recyclable materials are reinserted into the production chain through proper recycling, maximizing resource reuse and reducing waste going to landfills and/or dumps in Brazil and Canada

Sharing Waste Governance Research

Supporting knowledge translation and knowledge mobilization of research results obtained through empirical studies conducted by the research consortium, in five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Kenya, Nicaragua, Tanzania), since 2018. The PI, in particular has collected data in Canada and Brazil.

Recycling Networks

This project aims at examining the challenges that innovative grassroots initiatives and networks encounter and the livelihood practices they generate, to improve recycling and household waste management in informal settlements of global South cities.