Civic Impact

When she founded Twenty One Toys back in 2012, Ilana Ben-Ari didn’t have post-secondary education institutions on her radar. The company’s first product, the Empathy Toy, is a blindfolded puzzle game originally designed with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind “to bridge the communication gap between visually impaired students and their sighted classmates.” Its knack for creating empathy between those playing together has given the Empathy Toy an appeal beyond the visually impaired, often in grade-school classrooms. But Ben-Ari quickly became surprised at where the calls were coming from.

“We had people from post-secondary institutions contacting us. We weren’t pitching to them, we weren’t marketing to them,” says Ben-Ari. “But we’ve found the toys are both being used by the students in their courses, but also by staff. I think Michael Cassidy [associate dean in the Faculty of Continuing and Professional Studies at Sheridan College] said it best: They’re moving from information to participation. I think they see the toys as an object that allows them to teach more based on experience.”

Starting with Sheridan College, where the Empathy Toy is used in five departments including Continuing Education and Business, Twenty One Toys has become involved with more than 30 post-secondary institutions, sometimes just selling the toy to the institution, but often offering training with it. “At Sheridan Continuing Education we’re excited to be partnering with Twenty One Toys to look at new ways of answering the question, ‘How do we teach 21^st Century skills?’ says Cassidy. “We have trained several of staff admin and instructional team on their innovative Empathy Toy, and have begun the exciting journey of using its lessons to inform the redesign of our courses and programs. We are looking forward to continuing to incorporate their current and future toys into our program and working together to build the future classroom for lifelong and professional learning.”

Later this year, the Twenty One Toys team are flying to Hong Kong to train 50 MBA students on empathy and business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Someone they had been working on their logistics told his former professor about the toy. “It’s important for us to explain our core values to these students very early on in the program so the impact they have in that day can continue on with their lives,” says Ben-Ari.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Ilana Ben-Ari 

Toronto came in in eighth place in this year’s International Winter Bike to Work Day.

Two hundred and seventy intrepid local cyclists signed up for the challenge. But it wasn’t enough to win. Zagreb, Croatia, and Oulu, Finland, took the top two spots, with 842 and 680 citizens, respectively, pedalling themselves to work on February 12, which might be considered the dead of winter. Toronto was also outdone by Novi Sad, Serbia, Calgary, Montreal and Moscow.

It wasn’t a matter of who had the best weather. Temperatures were lowest in Montreal (minus six Celsius) though Toronto was a chilly minus three compared to Zagreb’s balmy four degrees Celsius. Endurance and fortitude in the face of sub- or near-zero temperatures seem to be built into the challenge; Los Angeles, Bangkok and Mexico City did not make the leaderboard.

In total, 10,845 people from around the world committed to bike to work or school on February 12, in a demonstration that biking can be a year-round form of transportation and that motorists shouldn’t assume that cyclists disappear until the spring.

“No waiting for mom, dad or buses. Freedom and bragging rights!” commented one Toronto year-round cyclist as part of the challenge’s websie. “Riding a bicycle in the winter makes you look tough. Here’s a secret: it is actually pretty easy and fun,” commented another.

In a survey of participants, 76.2 per cent said they were satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their route to work by bike, the same percentage who said they were satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the winter maintenance of cycle paths or tracks in their communities. Just 53.6 per cent of respondents said they feel it’s safe to cycle in their community in the winter.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: International Cycle to Work Day

On the first weekend in March, Torontonians will have an opportunity to join other people in communities around the world in celebrating global Open Data Day. To mark the occasion, a small group of volunteers from Civic Tech Toronto and Urban+Digital Toronto are hosting a one-day collaborative hackathon focused on addressing civic challenges.

CodeAcross Toronto 2016 is intended to bring together citizens from diverse backgrounds who share an interest in making Toronto a better place to live, work and play through data, technology and design. The event is designed to celebrate both Open Data Day as well as CodeAcross, a related initiative that encourages citizens to use technology and design to improve their communities through “civic hacking” led by American non-profit Code for America. Civic Tech Toronto, a grassroots group that hosts a civic hack night every week at various venues around the city, is one of dozens of Code for America volunteer “brigades” around the world that use technology to address local civic issues.


