Featured Guest
You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions.
Mansib Rahman
CEO, Radish
Leigh Stickle
Development Coordinator, Aryze Developments
Christy Morin
Executive Director, Arts on the Ave
Abhilash Kantamneni
Researcher, Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, University of Guelph
5 Key
Takeaways
A roundup of the most compelling ideas, themes and quotes from this candid conversation
1. Coming together while staying apart.
CUI’s new COVID 365 Signpost report provides an insight into the ways the pandemic has impacted the lives of Canadians in the last year. Kate Graham, Senior Fellow of Municipal Leadership at CUI, discusses the data made available by Advanis, quantifying the COVID experience to navigate how the impacts have unequally affected the population, and where these inequalities continue to deepen. But at a time when people needed to stay apart, communities have come together—and the one-year mark is an important opportunity to commemorate and learn from those important examples of connection and mutual aid.
2. The importance of eliminating the “other”.
Christy Morin, Founder and Executive Director of Arts on the Ave, suggests the pandemic has presented opportunities for community connection—to eliminate the concept of the “other” and reinvigorate our shared commitment to our neighbours and community. She gives several examples of local initiatives in Edmonton that she has been involved with, such as the It Takes a Village project, delivering loaves of bread to families in need, and the Families Helping Families initiative, matching families in need with volunteer families to buy and deliver groceries twice a month.
3. Home is a habit and belonging is a practice.
According to Abhilash Kantamneni, Principal of Local Insights, it is important to take this massive outpouring of community intent to connect to people’s sense of belonging and hope—testing the hypothesis that “home is a habit and belonging is a practice.” Through the pandemic, he made participatory online maps to help community members develop a greater sense of responsibility, belonging, and home: for example, by mapping local restaurants offering takeout, or the households in Guelph that had put up Christmas light decorations for their city and community. Going forward, Abhi urges everyone to “listen actively, stay goofy, embrace failure.”
4. Hyperlocal solutions to food delivery.
According to Mansib Rahman, CEO of Radish, intermediary platforms such as UberEats and Doordash have changed the way restaurants are run, in that consumers no longer order directly from them, but from the platforms instead, diminishing the sense of connection between the restaurant and the customer. Radish seeks to intervene—by creating a hyperlocal space for all three parties—restaurants, drivers and consumers—using a coop model where profits are split between drivers, restaurants and consumers.
5. Building community through a physical lens
Leigh Stickle of Aryze Developments discusses his work creating transitional tiny homes using shipping containers for people living on the street in Victoria through the pandemic. The project, “Hey Neighbour,” was crowdfunded over three months. Says Stickle, “we need frameworks that allow people to participate and not feel as helpless [to the great need] in our cities.”|No Second Chances podcast, Kate Graham:
Additional Resources
This event marked the launch of COVID365, a seminal report that shares new findings drawn from the opinions of 180,000 Canadians about how COVID-19 hit Canada’s largest cities, and how people felt throughout a year unlike any other. Read the report here.
https://nosecondchances.ca/the-podcast/
“Hey Neighbour” Initiative: https://victoriahomelessness.ca/hey-neighbour/
Maps created by Abhilash Kantamneni : https://guelphmapsguy.com/
Othering and Belong Institute at UC Berkeley: https://belonging.berkeley.edu/building-table-targeted-universal-framework
Full Panel
Transcript
Note to readers: This video session was transcribed using auto-transcribing software. Manual editing was undertaken in an effort to improve readability and clarity. Questions or concerns with the transcription can be directed to events@canurb.org with “transcription” in the subject line.
Full Audience
Chatroom Transcript
Note to reader: Chat comments have been edited for ease of readability. The text has not been edited for spelling or grammar. For questions or concerns, please contact events@canurb.org with “Chat Comments” in the subject lin
From Canadian Urban Institute: You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our webinars at https://canurb.org/citytalk
12:00:43 From Canadian Urban Institute to Mary W Rowe(Direct Message) : Over to you!
12:01:17 From Canadian Urban Institute : Welcome! Folks, please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
12:01:32 From Canadian Urban Institute : Attendees: where are you tuning in from today?
12:01:44 From JULIA VANDERLAANDEVRIES to All panelists : Hamilton, Ontario
12:01:48 From Stephen Corr to All panelists : Hi from Markham On
12:02:01 From Xerxes Au : Vancouver!
12:02:17 From Darrell Muth to All panelists : Darrell Muth Edmonton
12:02:24 From Taylor Lecky : Victoria, BC 🙂
12:02:29 From Wesley Andreas : Edmonton!
12:02:33 From Gay Stephenson : Tuning in from Vancouver!
12:02:34 From Abigail Slater : Looking forward to today. Tkaronto.
