In my first post I spoke about how each of us can exhibit change by something as simple as picking up garbage while you hike can make an impact. This time I would like to introduce two more change makers that is enabling change in Tanzania.
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WiToPoli Workshop
Sometimes the challenges we face in creating a better city can seem very big and overwhelming. Some might even say impossible… So what better place to meet on a Sunday morning with a group of incredible, interesting women, than the Academy of the Impossible. Coming from diverse backgrounds like planning, community engagement, engineering and entrepreneurship, everyone there had in common the belief that women have an important role to play in city building.
Women in Toronto politics had conceived of this workshop as a way to get women together to brainstorm around ideas and issues to be put forward as a deputation for city council, in advance of the next budget. Facilitated by Exhibit Change, the day was high energy, with inspiring conversations from the get go. The world cafe format started the day off, allowing us to identify which conversations were already in the room.
The first question, where is your heart in Toronto, led to impassioned conversations about home, family, neighbourhoods, which touched on topics like development and opportunity. Following this, the groups dispersed and reformed, to think about the question “what does the city of Toronto give you?” The host at each table facilitated, building on the previous themes. Topics of opportunity, way finding, community and a sense of home expressed the appreciation and conversely some of the frustrations that people experienced in Toronto. Finally, the question “what does the city of Toronto need from its citizens?” sparked conversation on engagement, action and mobilization around some of the challenges the city faces. All the participants were then asked to note down challenges on post its for harvesting the rich conversations.
Delicious lunch gave time for mingling and personal connections, while the. WiToPoli team worked to link and connect the post it’s into themes.These themes informed the after lunch session, but not before a fun “idea speed dating session” to get the neurons firing in novel ways. Participants broke out into themed tables and got down to the nitty gritty details of coming up with practical solutions to some of the issues identified, to be presented as a deputation.
The next two hours was a flurry of intense discussion, debate, and proposal making. Note takers kept careful track of the core of the proposals, to be given to the WiToPoli team to create deputations from. At the end of the workshop, everyone offered their reflections on the day. Inspired, connected, and engaged seemed to be shared feelings, with comments in how heartening it was to be among a group of people who don’t think “you care too much”.
Lastly, the participants wrote their pledge as to how they would Exhibit Change going forward. WiToPoli are working on the deputation, so watch this space!
“Women Are City-Builders” co-hosted with Women In Toronto Politics
On September 23rd, we gathered with 30 brilliant minds in a co-hosted workshop with Women in Toronto Politics at the Academy of the Impossible.
We were primed for a day of discussion, multiple view points and a lot of work. I had the utmost pleasure of getting to facilitate the day and it was made so much easier by the sheer brilliance of the participants. We hosted a group of women (& a few men) who’s backgrounds came from politics, law, non-profit, education, community-based organizations, you name it. Very interestingly, the majority of the participants were not born and raised in Toronto, with only 6, the others landed in Toronto at different times varying from the last few months to 10+ years ago.
This really shone a light on the fact that citizen engagement is not necessarily about your geographic roots. The diversity didn’t stop there either, we had folks coming from all parts of the city which was highlighted in discussions about how Toronto is a city made up of smaller “cities” with overlapping issues.
From a process side, I am always delighted when people really give in and let go of their stranger shields early. We were asking people big questions early on and after a bit of hesitation the conversations never stopped. In fact, I always feel a little bad when I have to be the one to move to the next question or agenda item. I am sorry, I promise I do it for a reason!
It was nice to be reminded that our style of facilitation is unique and lent itself well to this conversation. We were able to map out the themes in the room over our morning discussions and then emerge to do the work in the afternoon. The energy and momentum from the day are indescribable, what comes next, only time will tell. WiTOpoli fueled the fire, now we have fanned it a bit more, so the next piece is to set this place a blaze 🙂
Inspire Yourself!
Jenn
p.s. THANKS SOOO much to my beautiful team – Linn, Alex and Terrence, you are rockstars!
Furniture Design Charrette for the Centre for Green Change
We have been working with the Centre for Green Change for a few months now. In the summer, we hosted a “Design Jam” to start generating ideas with residents about what the space might look like.
The jam spurred a whole slew of ideas that will add life to the Centre for Green Change programming and space on the inside and outside. One big idea was about the furniture: what could it look like? how could it be flexible and adaptable to all the different programming? how will it be sustainable?
On September 26th, we are meeting again to focus on furniture. We will be designing furniture for the new space and will have access to the York University sculpture studio on November 2nd and 3rd to build stuff! We are looking for designers, builders, ideas people, photographers, creative folks in general to join us. Please RSVP to designthinking (@) exhibit-change.com
Caine’s Arcade comes to Toronto!
Calling all Cardboard Creatives!
We’re pleased to announce that the Global Cardboard Challenge is coming to Toronto! Founded by the Imagination Foundation, which was formed after the success of the Caine’s Arcade viral video, the Challenge was created to celebrate the creativity & imagination of kids around the world. We will be co-hosting along with Treehouse Group, Wychwood Barns and Vivien Leung (PechaKucha Toronto).
We invite you to build your own cardboard game to celebrate fun, creativity, cardboard play and entrepreneurship! On Saturday, October 6, join us and thousands of people around the world as we get together for one big day of play. The Global Cardboard Challenge in Toronto is being held at Wychwood Barns at 601 Christie Street, from 9am – 1pm. By bringing together all our games, we can make one big arcade.
