Alexis Buettgen

My research and community engagement work focuses on three broad themes: the intersectional relationship between disability, poverty, work/employment, climate action and political economy; social movement/coalition building locally, nationally, and transnationally; and advancing inclusive, creative, and critical community-engaged research methodologies.

My career has been driven by a vision for the eradication of poverty and social inequalities through the advancement of community development and social movements, scholarship and knowledge that promotes transformative change in organizations and institutions with respect for all forms of human difference and well-being for all. My research addresses various issues of social, economic, and environmental justice and in the public, private and non-profit sector in Canada and internationally.

Recent and ongoing projects:

• Co-Investigator: Participatory Advocacy Research Network: Building Authentic Partnerships and Collaborations to Further the Research and Advocacy Goals of the Developmental Disability Community. SSHRC Connection Grant (2023-2024)
• Principal Investigator: Disability Inclusion in the Green Economy: Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities. Mitacs (2022-2024)
• Co-Investigator: Making DPOs equal partners of inclusive development in Africa: Program Evaluation. International Disability Alliance and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. (2022-2023)
• Co-Investigator: CoPro2022: Advancing a New Era of Equity-Based Co-Production. SSHRC Connection Grant. (2022-2023)
• Principal Investigator: Disability Inclusion in a Just Transition Towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies. International Labour Organization. (2021)
• Co-Investigator: Disability Wikibase: Modelling and Implementing an Intelligent Bilingual Knowledge Network. SSHRC Insight Development Grant. (2020-2022)
• Co-Investigator: Toward Just Transitions: Integrating Sustainability Justice into Municipal Climate Action Planning. SSHRC Connection Grant. (2020-2021).
• Principal Investigator: Realizing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through the SDGs. International Disability Alliance. (2020)

• Mitacs Accelerate Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022)
• Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy-Student Award (2016)
• SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2013)
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2012)

Rioux, M., Buettgen, A., Zubrow, E., & Viera, J., (Eds.). (2024). Handbook of Disability: Critical Thought and Social Change in a Globalizing World. Springer. Living edition available at: https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-16-1278-7

Erikkson, S., & Buettgen, A. (under contract). Young People in Times of Crises: Global Revelations and Social Change. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Buettgen, A., Fontes, F., Eriksson, S., & Barnes, C. (2023). Special issue of Social Inclusion, 11(4): Disabled People and the Intersectional Nature of Social Inclusion. https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/pages/view/nextissues#DisabilityInclusion

Mulvale. G., Moll, S., Phoenix, M., Buettgen, A., Freeman, B., Murray-Leung, L., Micsinszki, S., Mulalu, L., Vrzovski, A., Bruce, E., Foisy, C., & Jusrut, P. (2024). Co-creating a new Charter for Equitable and Inclusive Co-Creation: Insights from an International Forum of academic and lived experience experts. BMJ Open, 14(3). doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-078950 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/3/e078950

Buettgen, A., & Tompa, E. (2023). From the Standpoint of Employees with Disabilities: An Analysis of Workplace Accommodation Processes in the Non-Profit Sector. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. 12(1), 161–190. https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/976

Jodoin, S., Buettgen, A., Groce, N., Gurung, P., C., Kett, M., Keough, M., Macanawai, S., Muñoz, Y., Powaseu, I., Stein, M.A., & Stein, P. (2023). Nothing About Us Without Us: The urgent need for disability-inclusive climate research. PLOS Climate, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000153

Buettgen, A., Micsinszki, S., Phoenix, M., Mulvale, G., Wyndham-West, M., Park, S., Bruce, E., Fleisig, R., Rogerson, K., Murray-Leung, L., & Moll, S. (2022). Unpacking the potential of developmental evaluation in co-design work. Health Expectations, 25. 1186-1189. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13456.

Buettgen, A., & Klassen, T. (2020). The role of the non-profit sector as a potential site for inclusive employment. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.29173/cjnser.2020v11n2a367

Buettgen, A., Castillo, M., Menze, J., & Tromel, S. (2022). Disability inclusion in a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies. Policy Brief commissioned by the International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/green-jobs/publications/just-transition-pb/WCMS_860628/lang--en/index.htm

Buettgen, A., Hardie, S., & Wicklund., E., Jean-François, K.M., Alimi, S. (2018). Understanding the Intersectional Forms of Discrimination Impacting Persons with Disabilities. Ottawa: Employment and Social Development Canada, Social Development Partnerships Program – Disability Component. Report available at: www.disabilitystudies.ca/projects--intersectional-forms-of-discrimination.html

Buettgen, A. (2024, May 31). Exploring inclusive employment of persons with disabilities in the green economy. IDEA Webinar. https://vraie-idea.ca/tools-and-resources/exploring-inclusive-employment-persons-disabilities-green-economy

Buettgen, A. (2023, May 25). Disability and working in non-profits. The Pulse. Accessible Media Inc. https://www.ami.ca/The-Pulse-Ep-35-Disability-Non-Profits

Buettgen, A. (2017, November 20). What the job market is like when you have a disability. Interview for TVO.org. https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/what-the-job-market-is-like-when-you-have-a-disability