“Toronto’s civic tech community is growing at a dizzying pace. It’s remarkable to see. It’s not just coders and hardcore tech folks, either. It’s a wide range of people who actively want to help make this already great city even greater,” says Gabe Sawnhey, one of the event organizers. Gabe is also a co-founder of Civic Tech Toronto and the executive director of Urban+Digital Toronto.

Toronto is home to many technology-focused communities that hold regular events and meet-ups, like HackerNest and TechToronto. The emergence of meet-up groups like Digital Urbanism Toronto and Civic Tech Toronto, which hosts weekly civic hack nights every Tuesday, reflect a growing subset of Toronto’s tech scene that looks to apply design and technology to civic life. These groups offer space for like-minded individuals to meet each other, expand their network and spark potential collaborations.

While technical skills are always in demand at these types of events, Gabe is careful to reiterate that people with all kinds of experience are needed to help make the ideas and products relevant and useful. “We hope that anyone with an interest in applying their knowledge, skills and passion towards making our city a better place will join us on March 5th,” says Gabe. “Even if you can’t make it for CodeAcross Toronto, I encourage you to come out to another event or meet-up. It’s never been easier or more fun to get involved in this kind of work.”

CodeAcross Toronto 2016 is happening from 9am to 6pm on Saturday, March 5th at the Ryerson University Digital Media Zone. For more information and tickets, see the Civic Tech Toronto website.
 

With its home secure for another five years, the Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre is planning to expand its TV production capabilities to reach even more of the downtown neighbourhood.

City council voted last week to extend the lease of the media centre, a grassroots youth organization that engages young people through participation in media arts activities such as live radio broadcast, storytelling, poetry and music, arts instruction, music recording, photography, and other arts activities. The nominal rent on the 3,729-square-foot basement space is only $2 a year, though the operating expenses are estimated to be close to $40,000—a big chunk of the not-for-profit’s annual budget.

“It’s great that they’ve renewed our lease but it certainly doesn’t take off the financial pressure to do what we do,” says executive director Adonis Huggins. Much of the funding comes on a project-by-project basis.

The centre was founded in 1990 as something of an antidote to negative media coverage of Regent Park, often depicted as especially crime-ridden. The initiative has evolved as has the community, which has been transformed oer the last few years with a major revitalization that’s razed most of the dilapidated 1940s and ’50s-era community housing. A community newspaper led to radio and TV programs that cover local news and concerns.

“Regent Park seemed to be all things bad ,and the community felt that. We wanted to give people a different picture of Regent Park, including themselves,” says Huggins.

Until 2011, the program was located in the basement of a Toronto Community Housing Corporation building. The existing space is smaller but better designed for the centre, whose 250 members create more than 50 programs.

Currently working with Rogers to get a digital channel that can broadcast more content to more residents, Huggins suggests that there is a market for hyper local broadcasting. “People become more engaged in their neighbourhood if they can see themselves, if they know where to go to for things they’re interested, they’d be more engaged in the services in their neighbourhood if they knew what they were,” he says.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Adonis Huggins

Young people in the Flemingdon Park area will have a new place to hang out and make some noise.

This week, officials and representatives from the United Way, Jays Care Foundation and Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office launched the Flemo City Media Lounge and Recording Studio at the Dennis R. Timbrell Resource Centre at Don Mills and Eglinton.

This new community facility, undertaken as a partnership of Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, was made possible by donations to the City by the Jays Care Foundation and the United Way Toronto and York Region’s Youth Challenge Fund. The city provides the space and the youth and staff come up with the programming. The studio has been around since 2009 (and it’s not Parks, Forestry and Recreation’s only recording facility). But there’s now a multipurpose space with flexible work stations where youth aged 13 to 29 can hang out, rehearse, meet or work on other projects without having to go through the city’s formal booking process.