12:02:35 From KIERON HUNT : Halifax
12:02:35 From Diane Davies : Edmonton
12:02:36 From Bin Lau to All panelists : Edmonton city hall!
12:02:45 From Lee Helmer to All panelists : rural ontario
12:02:46 From Bin Lau : Edmonton city hall!
12:03:17 From Abigail Slater : These sessions have been so enlightening and meaningful and have really given me different perspective on urban building and planning.
12:03:24 From Ralf Nielsen : Port Moody, BC. The unceded traditional territories of the Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, Squamish, Stó:lō and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
12:03:47 From Ralph Cipolla : ralph cipolla from Orillia Ontario stay safe everyone
12:03:52 From Abigail Slater : Beautiful?
12:04:03 From Qudsia Saadat : Hello from Montreal!
12:04:14 From Katherine Peck : Halifax
12:04:28 From Jayne Engle : Bonjour from unceded territories of Mohawk and other Indigenous peoples, also known as Montreal.
12:04:36 From Walter Rogers : Walter Rogers from London Ontario
12:04:39 From Juan Garrido : Toronto
12:04:39 From Ruth Jeang : Hello from Edmonton!
12:04:56 From Abigail Slater : Changing the primacy of the car and the importance of accessible public space.
12:05:05 From Abigail Slater : For all communities.
12:05:20 From Kendall Christiansen to All panelists : Brooklyn (NY), Lenape territory…
12:05:57 From Canadian Urban Institute : Kate Graham, Senior Fellow, Municipal Leadership, CUI @KateMarieGraham https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-graham-9308b526/ Leigh Stickle, Development Coordinator, Aryze Developments @lstick07 https://www.linkedin.com/in/leigh-stickle/ https://aryze.ca/ Mansib Rahman, CEO, Radish @gaessaki @RadishCoop https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaessaki/ https://radish.coop/en Abhilash Kantamneni, Principal, Local Insights @akantamn https://www.linkedin.com/in/akantamn/ Christy Morin, Executive Director, Arts on the Ave @artsontheave https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-morin-66ba665/
12:06:24 From Jesse Helmer : Jesse Helmer in London.
12:06:47 From Walter Rogers : Lesson learned: How Governments can cooperate at all levels for planning and how to discuss or review our personal and community priorities
12:06:48 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Highly recommend Kate’s podcast!!’ No second chances.
12:07:03 From Susan Fletcher : Hello from Toronto. Both the advantages of virtual activities and the need for in person ones. Plus we are more tech savvy than a year ago
12:07:36 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Lesson: when there is a will there is a way. Expedited rules for outdoor cafes/lanes/etc.
12:07:47 From Lisa Hoffman : You’re doing great!
12:07:57 From Canadian Urban Institute : Read the COVID 365 Signpost report here: https://covidsignpost.ca/covid-365
12:08:05 From Sameera Ali to All panelists : Sameera Ali from Milton
12:08:32 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Unconscionable
12:09:03 From Abigail Slater : Highly recommend Kate’s podcast!!’ No second chances.
12:09:15 From Abigail Slater : Lesson: when there is a will there is a way. Expedited rules for outdoor cafes/lanes/etc.
12:10:00 From Abigail Slater : Another lesson: we cannot be smug about our own country with regard to the US. So
Much work to be done.
12:10:55 From David Crenna : CUI data collection efforts in such a disciplined way has been very valuable for the long-term learning process. Thank you, CUI
12:11:30 From Ralph Cipolla : for me it showed how important your family and neighbors are to us …and the importance of the info we got from the CUI keep up the great work
12:13:08 From Sameera Ali to All panelists : Double the rate of job loss for racialized women as well
12:13:18 From allison ashcroft : pretty similar in all the big cities, but I think if you compared the big cities to small and midsize, there would be quite a bit greater of a difference, and evidenced in the flight to places like victoria and large cities like Halifax that have more space and rural areas within their borders
12:14:40 From Sameera Ali : Double the rate of job loss for racialized women as well
12:15:13 From Gay Stephenson : Lessons Learned… the importance of leadership in a crisis and the ability to be compassionate and communicate clearly. The importance of paid sick days! Who has them and who doesn’t. Caring for one another. Meeting one another where we are at… acceptance not judgement. Working to understand one another.
12:16:31 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Even hospitals do not pay sick days for part time hourly workers. How is this possible?
12:16:59 From Lisa Hoffman : What we’ve learned – government can come to bare to address a crisis in full scale. Makes me think about a covid-19 approach to the climate crisis.
12:17:24 From Sameera Ali : Thank you to you Kate
12:18:23 From allison ashcroft : yah she did!! congrats Kate, so great to see your face again and hear your voice 🙂
12:18:42 From Walter Rogers to All panelists : Thanks Kate for your comments and leadership across Canada, Ontario and for London
12:18:59 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Dead on Mary.
