My overall research interest lies within sustainable livelihoods and community-based development with specific attention to co-management and poverty reduction. Increasingly my focus is on issues related to quality of life, consumption and waste in Latin America. The most recent work is committed to unravel the social, economic, environmental and political facets of informal recycling; pointing towards an integrated solid waste management model with social and economic inclusion, based on co-operation as guiding principle for a healthy community. My research is action and community-based oriented and applies focus group discussions, video, participatory appraisals, and community mapping.

The recently published book: Recycling Citizenship, recovering resources: Urban poverty reduction in Latin America; published in 2008 by Ashgate brings together research findings on the potential embedded in ‘wasting no waste’ and on inclusive waste management as a pathway towards more sustainable urban development.

In 2006, funding from CFI, BCKDF and the Department of Geography at UVic has allowed me to create the Community-Based Research Laboratory (CBRL). CBRL now hosts a group of researchers that is committed to participatory research in Canada and abroad. Our Vision is to link global issues with local actions for sustainable change by establishing partnerships with different stakeholders (university, government, civil society, NGOs, business sector) to improve the livelihoods of individuals and communities. Our Mission is to conduct action oriented research with community in order to achieve progressive social and environmental sustainable change.  Key areas of focus include:

• Responsible consumption, waste reduction and resource recovery
• Social inclusion and gender equality
• Co-management of resources
• Social/solidarity economy
• Civic engagement and governance
• Food security
• Policy implications
• Rapid assessments of assets and barriers to sustainable community development
• Knowledge mobilisation

Current research projects

(1) Participatory Sustainable Waste Management (PSWM), a CIDA-AUCC funded collaborative research project between UVic and the Faculty of Education at the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, exploring opportunities to generate income and to improve the quality of life of informal and organized recyclers while promoting environmental sustainability and inclusive public policies.

(2) Development of a global waste database, an initiative to develop an oracle-style database on global-local generation and management of solid waste.

(3) Binning in Victoria, Canada, a participatory exploration for livelihood enhancement. The project uses Participatory Video, participatory socio-economic surveys and community mapping.

(4) The artisanal sustainable fisheries project, Ressurgência, is a research collaboration with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil. The aim is to contribute to enhancing fishers’ participation in resource management.

Current Teaching

Introduction to Human Geography (GEOG101B)

Development Geographies (GEOG347B)

Regional Geography (Latin America)  (GEOG388)

Qualitative Methods in Human Geography (GEOG523)

Directed Studies in Geography (GEOG490/590)

Geography 523 Qualitative Methods Reader
An online series of research papers by students taking Geography 523 Qualitative Methods

2005
Sustainable food production, consumption, and the generation of waste:
Consumer perception and public policy in the Capital Regional District of Victoria, BC

2006
Coffee and tea production, consumption and the generation of waste:
Perceptions of consumers and coffee shop owners in the Capital Regional District of Victoria, BC

2008
Alternative Food Systems and the Building of “Community”:
The case of the FoodRoots Distributors Co-operative in Victoria, BC, Canada
Philip Akins, Celeste Dempster, Gabriela Pereira, and Julian Yates

2008
Spatial Strategies for Compatible Land Use:
Economic Survival Options for Farmers on the Rural-Urban Interface
Daniel Hegg, Sarah Poirier, Robin Tunnicliffe, and Tracy Wragg

Refereed Contributions - books and book chapters

2008    Gutberlet, J. Recycling Citizenship, recovering resources: Urban poverty reduction in Latin America. Ashgate, Aldershot, 163 pp.

2005    Gutberlet, J. Co-management of urban solid waste resources: Experiences and challenges from Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In: Ibrahim, M., Errafie, C., Bounaim, N., Chifri, H. & Mahfoud, M. (Eds.) Impacts environnementaux et socio-économiques des options de valorisation des déchets solides municipaux pour les collectivités de petite et moyenne taille, Séminaire regional, 1-2 June 2005, Rabat, pp. 92-102

2004    Gutberlet, J. The impacts of industrial development. In: Sánchez, L. E. (Ed.) Regional Sustainable Development Reviews, In: Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK [http://www.eolss.net]

2002    Gutberlet, J. & Takahashi, R., Le gestion et le recyclage des ordures dans le bidonvilles. Expérience de Pedra sobre Pedra à São Paulo, Brésil (Recycling management in squatter settlements. The experience from Pedra sobre Pedra in São Paulo). In: Botta, H. Berdier, C. & Deleuil, J.-M. (Eds.), Enjeux de la propreté urbaine. Lausanne, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, pp. 103-121.

2002    Gutberlet, J. & Vaz Guimarãe, P., Desenvolvimento sustentável e Agenda 21: guia para sociedade civil, municípios e empresas (Manual for the implementation of the local Agenda 21). Centro de Estudos da Fundação Konrad Adenauer, São Paulo.

Refereed Contributions - Refereed Journals

2008    Gutberlet, J. Empowering collective recycling initiatives: Video documentation and action research with a recycling co-op in Brazil, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 52: 659-670.

2008    Gutberlet, J. & Baeder, A. Informal recycling and occupational health in Santo André, Brazil. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 18 (1): 1-15.

