Building Community: It's more than housing
Our region is changing dramatically. We're welcoming new residents from around the world. We're building new housing and workplaces and public infrastructure at a rapid pace. We're developing the next generation of technology companies determined to transform our world. We're also witnessing the ramifications of rapid growth, with its scarcity of affordable housing, increases in social isolation, and declines in personal connection to this place we call home.
How can we build more community as we build more housing? Can we reimagine our public parks, libraries, recreation centers, and trails to connect people of all backgrounds, to cultivate trust and to create more resilient communities? Can we transform shared civic assets to foster engagement, equity, sustainability and joy?
Join WRCF for our next Do More Good Dialogue to delve into these issues.
We'll start with a keynote address from Bridget Marquis, Director of the Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative, who will share thoughts on how working together to create common spaces can be a powerful advantage. We will then move into a panel discussion about what this could mean locally:
Paul Kalbfleisch, Principal Consultant, PAUL Consulting Inc., and Co-author of The JOY Experiments
Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo, and former Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre
Aleksandra Petrovic, Executive Director, Social Development Centre Waterloo Region