Parkdale Planning: Community Wellbeing Workshops

Parkdale People's EconomyGeneral

Five years ago, the Parkdale People’s Economy released the Parkdale Community Planning Study as a blueprint for building decent work, shared wealth, and equitable development in Parkdale. This year, we are re-visiting our community planning process to assess what we have accomplished, what we need to continue, and what we need to shift to build renewed plans for a more equitable future in Parkdale. In the wake of the global pandemic, we will ground our planning to address local crisis response, mid-term recovery and rebuild, and long-term visions for transformation in Parkdale. 

To support this planning, we are launching the first phase of a three-part participatory planning process in Parkdale. The first phase – the Community Wellbeing Workshops – aims to build a community-based vision for economic, racial, and climate justice centered on local wellbeing in Parkdale. Here are three ways to get involved:

  1. Join our Public Workshops: Register here for one of three online events taking place in the last week of July:
    • Monday, July 26th from 6-8PM (RSVP)
    • Tuesday, July 27th from 6-8PM (RSVP)
    • Friday, July 30 from 1-3PM (RSVP)

If you would like to receive a physical handout to accompany the online workshop, please contact info@parkdalepeopleseconomy.ca or drop by the Good Food Market (see below).

2. Visit us in Person: Visit our Interactive Booth at the Good Food Market in Masaryk Park (Queen and Cowan) every Thursday from 3-7PM. Please wear a mask and practice physical distancing! 

3. Plan a Workshop: We are currently planning workshop sessions with community groups in Parkdale to meet people where they are at, hold spaces with trusting relationships, and ensure that supports such as translation are in place. If you are interested in planning a workshop with your community group, please reach out to us over email at info@parkdalepeopleseconomy.ca. We are aiming to plan workshops with translation supports in Tibetan, Tamil, Tagalog, and Hungarian.

The Community Wellbeing Workshop is the first phase in a three-part participatory planning process taking place this year. The next phase, Community Mapping, will take place in Fall 2021 and the final phase, Action Planning, will take place in Winter 2021. The community planning process is being guided by a Planning Committee made up of 15 community members, community agency representatives, and grassroots organizers, as well as the Parkdale Neighbourhood Planning Table. If you have any questions about the planning process, please contact the Planning Coordinator, Mercedes Sharpe Zayas at mzayas@parc.on.ca.