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Journey of the Gown

Posted by Marilyn Moffat on May 19, 2020

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

Posted by Glenda Cooper on May 7, 2020

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

Posted by Lisa Attygalle on May 1, 2020

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’

Posted by Paul Born on April 28, 2020

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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Facilitating Co-Design Virtually: Part One

Posted by Lisa Attygalle on April 24, 2020

Only a few weeks back, Tamarack hosted a 2-day workshop on how to facilitate co-design sessions with diverse stakeholders to problem-solve solutions together. Then, COVID-19 happened, and the question that is top of mind for many is—How do we facilitate co-design sessions virtually?

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Lessons in Coping from Calgarians in Chronic Poverty

Posted by Meaghon Reid on April 23, 2020

When Calgary’s poverty reduction strategy, Enough for All,was developed, it would have been hard to imagine a city where we are quite seriously considering that phrase as it relates to our current crisis, to ourselves and to our families. Is there enough for all of us? Is there enough for me? The greatest irony of our current predicament is that people in our city who have been living in chronic poverty have a lot to teach us about how to handle our new normal. They have been living it for years.

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