“This group is able to reach youth in a way that’s really progressive and positive and create a constructive opportunities for them. They’re local youth so they’re able to relate to issues that other youth are dealing with,” says Michael Ellison, manager of community recreation for Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation. Ellison figures between 20 and 30 people could squeeze into the space.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Michael Ellison

 

Trying to take its arts and crafts offerings up a notch, St. Lawrence Market has established a new juried program designed to attract unique and high quality vendors.

Arts at the Market will feature 18 booths in a tent operating from March to October. Vendors will be able to select which weekends they’ll participate, so there will be a rotating selection of offerings over the course of the season.

Something of an evolution of the Market Cart program which was launched in 1998, this new approach aims to showcase handmade items that are unique, marketable and timely. It draws on how other famous public markets like Vancouver’s Granville Island and Seattle’s Pike Place Market have encouraged excellence among arts and crafts vendors.

Certainly having jurors who have their fingers on the pulse is a key element of the program. Lila Karim, managing director of North York Arts, Trisha Lepper, partnership specialist at Etsy Canada, Melissa Routley, program manager at Artscape’s Creative Placemaking Lab and Milyda Scott, pottery artist and committee member at The Potter's Studio for the inaugural team.

“They’ve developed criteria for what they’ll be looking for,” says Samantha Wiles, supervisor of marketing, communications and events at St. Lawrence Market Complex. “We’re really going to draw on what they’re seeing in their roles, what are the emerging trends, what are the things that do well in this environment.”

The program is part of a larger effort to bring more activity and colour to the St. Lawrence Market and the surrounding area. “We’re going to be rolling out several place-making initiatives in 2016 and 2017, different ways to build community spirit, animate the indoor and outdoor areas,” says Wiles.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Samantha Wiles











 

A midtown resident, Louis Mark wouldn’t benefit directly from a Relief Line, but he thinks he knows a good transportation plan when he sees one.

The founder and leader of Toronto Relief Line Alliance says he formed the group last fall after some conversations about the Metrolinx report examining the possibility of subway line running from Sheppard Avenue East to the downtown core via Don Mills Road, providing relief from crowding on the Yonge Street subway line. But with the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line and the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension under construction, and the Scarborough Subway Extension still up for debate, the relief line seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

“The study shows that a subway from Don Mills to downtown would provide tremendous benefits. The ridership along is much higher than the Eglinton Crosstown, for example,” says Mark, a computer science student at the University of Toronto. “But nobody was talking about it, the regular people of Toronto weren’t talking about it so we formed this group to raise awareness.”

Starting with about 22 members, the alliance has doubled its membership just in the past week, attracting people willing to sign its petition and donate money, as well as the attention of city politicians.
The idea of a relief line has been bounced around for years, but the Metrolinx study, from which the alliance draws most of its facts and figures, makes a convincing and tangible case. With crowding at Bloor-Yonge Station expected to increase 60 per cent by 2031, a relief line would attract 9,200 commuters at the peak of the morning rush hour, the same usage as Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth lines. Estimated to cost $7.4 billion, the group points out that it would contribute $13 billion to the economy in saved time. Mark points out that the line would compliment—not overlap with—the Eglinton Crosstown and Scarborough Subway Extension.

“I was never involved in advocacy before this but what made me want to get involved was the incredible frustration from seeing how much rhetoric there was and how politicized everything was,” says Mark. “I’m hoping we can bring some solid facts and numbers to make sure Toronto gets the best transit possible.”

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Louis Mark

When Steve Himel was looking for a location for his new brewery—Henderson Brewing Company, named afer Toronto’s first brewer, Robert Henderson—he discovered how many other breweries were on the west side of Toronto.

“First there was an alarm and the alarm sounded, ‘Competition!’ But then there was a lightbulb and the lightbulb reminded me of things like the Niagara Wine route,” says Himel, who has in worked in beer most of his life, though spent a big chunk of his career doing strategic planning with big companies.

