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William (Bill) Charles Found

William (Bill) Charles Found

University Professor Emeritus

Credentials

1989               FDhc (Honorary Doctorate), University of Umeå (Sweden)

1965‑1966     PhD, Geography; minor in Agricultural Economics, University of Florida

1962‑1964     MA, Geography; minor in Agricultural Economics, University of Florida

1958‑1962     Honours BA, Geography, McMaster University

Research Keywords

Caribbean landscapes, rural land use and planning, programme implementation,

ecosystem resilience, computer-aided teaching.

Contact Information

http://www.yorku.ca/wfound

wfound@yorku.ca

Research Interests

I have two primary foci of current research:

(1) a long-term analysis of landscape change in the Caribbean islands (natural and cultural landscapes), utilizing information that I have assembled over the past 60 years of field and library research. I use field observations and notes, about 250,000 personal
photographs, hundreds of hours of video, numerous personal interviews, and other information gathered as a visitor in several Caribbean universities, research organizations and NGOs. The work will culminate in a book that should be published in 2024.

(2) development and testing of a framework for analysing programme implementation, a field that I began as a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Institute for Development Studies in 1986-87, where I worked in collaboration with Prof. Donald Warwick. The research builds on my personal research in the Caribbean, Indonesia, East and Southern Africa, India, Sweden and Canada; and also involves the research of several of the 94 graduate students whose work I supervised at York University. Their research
experience has been fundamental in developing the framework and associated methods. I am passionately interested in the gap between environmental planning and the actual implementation of projects/programmes/plans; and am concerned that, as responsible practitioners, we find better ways to ensure that effective plans result in appropriate action.

Research Output

2012                (ed. with J. Radford), Geography at York University: Reflections on the First Fifty Years, Toronto: Department of Geography, York University, 217 pp.

2002                Teknik-Teknik Perencanaan Proyet Dan Implementasinya: Sepuluh Langkah untuk Mencapai Keberhasilan (Indonesian translation of Techniques of Project Planning and Implementation: Ten Steps to Success (see below)), translated by A. Rizal, Jakarta, University Consortium on the Environment, 88pp.

1999                Techniques of Project Planning and Implementation: Ten Steps to Success. Toronto: Institute for Leadership Development, 105 pp.

1995                (with H. Poerbo, F. Carden, and L. Grenier) (eds.) Working with People: Indonesian Experiences with Community-Based Development, Bandung and Toronto, University Consortium on the Environment, printed by University of Toronto Press, 189 pp.

1995                Participatory Research and Development: An Analysis of IDRC’s Experience and Prospects, Ottawa, International Development Research Centre, 118 pp.

1994                York University and the Greater Toronto Area: An Economic Impact Analysis for 1993-94. Toronto: York University, 23 pp.

1991                (with P. Wilkinson) (eds.) Resource Analysis Research in Developing Countries: the Experience of Ontario Geographers. Toronto: Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 142 pp.

1989                The Impact of York University on the City of North York.  Faculty Research Paper Series. North York: Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 47 pp.

1987                "Shifting Cultivation in Jamaica: an Invisible Dilemma". Development Discussion Paper No. 238. Cambridge: Harvard Institute for International Development.

1978                (with R. G. Rice) "METRANS: Manual for a Simulation Game for Transportation/Land Use Planning in Metropolitan Toronto." Research Report No. 41. Toronto: University of Toronto/York University Joint Programme in Transportation.

1975                (with A.R. Hill and E.S. Spence) "Economic and Environmental Impacts of Land Drainage in Ontario." Geographical Monographs, No. 6. Toronto: Atkinson College, York University.

1974                (with R.G. Rice and S.F. Gribble)  "An Interactive Transportation Gaming Model for Metropolitan Toronto: Progress Report." Research Report No. 17. Toronto: University of Toronto/York University Joint Programme in Transportation.

1972                (with C.D. Morley) "A Conceptual Approach to Rural Land Use ‑ Transportation Modelling in the Toronto Region." Research Report No. 8. Toronto:  University of Toronto/York University Joint Programme in Transportation.

1971                A Theoretical Approach to Rural Land‑Use Patterns. London and Toronto: Edward Arnold Co. Ltd. and MacMillan Co. of Canada.

