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Building great public places is what we do every day — and that work is never done alone.
We work with community builders across sectors to solve some of the most pressing issues cities face: climate change, housing affordability, and access to nature and public spaces.
Today, place matters more than ever, and we’re seeing firsthand that a lack of investment in public places has contributed to a connection crisis in our cities that’s damaging the health of people and our planet.
Mental health costs have risen to $50 billion per year in Canada.
A lack of social connections is as bad for your health as smoking and not exercising.
A lack of exposure to nature has a proven link with: heart disease, anxiety, stress, cognitive function, immune systems, sleep, diabetes, cancer, and allergies.
Overall, climate change affects the health of ecosystems as well as human health—e.g., the loss of food, medicine and livelihoods provided by nature.
No two public places are ever exactly the same, just as no two problems require exactly the same solutions. Knowing this, we work with individual communities in three different ways to ensure we’re applying our expertise where and when it’s needed.
Transforming public spaces requires a thoughtful process and a lot of hard work. Our teams can often be found with their sleeves rolled up, shoulder to shoulder with the community they are serving, to show what’s truly possible in public spaces.
This approach gives us the opportunity to test, learn, and scale our ideas.
Many of the communities we work with come to us brimming with ideas and even a path forward, but they need support in terms of resource capacity and scaling. This is where our teams use their experience and work closely with community placemakers to offer guidance on the journey from vision to execution.
This approach empowers communities to lead the way and scale the creation of public places they need.
When our hands aren’t in the ground, they’re sharpening our pencils and bringing together community leaders, government officials, and purpose-led organizations to create impact at a systems level. Our aim is to positively work across sectors and with government to influence policy decisions that will help us transform public spaces and ultimately lead to a reimagining of how we design cities in Canada and beyond.
This approach opens up the possibility of creating an impact that benefits our children and communities and lasts for generations.
Our work with communities across Canada has created some of the most vibrant public places where people and nature thrive side by side. Each project is a showcase of what’s possible and proof that human activity doesn’t have to mean environmental destruction — even in the heart of our biggest cities. Here are a few flagship projects.
Great public places can help solve some of the biggest issues facing our society today.
Find out how our programs are transforming public spaces to improve the health of people and our planet.
Transforming public spaces is a vital step in caring for our planet so that future generations can have healthy, vibrant lives. The impact of the work we all do today is significant. Support the essential work of reconnecting people to each other, their communities, nature, and our planet through better public places.
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