The Latest

Lessons from a Pandemic about Community

Over the past several weeks, as the world has been grappling with new realities, the Tamarack Institute has been listening and collecting amazing community stories. I have had the very fortunate opportunity to hear about how this pandemic has brought communities together and to observe the many resources being freely and widely shared. The sum of the amazing stories that I have come across are about the multitude of ways people are boosting each other’s morale and demonstrating solidarity. This pandemic has been a valuable teacher, bringing to light what it means to be community. I have read and been inspired by so many stories that demonstrate community as kind, generous, vibrant and resourceful. 

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Don’t Cancel Neighbours Day…Celebration is What We Need!

COVID-19 has brought on some positive changes like the gift of time, slowing life down, more time with family but it has also caused lots of sadness and disappointment due to cancelled group celebrations and fun. The weather is starting to warm up, the sun is out, and the flowers are blooming. This is the time of the year that cities are planning their Neighbours Day celebrations. 

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Journey of the Gown

This morning I felt the power of magic. A long time ago, two young pre-teen girls, twin sisters asked me to sew each of them a gown. It had to be Harry Potter gowns, from the books they had just read. The movie had not been made, so I had to be creative in the design following my imagination from how I saw the Harry Potter gowns; because I too had read the first book.

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How Communities are Organizing Random Acts of Kindness

During this time of crisis and uncertainty, acts of caring, generosity and neighbourliness that have been emerging all across the country. In fact, there seems to be a movement of kindness. From sporadic and random acts to methods of pairing asks for help with offers to help. This wide-scale organized approach to caring is showing up through mutual aid groups and the idea of caremongering.

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Facilitating Co-Design Virtually: Part Two

Now that you’ve considered ways to facilitate an inquiry phase virtually, we turn to looking at options for how your co-design participants can explore what is common or shared across their diverse perspectives as they look to the future.

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When Community Becomes ‘Unessential’

Community gardens were just declared essential in our city. Gardens were opened as a food security measure, noting that many low-income people rely on gardens to save money on food. The next big challenge, and this will be announced in the next few weeks, is how to manage a community garden without community.

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