2021 “The St. Kitts Scenic Train: Journey into an Island’s Heritage”, Chapter 8 in R. Leech and P. Leech, The Colonial Landscape of the British Caribbean, Woodbridge, Suffolk, Boydell Press, p. 173. Link to documentary film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSnMRCk-AMk

2017 “Lessons Learned from the Identification and Implementation of Policies affecting Shifting Cultivation in the Asia-Pacific Region”, chapter 52 in M. Cairns (ed.), Shifting Cultivation Policies: Balancing Environmental and Social Sustainability, CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International), Oxfordshire, pp. 952-970.

2016 “Caribbean Tourism and Urban Development: Resilience and Adaptation to Global Change over Five Hundred Years”, chapter 2 in D. Barker, D. McGregor, K. Rhiney and T. Edwards (eds.), Global Change and the Caribbean: Adaptation and Resilience, Kingston, University of the West Indies Press, pp. 21-40.

2014 “The St. Kitts Scenic Railway: A Journey into an Island’s Heritage”, Chapter 17 in M. Conlin and G. Bird (eds.), Railway Heritage and Tourism: Global Perspectives. London: Channel View Publications, pp. 247-262.

2012 (with J. Radford), “50 Years of Geography at York University: Introduction”, Chapter 1 in W. Found and J. Radford (eds.), Geography at York University: Reflections on the First Fifty Years, Toronto: Department of Geography, York University, pp. 1-13.

2012 (with Marta Berbés-Blázquez) “The Sugar Cane Landscape of the Caribbean Islands: Resilience and the Changing Plantation Social-Ecological System”, chapter 10 in D. Plieninger and C. Bieling (eds.), Resilience and the Cultural Landscape: Understanding and Managing Change in Human-Shaped Environments, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 164-184.

2016               “Teaching and Research in Caribbean Geography for the Diaspora in Toronto and Beyond: Personal Reflections”, Caribbean Geography, Vol. 21, pp. 77-86.

2002               (with T. Babcock, B. Mitchell, and S. Wismer) “Human and Institutional Capacity Enhancement for Environmental Management in Indonesia: The Experience of the University Consortium on the Environment, 1987-2002”, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 73-88.

1997                “Evaluation of Participatory Research supported by the International Development Research Centre," Knowledge and Policy, Vol. 10, Nos. 1 and 2, pp. 109-122.

1991                "Evaluation of Human Resource Development," Environment and Development, Vol. 10, N. 4, pp. 287-292.

1990                "The ITB/FES Project: Collaborating on Environmental Management in Indonesia," Environments, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 85-86.

1983                "Feasibility Analysis for an Irrigation Project: the case of Clarendon, Jamaica," Applied Geography, Vol. 6, pp. 219-224.

2007                Anguilla at a Crossroads: Heritage, Development and the Anguilla National Trust (40 min.) (published by the Anguilla National Trust)

2006                Return of the Andrew Doria (10 min.) (published by the St. Eustatius (West Indies) Center for Archaeological Research

2005                St. Kitts Scenic Railway: Journey into an Island’s Heritage (50 min.) (published by the St. Christopher (West Indies) Heritage Society

2003                 A Touch of Bajan Aristocracy (45 min.)

2003                 Passing Through St. Martin/St. Maarten: Amerindians, Tourists, and Hurricane Luis (45 min.)

2002                 Antigua: Bringing the Past to the Present (45 min.)

2002                 Dominica: The Nature Island (Parts 1 and 2) (60 min.)

2002                 Montserrat: Flight over a Volcano (30 min.)

2002                Puerto Rico Landscapes: Preservation and Restoration (60 min.)

2001                 Saba and Saba Marine Park (30 min.)

2001                 St. Thomas: Cruise Ships and Heritage Landscapes (30 min.)

2001                 Trinidad: Oil and Ecotourism (35 min.)

2001                St. Eustatius: The Golden Rock (30 min.) 

2001                 St. John and Virgin Islands National Park (30 min.)  

2001                Curacao and Aruba: Oil and Mass Tourism (60 min.) 

2012                A Research Collection of Historical Maps and Prints of the Caribbean Islands: Part I: Photographic Prints, Photocopies and Facsimiles, York University Library Website, 90 pp. (http://pi.library.yorku.ca/dspace/handle/10315/13674)

2009                An Analysis of Twenty Sample Projects for the Review of the Canadian Partnerships Program, IDRC, Ottawa, International Development Research Centre, 37 pp.

2006                Decentralization at Ryerson University, Office of the Provost, Ryerson University, 56 pp. (published on the Ryerson University website)

2004                Computing Services in the Faculty of Arts: Results of a Comprehensive Questionnaire Survey, Office of the Dean, 33 pp.