12:19:37 From Abigail Slater : That is the question. Will we all settle back to the “comfort” of the past?
12:21:20 From Lee Helmer : mary – can you hit mute
12:22:30 From Diane Dyson : Les Misérables in Edmonton.
12:23:03 From Mary W Rowe to Lee Helmer and all panelists : 🙂 not me apparently
12:25:53 From allison ashcroft : i live downtown victoria and when shelters and libraries closed, unhoused neighbours were struggling and abandoned beyond belif in the earliest days before outreach workers were up and running with mobile programs and PPE understanding. i set up a water stand outside my house because people couldn’t fill up water bottles. It was so used and then in talking to people access to phones/connection with loved ones and ministries etc became the next obvious hole. so we set up a landline with chair. both were only used for a few weeks, but they filled a massive void and injustice in the earliest days of this.
12:25:53 From Spencer Hein to All panelists : Really is an incredible initiative!
12:26:51 From Abigail Slater : @allison how wonderful and creative.
12:29:33 From Abigail Slater : The relationship piece Mansib is speaking of is so important.
12:29:52 From Xerxes Au : Yeah, as someone who worked in a restaurant in 2016 I remember seeing this transition as it was happening. Can’t imagine what it’s like now
12:32:03 From Abigail Slater : Legume?
12:33:30 From Abigail Slater : Me too Mary!! Scale is not a panacea to all.
12:34:26 From Abigail Slater : All these models (VC in particular) need to be upended. Generative models not extractive.
12:34:51 From Andrew Simpson to All panelists : variant!! hmm
12:35:04 From Andrew Simpson : variant!
12:35:08 From Susan Fletcher to All panelists : Admire and Adapt
12:35:15 From Xerxes Au : calibrate?
12:35:18 From Juan Garrido : Community organizer adrienne maree brown talks about change being “fractal” – replicable and scalable.
12:35:35 From Dana Kripki to All panelists : yes, echo
12:35:37 From Abigail Slater : GEnerative. Big echo.
12:36:12 From Stephanie Beausoleil to All panelists : community Collaborative regeration 🌳 🌳 ♾
12:38:33 From allison ashcroft : I adore you Abhi.
12:39:31 From allison ashcroft : love “sense of home as a habit and belonging a practice”.
12:39:42 From Olusola Olufemi to All panelists : Definitely COVID has changed the definition and the sense of ‘Home’.
12:39:53 From Samira Farahani to All panelists : wow. fantastic Abhi
12:40:18 From allison ashcroft : the videos of driveby Christmas light lineups was huge this year.
12:40:45 From Kate Graham : Abhi’s *beautiful* safe trick or treating map is my fav <3
12:41:14 From Olusola Olufemi : Definitely COVID has changed the definition and the sense of ‘Home’.
12:41:15 From Stephanie Beausoleil to All panelists : so beautiful
12:42:01 From Stephanie Beausoleil to All panelists : prepare the garden for sowing
12:42:10 From Abigail Slater : “Architecture”- spoken like a planner!! 😀😀
12:42:46 From Faryal Diwan : I relate to that!
12:45:28 From Lisa Cavicchia : https://victoriahomelessness.ca/hey-neighbour/
12:46:11 From Abhi : When COVID-19 started, I made a specific and explicit commitment to volunteer my time and use my goofy hobbies (like making maps) to support small businesses and small communities everywhere, starting with Guelph – a place I’ve grown to call home since 2016. Here are some of the maps I’ve made: https://guelphmapsguy.com/
12:46:18 From Diane Dyson : I can hear Leigh with my volume turned down.
12:47:25 From Jimmy Johnson to All panelists : Good day
12:48:28 From allison ashcroft : it’s also created more division within our cities too tho. 5min cities/nhoods sounds great, but now that people are living in smaller physical circles, i hear from friends in wealthier nhoods of their connection to neighbours and family and enjoyment of nhood parks, etc.. In my nhood we are also building strong community, but very differently, we have encampments rather than block parties, we have storefronts with addiction research and delivery of safe supply, and we are soon to have this tiny container home village. We love our nhood, but i think in tying together christy and abhi and leigh’s presentation, we need to be very very intentional about building resilience and equitable wellbeing in all nhoods and awareness and responsibility to injustice and marginalization also needs to be owned by everyone in all nhoods. we cannot turn our backs on the nhoods who are taking on more burden and receiving less investment in parks, etc. . we cannot become more insular at the nhood level.
12:48:38 From Chirine Constantini to All panelists : we can hear you
12:49:14 From allison ashcroft : To be clear, North Park is very welcoming of the tiny container home village and have enjoyed our collaboration with Aryze.
