Cities Deepening Community

 

 

Cities Deepening Community is a collective impact movement aimed at strengthening neighbourhoods and ending social isolation in Canada.

Cities Deepening Community has been working with communities and organizations across Canada and internationally since 2016. We are building a vibrant network of communities that are committed to strengthening neighbourhoods and fostering positive community change through resident-led action.

We support communities to increase a sense of belonging, citizenship, resilience, and well-being while also fostering community security and strengthening local economies.  We do this by hosting community of practices, webinars, and events, producing publications that share our learnings and supporting our members with specialized coaching.

The CDC team is here to support you. Do you have any questions? Want to get involved? Reach out to any member of the team: Heather Keam, Connor Judge Astrid Arumae

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Learn about ABCD Canada

 

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Become a Cities Deepening Community Member

 

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10 - A Guide for Deepening Community

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With the growing sense of disconnect and social isolation happening in communities across Canada and the lack of civic participation in our towns and cities, we need to declare community essential.


We believe that Deepening Community is the answer.


This guide has been developed to support community champions, concerned citizens, municipal staff and decision-makers such as mayors and elected officials to build the case to deepen community and make your community essential. 

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Getting Started

 

If you want support to develop a community plan or neighbourhood strategy, reach out to Heather or Dan. 

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Guide: Building Your Case for a Neighbourhood Strategy

Cities are now developing neighbourhood strategies that help guide municipal staff, organizations, and residents to work together to build healthy vibrant neighbourhoods. This guide is for municipal staff or community groups interested in building the case for the development of a neighbourhood strategy.

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Guide: Community Engagement for Developing a Neighbourhood Strategy

If you are looking to build a neighbourhood strategy, this guide will provide you with tools and resources to assist you in engaging the community and, ultimately, developing a meaningful, actionable strategy.

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ABCD at a Glance

Guide: Asset-Based Community Development at a Glance

Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) starts with people’s gifts and strengths (assets). These assets equip people to respond to local needs and challenges in their neighbourhoods. ABCD also considers how individual and group assets can be harnessed and connected to create positive changes within a community.

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Guide: Five Steps for Building Strong and Sustainable Groups

Building a successful group takes time, resources, relationships and trust. In this guide, you will find five steps and associated resources to help build groups that will work together to make change in your community.

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Blogs:

Update From Tamarack Co-Founder Paul Born

I want to start with a huge thank you to the Tamarack Community for all the wonderful comments and well-wishes as I retired from the Co-CEO role at Tamarack. We are a remarkable community and it has been a privilege to give...

The Power of Connection and Collaboration: Reflections from Celebrating Neighbours – Measuring the Impact of ABCD

Last month, the Deepening Community team hosted Tamarack's first in-person event in over two years. This blog post is a reflection of the most significant learning I took away from the event. 

The Gifts of Strangers: Understanding the Benefits of Diversity

One argument for diversity is that it ensures participation and creates the power of being heard. It is expressed by the popular maxim, “Nothing about us without us.” Implicit in this idea is the concept that those outside...

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Publications:

CASE STUDY | Local Lessons Learned: When Community and City Meet in the Middle

Three very different Canadian cities; three beautiful stories of success.  

Discover how St. Albert, AB; Edmonton, AB; and Burlington, ON, have ventured into the world of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) to improve...

CASE STUDY | Weaving the Community Fabric of Burlington, Ontario

In Burlington, Ontario, a remarkable transformation has taken place. The City of Burlington has embarked on a journey of community empowerment, shifting away from traditional top-down approaches to community development and...

CASE STUDY | Coffee Creates Community - The Story of Wood Buffalo’s Resident Engagement Reset

This case study tells the story of how the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) changed its approach and philosophy to engage its residents across the various communities in the region. 

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Webinars:

WEBINAR | Community Leaders: A Necessary Part of Your Social Change Strategy

This webinar recording features a conversation with four community leaders who discuss why they stepped up and their role in building sustainable change at the community level. 

WEBINAR | When Residents Lead: Creating Change by Coming Together Locally

This conversation with members of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues explores the importance of local leadership to create vibrant neighbourhoods – with the capacity to identify and address issues that matter most...

WEBINAR | Evaluating the Impact of Citizens Sharing Their Gifts – Lessons Learned from Abundant Communities Edmonton

This webinar recording features a conversation between our consulting Director of Evaluating Impact, Jean-Marie Chapeau, and Abundant Community Edmonton’s Howard Lawrence regarding ACE’s 2020 impact report.

This includes...

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Our bi-monthly Deepening Community newsletter highlights the latest resources and articles on community development as well as information for all of our upcoming events.  

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