Meeting with the 13 breweries and brew pubs in the area between the Junction and Trinity Bellwoods Park, Himel discovered there was serious interest in his idea: creating a brewery district. Such a district would allow the members to better promote their suds, coordinate their events and collaborate on group events and promotions, give craft beer lovers an easy way to navigate what’s on offer and entice sceptics who might need to do some taste testing to find beers they like. A designated district would also be able to access government programs and be part of broader tourism marketing campaigns. Though other cities have engaged in craft beer promotional efforts—Columbus, Ohio, for example, has an “ale trail” of 25 breweries and brew pubs—this would be a first for Toronto.

The abundance of breweries on the west side is not accidental. They need to be located on industrially zoned land and so the west-bound railway corridor provides the most accessible industrial land in the central area of the city. (Brew pubs don’t have as many restrictions.)

There are still some issues to figure out before a district can be launched, including what area should be included. But Himel hopes there will be something to officially announce by July.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Steve Himel

One year into its existence, the youth advisory council of YouthREX is looking to feature young community leaders in a documentary.

Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange (YouthREX) was founded in December 2014 to “mobilize research about youth, increase understanding of positive youth development and invest in continuous quality improvement in Ontario’s youth programming,” promoting health and wellness, supportive friends and family, employment, diversity and civic engagement among other themes. The inagural council, which provides advice on capacity-building, knowledge mobilization (for example, turning academic research into accessible, usable information) and evaluation support (determine success of projects) was asked to come up with a keystone project. They decided to make a doc about Ontarians aged 16 to 25 who are making a positive difference in their communties.

“We asked them to do something that would reflect their interest as well as what YouthREX is doing and what they came up with is super in-line with our work of supporting grassroots youth organizations in Ontario. They wanted to amplify the amazing work that’s going on,” says Yumi Numata, knowledge mobilization and communications manager at YouthREX.

The agency has learned a lot in its first year. Most of all, that youth-driven organizations can have as much knowledge as academics and institutions that study and work with youth.

“Sometimes people can assume that academia is where it’s at or take a top-down approach to this kind of work, but we’ve learned that there is already a lot of existing knowledge that we want to support the youth sector into formalizing a little bit and make the knowledge more accessible to them,” says Numata.

The deadline to apply to be featured in the doc is January 28, with filming taking place over a couple of months.

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Yumi Numata  

Toronto’s newest coworking space has opened in the Junction neighbourhood this month, reflecting how quickly that part of Toronto is changing.

“I first started living in the area about 10 years ago,” says Lab T.O. founder and writer David Hamilton. “On the week I moved there, I remember being at a local Coffee Time at around 8 p.m., and seeing a guy get jumped by two tough looking men. Minutes later, I found out they were plainclothes cops arresting a crack dealer. Throughout the ordeal, I was the only one in the donut shop who even batted an eye. There’s still a rough element to the area, but it’s also one of the few affordable places for creative people to live in the city, and the neighbourhood is starting to reflect that. I’ve been seeing more people in their 20s and 30s who aren’t working traditional jobs and who want to be involved in their community. This is perfect for creating a co-working community. Also, with tech companies like Ubisoft and Freshbooks having offices in the neighbourhood, it’s becoming a major tech hub within Toronto.”

With spots for as many as 25 people at a time, the loft-style space can be rearranged for events and workshops. “One of the things I’m most excited about is being about to host free events at the space which typically aren’t held in this part of the city,” he says. “In the next few weeks, we’re hosting some video game programming workshops and a WordPress meetup.”

Like other co-working spaces, Lab T.O. aims to combine flexibility for independent workers with a workplace environment that allows for serendipity, collaboration and socializing among creative types, though Hamilton isn’t zeroing in on any particular industry or sector. The community feeling will come from working shoulder-to-shoulder and from the location itself. “Many locals in the Junction, High Park and Roncesvalles don’t want to commute all the way downtown,” says Hamilton. “For those further-flung, it’s just a few minutes’ walk from the subway, the GO and the UP Express, and it’s on the Railpath for cyclists.”

