Hi, I’m Dan Ritchie, the newest member of the Cities Deepening Community team. As a Manager of Cities, I will support members who want to develop neighbourhood plans. Joining the Tamarack Institute at the beginning of November has been an exciting experience for me, especially during this period of great uncertainty.
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Have you ever thought about whose role is it to build community? Whose role is it to fix the problems? Is it government, maybe social service programs? Is it groups and associations? Sometimes, I think that communities are looking for a superhero to swoop in and fix all their problems. But this superhero does not exist. What we need is a group of superheroes such as Marvel's Avengers, with each hero bringing their own gift and knowledge, and when its used as a group big changes can happen.
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In a recent webinar discussion hosted by Tamarack, Cormac Russell talked about his new book Rekindling Democracy: A Professional's Guide to Working in Citizen Space. Cormac, who describes himself as an itinerant storyteller, filled the book with stories from his travels while asking the question what these stories might call forth from us. His overarching thesis is that citizens must be at the center of any authentic democratic response to the challenges we face.
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The National Collaborative is a committee that provides a national network for accessing evidence-informed practices, leveraging resources and capacity, and identifying national opportunities for shifting policies and systems with a goal of supporting improved outcomes for under-represented youth as they navigate transitions from high school to post-secondary education, training and careers.
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Open Architecture Collaborative Canada (OACC), is a community of socially-minded designers, architects, planners, creators, and innovators who strive to create equitable and mutually beneficial relationships between communities’ quality of life and their built environment.
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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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