Dear participant,

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey and provide your valuable input in this study.

Background
This is a collaborative research study in partnership with the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan University’s Social Innovation Institute - Roundhouse, and the City of Edmonton’s Urban Wellness Plan - RECOVER. Our goal is to understand how businesses in the five core neighbourhoods in Edmonton can be supported in their efforts to contribute to wellness in their communities.

Purpose
The City of Edmonton through its Urban Wellness Plan - RECOVER - wants to understand, motivate  and recognize socially conscious business practices in the downtown core neighborhoods of Edmonton. This effort is to enhance urban wellness and create humanizing spaces in the urban core communities. Through this research project we want to learn from you as the business owner what motivates or prevents you from adopting socially conscious practices in your business and how you can be supported in your efforts. This survey is the first information collection tool we will use to learn more from you about your business practices.

Benefits
Through this project, we can make recommendations for the business community, the City of Edmonton, and the community on how to incorporate socially conscious practices and develop a community-driven recognition program to celebrate those that do. Please be aware that there may be no direct benefit to you or your business by taking part in this study.

Procedures
This survey is a digital survey that will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. You will be asked questions about your business practices and your opinion on socially conscious business practices. Your name, business name and contact information will be asked at the end of this survey if you choose to provide them.


Study Proposal ID is: Pro00088495


Investigators:
Kareema Batal, Graduate Student & Principal Investigator
University of Alberta | Department of Human Ecology
E: kareema@ualberta.ca | T: 780-709-7092

Dr. Sven Anders, Professor & Research Co-Supervisor
University of Alberta | Department of Resource Economics & Environmental Sociology
E: sven.anders@ualberta.ca | T: 780-492-5453

Dr. Rhonda Breitkreuz, Professor & Research Co-Supervisor
University of Alberta | Department of Human Ecology
E:rhonda.breitkreuz@ualberta.ca | T: 780-492-5997

Voluntary Participation
Please be aware that your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You are able to stop and discard your answers at any time during this survey. The time-frame of this study is 6-months, ending August 30, 2019. You are allowed to withdraw your participation and contribution by June 30, 2019 by emailing or calling the the Principal Investigator, Kareema Batal, at kareema@ualberta.ca or 780-709-7092. You are not able to withdraw your participation after June 30, 2019 as all data would have been anonymized, analysed and shared publicly and it will not be feasible to isolate a your individual responses. If you choose to withdraw your data and participation before June 30, 2019 all of your data and contact information will be deleted from the study files.

Please be aware that you are able to skip any of the questions during this survey that you do not want or do not feel comfortable answering. Your participation in this study will not be affected by skipping questions you do not wish to answer. If you wish to skip a question, simply click on “skip” at the bottom of the page. You will be directed to the next question.

Confidentiality
We will be collecting your name, business name and contact information during the survey in order to identify your responses for a future interview stage, if you choose to participate. No other personal and/or identifiable information will be collected about you or your business. All information collected during this survey will be held confidential and only accessible by the Principal Investigator and study team, including the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University. The data collected
will be coded and anonymized to make sure you and your business are not identifiable. Data collected in this survey will be stored securely where only the research team will have access to it. The results of this study will be shared digitally and orally through public seminars and/or at conferences, and in writing in a research summary and recommendations report.

The plan for this study has been reviewed by a Research Ethics Board at the University of Alberta. If you have any questions about your rights or how research should be conducted, you can call (780)492-2615. This office is independent of the researchers.