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: David Hamilton

 

For one advocate, last week’s announcement that Toronto will be home to Canada’s first transitional housing facility for LGBTQ2S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two spirit) youth is big step in supporting homeless and underhoused queer youth. But it’s just the first one.

The YMCA Sprott House, located in the Annex, is a 25-bed transitional housing facility launching next month where LGBTQ2S youth can stay for a year less a day, while accessig programs that can help them gain work and life skills.

“Having known for over two decades that this population of young people are largely unsafe in Toronto’s shelter system and having worked in this area for the past 10 years, I am very pleased that the City of Toronto has finally allocated funds to this essential service for LGBTQ2S youth,” says Alex Abramovich, a researcher, currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, who has been an advocate for and collaborator on the project. “So many people have waited a very long time for this announcement. I am also relieved that there will finally be a dedicated housing program for LGBTQ2S youth.”

But Abramovich says the city still needs to move to support LGBTQ2S youth who are in emergency crisis situations. “Ensuring that LGBTQ2S youth have a specialized emergency shelter to access in Toronto is certainly a critical next step, especially for LGTBQ2S youth who have been kicked out or forced to leave home and are in crisis,” he says. “Although the city is moving away from an emergency response to homelessness, we know from research and from the young people themselves that an emergency shelter for LGBTQ2S youth is a necessary service in meeting this population’s needs.”

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Alex Abramovich

A couple of years ago, at a retreat of leaders of Canada’s largest private foundations, some of the participants started to talk about their leases and other challenges of their current spaces. Bruce Lawson, president and CEO of the Counselling Foundation of Canada, took the initiative to connect some organizations that might be able to collaborate, which led to a series of meetings around the possibility of sharing space. Next month, Laidlaw Foundation will be the final partner to move into Foundation House, the direct result of those discussions.

“I’m curious about how we will settle, and the kind of culture that will emerge and how the staff will adjust and transition into a new reality,” says Jehad Aliweiwi, executive director of LaidLaw Foundation, which invests in ideas, partnerships and advocacy supporting young people being healthy, creative and fully engaged citizens.

Partners The Counselling Foundation and the Lawson Foundation, as well as tenant Ontario Nonprofit Network are already working out of the 2 St Clair Avenue East location. With the arrival of Laidlaw Foundation, the number of people in the 10,000-square-feet space will hit about 40, plus four hot desks that will be rented out to other organizations.

Aliweiwi expects there will be cost savings in the organizations sharing resources like a kitchen, meeting room, supply room and supplies, as well as IT and telecom services. The offices have a less corporate feel than their current space, with a shared open-space for most of the employees. But money wasn’t the main motivation behind the decision to establish Foundation House. First and foremost, the partners were looking for synergy.

“The main vision for the space, since we first started talking about it, is that we wanted to create a spacial experiment that allows for random encounters among staff,” he says. “CEOs and executive directors do have opportunities to get together, but staff of foundations are rarely able to get together. We wanted them to have opportunities to connect and interact.”

Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Jehad Aliweiwi

Wikipedia is often the first place a curious art-lover will turn to learn more about an artist, but what happens when there is no article to be found? It’s an especially common concern for female artists, but Art + Feminism and the Art Gallery of Ontario are teaming up to help correct those blank spots.

On January 20, the AGO will host the fourth Toronto-area Wikipedia Wednesday. While the edit-a-thons started in New York City in 2014, Amy Furness, the Rosamund Ivey Special Collections Archivist for the museum thought that the AGO would be a good local partner because they have “the space and the resources,” emphasizing that the AGO’s role will be “hosting and facilitating.” January 20 will mark the fourth time the AGO has hosted the event.

The edit-a-thon is open to anyone with a laptop, but Furness says that “it’s predominantly women, because part of the goal is to empower women editors.” The facilitators will provide hands-on training to people who are new to creating and editing Wikipedia articles. “Many of the people come completely green, and we teach it from the ground up every time. Often it’s making changes to existing article, while the more ambitious ones might start creating articles from scratch.”

