THE PROJECT

What is FOCI?

FOCI is a collaborative, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research project that was formally created in 2020 with primary funding support the Ocean Frontier Institute, through an award from the tri-council Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

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Who are we?

FOCI includes more than 65 researchers and collaborators from 34 engineering, natural science, social science, and artistic disciplines, 18 institutions, and 90 local, regional, national, and international partners and collaborators from Indigenous communities, industry, government, and civil society. The project will also train and engage at least 75 students, postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and community researchers.

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What are we doing and why?

• Rethinking infrastructures to include not only physical/built infrastructures, but also ecological infrastructures, and societal infrastructures.

• Executing transdisciplinary research and working with partners to creatively design, regenerate and adapt ocean and coastal industry/community infrastructures in preparation for future environmental and social change.

• Focusing on co-designing infrastructures with the potential to support sustainability, safety and inclusion.

 

How are we doing it?

FOCI researchers and partners are achieving its objectives by carrying out a rich program of research, training, and engagement organized into nine Work Packages (WPs), each clustered under one of the three core themes of sustainability, safety, and inclusion. Four additional integration work packages (IWPs) play a key role in integrating findings across work packages and supporting wider and deeper public engagement.