I recently volunteered to be a co-chair on my neighbourhood land-use committee, that facilitates dialogue between developers and the neighbourhood. In Victoria, most all neighbourhoods and/or communities have their own land-use committee; aka Community Association Land-Use Committee (CALUC). The land-use development approval process is a terrific avenue to involve citizens in a meaningful ways; i.e., […]
Foster Civic Collaboration Through the Land-Use Development Approval Process
Immigrants and Police Are Building New Relationships Through Theatre in Victoria, BC
I participated in a cool event yesterday, “Exploring the Relationship between Police and Diverse Communities – A Theatre Project”. This was a collaborative effort involving Victoria Police Department, the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria and facilitated by Transformational Theatre practitioners, Lina de Guevara (Founder of Puente Theatre, and profiled on this blog in 2012) and Victor Porter, and […]
Urban Public Benches Help Build Community Connection
It was a grey, stormy afternoon, yesterday. I took a work break (from my home office) to walk through my adjacent neighbourhood, Oak Bay, to the ocean, 15 minutes away. All along the way are public benches. Many. I took photos of some of them; attached. Although few were in use today (seasonal issue, mostly), […]
How Government System Designers Can Effectively Communicate With Poor People
This article, Homeless people left out by high tech, in my local newspaper, last week, touched a nerve. The disconnect between Government online system designers and the end-users of those systems is often all too real. It needn’t be that way. Navigating complex online systems can be a challenge for many of us, never mind the homeless, […]
Patients as Partners: Shifting The Balance of Power
“Yes, doctor.” It’s easy to agree with your doctor. After all, she knows what’s good for your health. Right? You do, too. Right? Discussing one’s personal health, in a collaborative way, can be a very difficult conversation. Call to action Last month I participated in the Patients as Partners Provincial Dialogue conference in Vancouver. I was there offering […]