2008    Gutberlet, J. & Hunter, A. Social and environmental exclusion at the edge of São Paulo, Brazil Urban Design International, 13, 3-20.

2008    Gutberlet, J. Organized and informal recycling: Social movements contributing to sustainability. Transactions of the Wessex Institute. WIT Press Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton, UK [http://www.witpress.com].

2007    Gutberlet, J., Seixas^, S.C. Glinfkoi Thé, A.M. and Carolsfeld, K. Resource conflicts and co-management: Challenges in the São Francisco watershed, Brazil. Human Ecology 35: 623-638.

2005    Gutberlet, J. Living on the edge: Social and environmental exclusion in the periphery of São Paulo, Brazil. Geografias Espacios y Sociedades, Vol 1 (1), 20 pp. PDF file. Source; http://www.gi.ulpgc.es/ges/

2003    Gutberlet, J. Cities, consumption, and the generation of waste. In: Aviso, Information Bulletin on global environmental change and human security, 11, pp. 12-19.

2002    Gutberlet, J. Zoneamento da Amazônia: uma visão crítica (Zoning the Amazon: a critical perspective). In: Estudos Avançados, 16 (46), pp. 157-174.

2002    Gutberlet, J. Auflösung kleinbäuerlicher Landwirtschaft in Mato Grosso (Disintegration of traditional agriculture in Mato Grosso). In: Geographische Rundschau, 54 (11), pp. 22-26.

Forthcoming refereed contributions

• Gutberlet, J. The solidarity economy of recycling co-ops: micro-credit to alleviate poverty. Development in Practice (accepted).
• Gutberlet, J., Tremblay, C., Divakarannair, N. & Taylor. Who are our informal recyclers?  An inquiry to uncover crisis and potential in Victoria, Canada. Local Environment (submitted).
• Tremblay, C., Gutberlet, J. & Peredo Ana Maria. United We Can: Resource Recovery, Place and Social Enterprise, Society and Natural Resources (submitted).
• Raoulx, B., Gutberlet, J., and Tremblay, C.  (2008).  L’environnement, support pour lutter contre la marginalisation et  développer les capacités d’action: réflexion à partir de l’exemple des recycleurs (binners) de Vancouver (Canada). [Environment, support to fight against marginalisation and action: an example of recycler’s (binners) in Vancouver (Canada)]. Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Centre de Recherche sur les Espaces et Sociétés, September 2008 (submitted).
• Gutberlet, J. (2008) International university partnership: reflections on learning experiences. In: Boothroyd and Shafik Dharamsi. Universities and Participatory Development: Lessons from international experience. Vancouver (accepted).

Non-Refereed Research Contributions

2007    Gutberlet, J. & Freitas Takahashi, N. 2007, Avaliação rápida da coleta seletiva porta a porta do  Programa Vida Limpa em Diadema. Relatorio de Pesquisa.

2007    Gutberlet, J. & Muniz A.M. Pesca tradicional no embate com o desenvolvimento (Field experiences - Arraial do Cabo 22 a 27 de Fevereiro 2007).

2007    Gutberlet, J. & McBee, G. Resource recovery and urban agriculture in Cuba: Some recent experiences (Field experiences - December 9 – 19, 2006).

2007    Gutberlet, J. & McBee, G. Recursos de residuos y agricultura urbana en Cuba Recientes experiencias (Experiencia de campo: 9 a 19 de Diciembre de 2006).

2005    Gutberlet, J., Searl R. & Tremblay, C. Cooperpires: The Recycling of Citizenship. Video production. http://www.ekostv.com/node/258

2005    Gutberlet, J. Quicknotes for Human Geography, based on: Knox, Marston & Nash: Human Geography Places and Regions in Global Context, 3rd edition (in edition).

2004    Gutberlet, J., Seixas, C.S., & The, A.P.,  Challenges in managing fisheries in the São Francisco watershed of Brazil. Presented at the 10th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP), Oaxaca, Mexico. International Association for the Study of Common Property (09-13 Aug. 2004), IASCP University of Indiana, Indiana, 38 p. http://www.iascp2004.org.mx/ponencias_postcongreso.html

2004    Gutberlet, J. Traditional fisheries in coastal Brazil. A case study on assets and barriers for sustainable development, Conference proceedings: I Seminario de gestão Sócio-Ambiental para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Aquicultura e da Pesca no Brasil – I SEGAP, Rio de Janeiro, 25-27 Aug. 2004. COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro e Cabo Frio, RJ, 14 p.  ISBN  85-285-0069-1.

2003    Gutberlet, J. “Rapid socio-economic assessment of fishing communities at the São Francisco River in Brazil” prepared for World Fisheries Trust, Victoria September 2003

2002    Gutberlet, J. Programa Brasileiro de Intercâmbio em Maricultura: Relatório de campo: Avaliação sócio-econômica de comunidades tradicionais envolvidas em maricultura. http://web.uvic.ca/bmlp/port-news/portnews61_relatorio_jutta.pdf

2002    Gutberlet, J. Brazilian Mariculture Linkage Program: Field Report May-August 2002. Project: Socio-economic appraisal of coastal fishing communities in relation to the introduction of mariculture http://web.uvic.ca/bmlp/news/news61_report_jutta.pdf