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
July 12, 2016 by · Leave a Comment
Immigrants and Police Are Building New Relationships Through Theatre in Victoria, BC
June 7, 2016 by · Leave a Comment
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
December 4, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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
August 11, 2015 by · 4 Comments
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
June 9, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
“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 […]