Between events, Furness and the Art + Feminism group keep a running list of potential articles to edit. On the night of the edit-a-thons, the AGO provides research materials to the group, and encourages them to flesh out short or incomplete Wikipedia articles with information and images. “In common with everywhere else in the world, we have a gender disparity” in publically-available artist information. “Something the AGO has always done is try to document the arts scene here, and to some extent that’s a local story,” she explains.

The event’s impact can be felt on a global scale. In the past year, more than thirty new articles have been created for female artists, with another thirty receiving expanded and improved articles. The impact can also be intensely personal. “It’s also important to empower people to feel a sense of ownership over Wikipedia,” Furness says. “It’s something everyone can contribute to and build. People may not emerge from an event being full-fledged editors, but they’ll have a better understanding of how Wikipedia works.”

Toronto artists are about to get another opportunity for exposure. The Toronto Art Blast, launching this July, is a month-long open-studio crawl that will connect artists directly with the public. Carolyn Quan, the event’s founder and producer, explains the Toronto Art Blast as “Toronto’s very first city-wide, all inclusive artist-open studio and exhibition event."

Submissions to the event are open now. “It’s a non-juried event open to all visual artists” including photographers, painters, kinetic artists, fiber artists, and more, Quan explains. After paying an entry fee, artists are automatically accepted into the event. They will be responsible for finding their own exhibition space. Many will show out of their studios, homes, or garages, while others will partner with local galleries, cafes, restaurants, and community centres to bring their work to the public.

Quan, who has been organizing open-studio tours in Hawaii and California for many years, was born and raised in Toronto. She sees this new event as an expression of her “huge, huge love” for the city, and a chance to unite artists under one umbrella of artistic opportunity. Quan hopes that the event can capture the 80% of Toronto artists not currently represented in popular neighbourhood art events such as the Riverdale Art Walk or the Queen West Art Crawl. “It’s mostly about tying it all in - instead of having all these communities here and there, this brings it together under one roof. When are artists are able to connect to with each other, it really elevates their motivates to do more, to show more, and to create their exposure,” Quan says.

She’s also hoping to partner with local arts organizations across the city, in an effort to boost the event and the artists’ profiles. “Really, it’s creating a broader, unified space for artists and artisans in the GTA. I’m really hoping the Scarborough and the North York arts organizations will all be on board as partners, and create that web of unified entities,” Quan says. “I’m about community more than anything else.”

For budding social entrepreneurs, finding workspace can be a major stumbling block. How best to connect with a community of like-minded people without dipping into precious start-up capital? Fortunately, the Centre for Social Innovation has an answer.

Their Desk Exchange Community Animator program, which is now accepting applications for all three of its current locations, asks for one eight-hour shift each week. In exchange, the DECAs, as they’re known around CSI, have unlimited access to the CSI workspace—including meeting rooms, hotdesks, and printing and scanning facilities—and its community. “Our model is to rent space, but we wanted to make sure it was available for folks who maybe weren’t able to afford that, or who wanted to contribute to the community in a different way,” explains Brittney Drysdale, a community animator with CSI Annex. By taking on logistical responsibilities like directing guests and booking meeting rooms, DECAs form a major part of the CSI operational team. “We wouldn’t be able to run without our DECAs,” says Drysdale.

They’re also a fundamental part of the CSI community. They help organize social events and welcome both members and guests into the space. “We call our DECAs super-users because they’re so familiar with the space and the community, and they know how to leverage that. They act as connection points, and that’s where the animation point comes in. They’re the ties between members,” says Drysdale.

Former DECAs are sometimes hired into the CSI permanent staff, while others use their time behind the desk at CSI to springboard their own social and entrepreneurial ventures. Former DECAs include Ilana Ben-Ari, who went on to launch the award-winning 21 Toys, and Brian Chang, who began singing with the CSI Annex-based Toronto Mendelssohn choir during his time as a DECA.

For those who are interested in becoming a DECA, the application deadline is February 1. In addition to a six-month commitment, Drysdale says they’re looking for people who are passionate about social change. “We’re looking for folks who want to be here, who are looking for community and workspace, and who are interested in a learning opportunity.”