On Saturday, October 6, from 9am-1pm, we invite those same people, young and old, to bring their games to the Artscape Wychwood Barns, turning the 7000sq Barn into a “Cardboard Playdium” where everyone has the chance to experience the fun of showing
off and playing cardboard games.In the meantime, you can check us out by the huge cardboard pegasus at The Stop’s Farmers’ Market each Saturday until the 6th, where we’ll be playing cardboard games, and building our own.
Women are City-Builders
Do you feel that women’s lived experience deserves greater inclusion in the grand project of making Toronto a vibrant and livable city? Join us on September 23rd for the Women Are City-Builders workshop at Academy of the Impossible, co-hosted by Women in Toronto Politics and Exhibit Change!
The one-day workshop will support 30 diverse Toronto women in generating ideas to help Toronto manage its growth, meet the needs of its citizens, and improve its infrastructure and natural environment. The workshop cost is $20, with 5 subsidized and 5 free seats available.
The end result? Specific recommendations to be refined into a WiTOpoli presentation to City Council during budget deliberations.
Apply to participate on the Academy of the Impossible website by Friday, September 14.
Each of us can Exhibit Change
I returned from a three-week adventure in Tanzania splitting time teaching at Good Hope Orphanage and Primary School, reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and speeding through the vast plains of the Serengeti. From my flight to Dar es Salaam to being seen off at the airport coming home to Toronto, I had the privilege to meet so many change makers in such short time; Allen, a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist from United States working with World Medical Mission to train locals in prosthetics and orthotics in Kenya and Jill, Nicole, Apryl and Tanya from Canada, working for Sustainable Cities in Dar es Salaam on urban development projects with the municipal government were some of the fine folks working on incredible initiatives in Africa. In the next several blog posts I would like to share the stories of a few change makers I met along the way.
Lofty Proposals
We recently participated in an amazing and unusual focus group as part of the Upper Toronto experimental proposal. For three consecutive weeks, we collectively bashed our heads together on Tuesday evenings to dream up plans for a world in which a new city of Toronto would be built above our current city, with the intention to eventually abandon our former homes below. Sounds scary, right?
The creative minds behind Upper Toronto acknowledge that such a project is a bad idea, but if we had to do it, what would be the best way to build a new city, and why? As our group attempted to dream up this City of the Future, the problems we had to confront are ones that are not so foreign to the challenges Toronto has faced before, but perhaps on a much more catastrophic scale: planning and executing long term visions without completely destroying the lives of the people who already live here. Be it transit, social housing or gentrification, the problems with building the City of the Future are very much rooted in the challenges of running the City of Today. Planners and politicians need to address resistance to redevelopment and relocation, incredible and often unthinkable capital expenses in building and upgrading new infrastructure, and the necessity for the political will and momentum to actually see the plan through from start to finish.
How do you plan for the City of the Future 25, 50, and 75 years down the road?
The real-life trend seems to favour ambitious plans that extend 25 years into the future. Believe it or not, there are many of these plans already being implemented that will dramatically impact, and hopefully improve, our experience of living and working in the Toronto region. Some great examples of these ambitious plans already underway are Waterfront Toronto’s redevelopment plan, Metrolinx and the Big Move, and Ontario’s Places to Grow regional plan.
Waterfront Toronto is making great progress towards redeveloping an area bigger than four times the size of Monaco, close to 2000 acres. This is as close as it gets to literally building a new city, and as everyone may remember the Ferris Wheel and monorail idea, the Waterfront Toronto plan also serves as an example of how easily a long term plan, no matter how great, can be derailed by the politics of the day.
Ontario has crafted up two important plans to address regional transit and growth. The regional transit agency Metrolinx has begun implementing a 25 year initiative which includes building a much anticipated rail connection between Pearson Airport and Union Station. The Big Move initiative is aiming to create an integrated transportation system for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area to tackle congestion, increase transit use and improve satisfaction and accessibility across the region.
The provincial “Places to Grow” initiative has taken a wider view and focused on the Greater Golden Horseshoe (PDF) to begin to manage growth in the region centred around Toronto. The aim is to set development guidelines to help municipalities to revitalize downtowns in communities throughout this region while simultaneously curbing sprawl and promoting denser development to protect green spaces, the crown jewel being the vast green belt comprised of the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment.
To Build or To Engage?
During the Upper Toronto exercise what became clear was the need to address how to authentically engage people and communities from planning to implementing over such a long time frame. Planners and politicians are great at drafting initiatives and putting shovels in the ground. The problem is whether or not the best laid plans will meet the needs of the future community. Conflicting opinions and doubt can literally stop a project dead in it’s tracks, wasting time and money.
Once the Upper Toronto focus group sessions ended, the question that we walked away pondering over was if you were given a chance to recreate the City of Toronto, how would you improve not how it’s built, but how people become involved in shaping its future, from planning to implementing?
Sound off your ideas in the comment section below!
Happy Birthday to…US!
Hey!!!
We are turning 3! We are leaving our toddler years behind us and taking some big next steps. We will be hosting a little picnic in the park to celebrate our birthday. We are inviting all our past, present and future volunteers, partners and supporters.
Join us, August 8 from 7-9pm, at Dufferin Grove Park at the Main Firepit.
Jenn
Centre for Green Change “Design Jam”
Together with the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre, we are hosting a Green Building Design Jam for the Centre for Green Change.
The Centre for Green Change is a new innovated space for the community of Jane and Finch residents to build awareness, be hosting community members, designers,Toronto Community Housing Staff and York University Students to offer their ideas on the future of the Centre for Green Change. community engagement and action around environmental impacts. The Centre for Green Change will have it’s home at 2999 Jane Street. On Thursday, July 25th at 5:30pm, we will
If you’d like to attend, please email Clara Stewart-Robertson at [email protected]
See you there!