12:50:37 From Daias Jose to All panelists : Lesson learned: Don’t lose hope in humanity just yet. Huge thanks to our today’s speakers for their major contributions to the communities.
12:51:19 From Abigail Slater : RIGHT ON KATE!!!!
12:51:28 From allison ashcroft : looking ahead, for ALL complex problems and all the existing and foreseeable crises that surround them, we need a complete commitment to transformative change from those with power, privilege and positionality.
12:52:00 From Daias Jose : Lesson learned: Don’t lose hope in humanity just yet. Huge thanks to our today’s speakers for their major contributions to the communities.
12:52:33 From Sameera Ali to All panelists : yes!! agree Kate!
12:52:35 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : Power to the people
12:53:06 From allison ashcroft : yes!!! shift power and resources to municipalities. but then in turn, cities need to shift that power and resources to its community partners too. full transformation. this year has been working harder with more funding, but not sustainable and not transformed for lasting impact and change.
12:54:09 From Raj Dhaliwal to All panelists : Hello from Calgary! …Lesson Learned: the Pandemic put long occurring stresses in systems that shape our lives into the limelight, but global conversations still remain focused on stabilizing a shock and preparing for the next, while stresses remain ignored as we “recover”. We need to shift privileges into processes and empower community participation in institutional and political decision making.
12:58:09 From allison ashcroft : how develop a sense of responsibility for injustice. we may not be to blame for every injustice, but we all have a responsibility to call it out and address it.
12:58:33 From Canadian Urban Institute : Read the COVID 365 Signpost report here: https://covidsignpost.ca/covid-365 You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our sessions at https://www.canurb.org/citytalk Keep the conversation going #CityTalk #InItTogether #COVID365 @canurb
12:59:10 From Abhi : Give ourselves permission to fail!
12:59:34 From Raj Dhaliwal : Hello from Calgary! …Lesson Learned: the Pandemic put long occurring stresses in systems that shape our lives into the limelight, but global conversations still remain focused on stabilizing a shock and preparing for the next, while stresses remain ignored as we “recover”. We need to shift privileges into processes and empower community participation in institutional and political decision making.
12:59:56 From Sameera Ali to All panelists : Same for our downtown in Milton, in a week we were able to allow that
13:00:08 From Sameera Ali : Same for our downtown in Milton, in a week we were able to allow that
13:00:12 From Abhi : Before I started making maps – I tried to do a virtual “Guelph’s got talent” competition, with limited success! I gave myself permission to fail, and tried the next goofy thing! 🙂
13:00:37 From allison ashcroft : attendees may appreciate the works of the Othering and Belong Institute at UC Berkeley and particularly the framework offered of Targeted Universalism as means to pursue equity and racial justice https://belonging.berkeley.edu/building-table-targeted-universal-framework
13:00:42 From Geraldine Cahill : Interesting element for the scale question; I believe we do want to scale the impact we have – this energizes us in these conversations for example. Scaling the lessons, the elements that can support uptake in other areas. But we also need to celebrate and support communities to thrive with all their beautiful uniqueness.
13:00:46 From Liz Dennis : Wow – I didn’t expect this conversation to be so energizing and uplifting. Thank you CUI and panelists for so many concrete examples of hope and abundance.
13:01:00 From John Burton : Keep goofing on Christy!
13:01:11 From Rebecca Keetch : Amazing conversation! Thank you so much for hosting this!
13:01:20 From Dana Kripki to All panelists : great discussion, thank you!
13:01:23 From John Burton : You are great, and making a big difference!
13:01:29 From Abhi : Have a nice day to all the +107 (fellow) goofballs participating in this chat 🙂
13:01:34 From Faryal Diwan : Mary Rowe is one of the best facilitators I’ve ever experienced!
13:01:40 From Taylor Lecky : ^ +1
13:01:41 From Abigail Slater to All panelists : You have gotten me through thus far! Thank you.
13:01:46 From Geraldine Cahill : 100% agree Faryal
13:02:13 From allison ashcroft : Mary i met you on this day in Toronto and we acknowledged that the world was about to change in a serious way. love that we’re still talking. thanks all.
13:02:44 From Canadian Urban Institute : Engaging Black People and Power: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1YfhDdAGREqNM_o04Dnhew
13:02:48 From Lisa Cavicchia : Met you too on this day Allison!
13:02:50 From Faryal Diwan : Thank you!
13:02:51 From Geraldine Cahill : WOOOT! Thanks all
13:02:55 From Vivien Keiling to All panelists : Thank You
13:02:55 From Melissa Higgs to All panelists : Thank you!
13:02:58 From Abhi : Say goofy, friends!