2003                (with Mark Hostetler) CAMP-Lab III Final Report, Report to the International Development Research Centre, Toronto, York University, 37 pp. (plus appendices)        

2002                (with Mark Hostetler) CAMP-Lab III Year 2 Report, Report to the International Development Research Centre, Toronto, York University, 113 pp.

2001                (with Mark Hostetler) CAM)-Lab III Annual Report, Report to the International Development Research Centre, Toronto, York University, 84 pp.

2001                 (with Facilitation Team) Workshop Report, Project Planning and Implementation: Ten Steps to Success (Makassar, January 22-27, 2001), Document No. UCE/444/01/05, Jakarta, University Consortium on the Environment, 233 pp.

2001               (with Mark Hostetler) CAMP-Lab III Annual Report (2000-2001), Report to International Development Research Centre, Toronto, York University, 55 pp..

1997                (with D. Bell, M. Khalikane, T. Schlichter, R. Schwass, G. Sohani and P. Victor) A Review of "Monitoring and Assessing Progress Toward Sustainability," A Project Undertaken by IUCN, Supported by IDRC. Report to IDRC, Ottawa; Centre for Applied Sustainability, York University, 550 pp. This includes W. Found and G. Sohani, Report of Review Team Site Visit to India, January 4-11 (Appendix 4), and W. Found, M. Khalikane and T. Schlichter, Report of Review Team Site Visit to Zimbabwe, December 13-19 (Appendix 5).

2018                  “Caribbean Tourism and Urban Development: Resilience and Adaptation over 500 Years.  An application of Ecological Theory?”, Graduate Ecology Group, University of Puerto Rico (San Juan campus), May 31.

2016                “Geographical Transformation of the Caribbean Islands: Teaching and Research for the Diaspora in Toronto and Beyond”, Celebrating 50 Years of Geography at UWI and in the Caribbean Region, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, June 27-July 1.

2014                “Resilience and Adaptation in Caribbean Landscapes: Reactions of Tourism and Urban Development to Global Change within a Panarchy Framework”, Regional Conference on The Caribbean Region: Adaptation and Resilience to Global Change, Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, June 24, 2014

2013                "Tracking Change in Social-Ecological Systems through Resilience Thinking: the Example of Sugar-Cane Landscapes in the Caribbean", Graduate Ecology Group, University of Puerto Rico (San Juan campus), Oct. 28

2010                (with Marta Berbés-Blázquez) “The Sugar-Cane Cultural Landscape of the Caribbean Islands: Tracking a Social-Ecological System from the 16th to the 21st Century”, International Workshop on Social-Ecological Resilience of Cultural Landscapes, Berlin-Brandenburg Academic of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, June 15-16

2005                “St. Kitts Scenic Train: Journey into an Island’s Heritage”, Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology Annual Conference, Nevis, West Indies

2005                “Bringing the ‘Real World’ to the ‘Ivory Tower’: Enlivening the Classroom through Appropriate Technology”, TEL@York Annual Conference (Keynote Address)

2004                “The Making of the Caribbean Landscape: Space-Time Study in the Caribbean “Laboratory””, University of Lund, Sweden

2004                “The Use of Websites and Multi-Media Techniques in Geographic Teaching”, University of Lund and Umeå University, Sweden

2004                “The Use of Websites and Multi-Media Techniques in University Teaching”, Institute of Communication, University of Helsingborg, Sweden

2004                “Trouble in Paradise?  Issues in Caribbean Tourism”, Institute of Communication, University of Helsingborg and Umea University, Sweden

2004                “Bringing the Caribbean to the Classroom through Multimedia Technology”, Teaching, Learning and Technology Conference, University of Ottawa

Recognition & Awards

  • 1996 Visiting Professor, University of Umeå, Sweden
  • 1993 Visiting Research Associate, Institute of Ecology and Systematics, Cuban Academy of Sciences
  • 1986-1987 Visiting Scholar, Institute for International Development, Harvard University
  • 1979 Visiting Professor, University of Toronto
  • 1979 Distinguished Alumnus Lecturer, McMaster University
  • 1974 Visiting Lecturer, Economico‑Mathematical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow and Leningrad)
  • 1987 Named University Professor, York University
  • 1989 FDhc (Honorary Doctorate), University of Umeå (Sweden)
  • 2005 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award, York University