The role of passion... and fear...

I like Vancouver. As you may have gathered :-). Well, apart from high bridges, and especially those that swing and/or are cantilevered off cliff faces no matter how beautiful the view! 

Complementing the landscape, which is truly amazing, are the people. Friendly and courteous, absolutely. More often smoking that I am used to (outside thankfully) and frequently accompanied by their dogs, including on aircraft, trains, buses and in taxis, and many with big hearts and lots of passion for what they do and where they live. 


Take Mike Lewis for instance. He has been working in the area of community economic development and resilience for maybe 30 years and is currently leading the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal which is focused on assisting the development of community resilience in the face of climate change and peak oil. Mike and I walked in the mid evening around Vancouver's waterfront talking about the state of the world and the importance of strong local communities and resilience. One of the resources CCCR has developed is a set of community resilience indicators and a Community resilience manual. With  23 characteristics of resilient communities and the steps to take if you want to assess and strengthen your resilience, this resource is complemented by data collection forms, survey tools, sample invitations, and other resources to support improving local resilience. This resource has been used by several communities and regions in several countries over the past ten years to assess their resilience and organize for community-wide action.

Mike and I also talked about how local initiatives are intertwined with governance and other 'systems'. These are important because even the most amazing local initiative needs supportive systems to make a difference beyond the locality, as well as to more easily facilitate locally led changes. Vancouver has not always experienced such supportive systems in local governance but other systems have certainly shown a willingness to adapt and respond to locally voiced priorities. One of these is the Vancouver Foundation.


After a very pleasant stroll into the city centre I met with Lidia Kemeny  and we talked primarily about their work in neighbourhoods and bottom up influencing through (sometimes very) small grants. One of their priorities is to help build a more connected and engaged community because even in beautiful Vancouver that is not always the case. And its not just in poorer communities either.


As the Vancouver Foundation's website says:

"We support projects that help people become more connected and engaged to one another, to their neighbours and neighbourhood, and to their larger community. When we use the word "connection" we mean our relationships with others and the strength of those relationships. "Engagement" means our commitment to community and the willingness to take actions to solve problems or to participate in activities that make our community better. Connections and engagement -- two sides of the same coin. And both critical to creating healthy, vibrant and livable communities for all."

Vancouver Foundation is developing a framework to support improving connection and engagement in communities using a range of methods because "when people feel connected to one another and when they are engaged in the life of their community, neighbourhoods are safer, people are healthier, there is less depression and suicide, and communities are more resilient. We are simply better off in many of the ways that matter."


There is a lot we could learn from their approach and their research I think...check out their small is beautiful pages and the success stories there. 

One more area of learning is with regard to urban gardening/farming. I have mentioned the number of  community and publically viewable productive gardens before and I imagine many of these owe something to City Farmer. On a typically sunny morning in Vancouver and after crossing the inlet and wandering through a few residential streets I found 2150 Maple Street. Here, content to remain doing what they have been doing since 1978 (albeit it now on a site that has grown), City Farmer teaches people how to grow food in the city, compost their waste and take care of their home landscape in an environmentally responsible way. There is a compost toilet, green roof, cob shed, organic food garden, permeable lane, natural lawn, waterwise garden, worm and backyard composter and more.

"We are simply a demo garden, we teach," Mike says. "That's what we do. The trick is to have someone here 6 days a week and they talk, they host, they tell stories. There are plenty of other gardens out there but no one is in them to tell you about them. This way it is so much more meaningful."

Mike, Sharon and Tammy introduced me to their gardens, native berries and bugs and (as the seagulls chased the eagles away overhead) we talked... about sustainable urbanism and how to sustain funding too. While they feel very lucky to have had relatively consistent funding  it is clear that they work at this. Making it easy for their work to be appreciated by adding value and knowing what else is going on in the city gardening world is a key strategy alongside always being polite, friendly and forthcoming. 


As well, they are open to all-comers and practice making things realistic and achievable. This means very active listening because "if someone has a criticism, no matter who it is, because there is probably a lot of truth in what they say. There is always more to the story that we have come up with. " At the same time they remain focused on their core business. It's a careful balance and, sure, they've seen the focus shift and change over the years but the essence remains the same. 


There are a number of interesting observations in there, and from each of these wonderful people. One thing each of these people has noticed is that most things happen when passionate people get together and catalyse doing... we need to nurture passionate people! And challenge our fears too :-)

Denise