Neighbourly Love

By: Nicole Dawe

I assume that at least 80% of people want to be connected to other people, particularly their neighbours. We are social creatures. Our brains crave interaction with others. It brings us joy. While we can have communities of interest and friends and family that we are in deep community with despite geography, it isn't a replacement for knowing those who live closest to us. Knowing our neighbours makes us feel safer, allows us to help one another and creates opportunities for spontaneous human connection and fun.  

I didn't always make this assumption. In Deepening Community, Paul Born shared a story of the first condo building he and his wife lived in and how they didn't really know anyone. I was surprised by this and comforted. That's the life I'm living...

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Many are Cold...But Few Are Frozen

By: Al Etmanski

Many are cold… but few are frozen
Those words by the exquisite writer Anne Michaels provide a glimpse into the source of Canada’s ingenuity.

You can’t understand Canada without understanding that you are never very far from winter here.

Our ingenuity comes from snow, ice and a harsh cold climate. Yes, our climate is warming. But it is still pretty cold in most places for a good portion of the year...

Placemaking Efforts in Kitchener Create Connections

In Kitchener on August 13, 2016 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., eight neighbourhood groups will transform places in their neighbourhoods into something even better, as part of the Placemaking Challenge.

The Placemaking Challenge will mark the end of an extensive public engagement campaign to create a Neighbourhood Strategy, with online comments closing on August 19. The challenge is hosted by the Neighbourhood Strategy project team and the city's planning division.

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 Discover the Neighbourhood Tools

As a follow-up to our Deepening Community: Resilient Neighbourhoods - When People Care  gathering, we have added more to our collection of neighbourhood tools to share with you. 

From animated stories to fresh neighbourhood coffee, these tools are innovative, helpful and fun.

• Discover our online Neighbourhood Tools Library
• Explore these 10 new tools
• Follow us @CommunitySeeker on Twitter
• Like our Deepening Community Facebook Page

Please share these tools and think about which tools of your own you may be able to share to help us grow this neighbourhood toolbox.

Upcoming Events

Community Change Institute

September 26-30, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario

We are excited to announce that the first ever Community Change Institute is being held in vibrant Toronto, Canada this Fall from September 26 - 30, 2016. Our cities, the places we live, provide amazing opportunities for resilience in these disruptive times. The Tamarack Institute Team has worked over the last year to re-think and re-build our annual five day learning event to respond to this challenge.

Join us, along with world-renowned thought leaders Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Roger Martin, Frances Westley, and Stephen Patrick. Join these incredible speakers and our learning community for the first ever Community Change Institute being held in vibrant Toronto, Canada.

Register here

Thinking as a Mindset and a Practice

September 12, 2016 | Red Deer AB

In this daylong session, Mark Holmgren will blend together lecture and presentation with a variety of how to Build Capacity for New Visions with an exploration of how Upside Down Thinking innovations and experiences can be applied to approach complex problems. Participants will be presented with some of the most disruptive propositions from various sectors to work through and learn from together. Through interactive exercises, participants will also work on disruptive propositions that resonate directly to their own situations.

Register here

Accelerating Community Change with Collective Impact

September 15, 2016 | Winnipeg, MB

Discover Collective Impact and advance your community's agenda with proven tools and techniques.
Join internationally recognized trainer and community builder, Liz Weaver, for a workshop that dives into the collective impact approach and how you can use it to enhance the impact of community change efforts.

Register here

Webinar Series

Collective Impact Webinar Series

Each of the 1-hour sessions in the series will focus on discussions around each of the key elements for Collective impact. You will learn about the elements and review some tools that will help guide planning for that element.

Register or Listen Here

Community Change Institute Webinar Series

With the CCI fast approaching, each 1-hour webinar in this series will focus on a different theme that will be featured at the event. Each webinar will also bring in both faculty from the event, such as Liz Weaver and Paul Born, as well as Keynote speakers, such as Stephen Patrick and Severn Cullis-Suzuki, to provide an introductory conversation around key topic areas such as the art of disruption and collective impact.

Register Here