Join us for an exciting online workshop highlighting recent research from Simon Fraser University on neighbourhood wellbeing!
In this workshop, Dr. Holden will introduce research, policy and practice work in Vancouver to put neighbouring on the agenda for people who care about social connections in communities. These efforts have spanned over a decade and involved partners including community foundations, local governments and health authorities, housing providers, and a community of practice called Hey Neighbour Collective. Dr. Holden will provide a snapshot of the results, ranging from literature review and survey research results to policy recommendations for design of complete communities, social infrastructure, community housing operators, and social service providers. These results will be interspersed with some of the poignant stories Dr. Holden has heard during engaged research with people in vulnerable situations, about what neighbouring means to them.
This event will include an interactive element in which participants are given scenarios of reactions and resistance to organized efforts in neighbouring and asked to brainstorm customized prosocial solutions.
The thrust of the message of this presentation will be that the nature and meaning of neighbouring has changed in Canadian cities, but that cracking the tough nut of prosocial local neighbourhoods remains a crucial component of community development and quality of life.
Presenter:
Meg Holden is a Professor of Urban Studies and Resources and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, where she also directs the Centre for Sustainable Development. Meg conducts and mobilizes research in urban and regional planning and policy, sustainable development and well-being, and pragmatic philosophy to create a more sustainable and climate-resilient urban future. This has led to a number of long-duration community engaged research initiatives in housing and policy, the development and design industries, and neighbourhood houses toward more sociable, neighbourly and green housing and neighbourhoods. Meg also contributes to capacity- and network-building in the domains of community and well-being, for example through the Community Housing Canada project, the Hey Neighbour Collective, and through her founding editorial role with the International Journal of Community Well-Being.
