The University of Windsor campus lies in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. For many of its researchers, collaborators are just across the fast-moving water that defines the Windsor-Detroit boundary.

The free exchange of knowledge is just as important as the stream of trucks that pass through the international border every day. The Health and Wellness Friendly Communities project led by nursing professor Kathryn Pfaff used the border and the interconnectedness of Windsor and Detroit to begin to grapple with pressing health concerns that impact the cross-border communities.

She established a team that included researchers from law, biomedical sciences, political science, and computer science, and pulled in partners from Windsor Regional Hospital, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario, the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, McMaster University, and the University of Toronto with a goal of setting up a locally relevant system of collaborations and knowledge sharing.

“This work is all about having a shared context for taking action,” says Dr. Pfaff. “Our cities face similar economic and environmental challenges. We came together with the mindset that we can learn from each other and support each other in changing the systemic challenges our communities face.”

The working group that arose from the initial project is now moving forward to tackle serious problems, and Pfaff is particularly optimistic about new programming to address homelessness.

Learn more in the full article, “Healthy communities beyond borders,” published in the Research and Innovation in Action report.