Urban Minds

We're excited to announce that Urban Minds is doing some research this summer! Please share with any youth networks you have. 🟧We're looking for youth in Ontario who are 13-18 years old 🟧 Youth be compensated (if they wish) with 1 Volunteer Hour for filling out the survey 🟧The survey is offered in English Scan the QR code or visit: https://lnkd.in/enxPWVw8

Our Team attended this year's Ontario Professional Planners Institute Conference! From September 24th to the 27th, Urban Minds team members participated in the conference's exciting activities—from attending keynote presentations by city-building experts like Brent Toderian to attending insightful sessions with groups like the City of Kitchener who showed off some 3D printed models of their city as a tool for community engagement. Plus, we hosted some sessions of our own! Our Co-Executive Director, Ryan Lo, co-hosted a session called "Youth Are Not The Future, But The Now" with Corrin Wendell, AICP the Founder & Executive Director of YEP! Youth Engagement Planning! They talked about how and why they deliver youth engagement services in the city-building industry, shared their success stories, and ultimately encouraged other planners to include youth in the planning process. Ryan also moderated the panel discussion during the session regarding "Chinatown Tomorrow: Innovative Engagement for the future of Chinatown-Spadina". The panelists discussed their work on the Chinatown Tomorrow project and their unique community consultation engagement process that respects and uplifts the Chinatown community. Last but not least, Urban Minds hosted a session called "Are youth really apathetic? Unpacking youth disengagement from public engagement". Our team members, Kelly Gingrich, Catherine Caetano-Macdonell, and Chanel Chin, shared their research findings about youths’ perceived disengagement from planning and public engagement and explored how planners can do their part to address these issues. Best of all, we had a great time meeting fellow planners at our booth! A shoutout to those who participated in our fun meme activity—we loved seeing your creative answers! Overall, we left the OPPI Conference feeling truly inspired. A big thank you to the Urban Minds team members who attended and helped out at our booth! We look forward to participating in more planning conferences in the future! #OPPIConference2024 #AdaptationTransformation

After a more laid-back Day 2, Urban Minds kicked off Day 3 of Ontario Professional Planners Institute Conference with an informative session by our very own Kelly Gingrich, Catherine Caetano-Macdonell, and Chanel Chin! Over the summer, Kelly, Catherine, and Chanel have been leading an in-house research study surveying youth on barriers and preferences of community engagement. We learned that: 🎨 arts-based engagement remains the most popular option among youth 💬 many youth still seem to prefer discussing community issues with their friends rather than on social media as one might assume 🗳️ some would like to have a direct say on issues that affect them through voting (i.e. a referendum) especially since they aren't eligible yet to vote for their political representatives Super proud of this team for delivering a great presentation and handling the Q&A so well, and also very grateful for all the youth who participated in our survey!

What. A. Day. Kicking off day 1 of the 2024 Ontario Professional Planners Institute Conference, I had the pleasure to present with Corrin Wendell, AICP of YEP! Youth Engagement Planning. We're just so amazed by how much our journeys mirror each other and how well our missions align. I even got a signed copy of her bestselling children's book, Ava Tanner The City Planner! Teaming up with Sharon Hong (ERA Architects Inc.), Howard Tam (ThinkFresh Group), Ran Chen and Patricia Cho (Toronto City Planning), and community organizer Shulan Tien, I moderated a lively panel discussion on our unconventional engagement strategy for Toronto's Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Study. It was a moment of pride to see such great Asian representation in leading this important initiative in our city. Last but not least, Angela Ng and I got to connect with so many attendees at the Urban Minds booth and got to read some pretty great captions that folks came up with for our "What does youth engagement 'meme' to you" activity! If you haven't already, come check out our booth tomorrow, and make sure to attend our third session this Friday morning, "Are youth really apathetic? Unpacking youth disengagement from public engagement" led by our team Kelly Gingrich, Catherine Caetano-Macdonell, and Chanel Chin!

Urban Minds will be hosting a session called Are youth really apathetic? Unpacking youth disengagement from public engagement on Friday, September 27th at 8:00AM. Join us to hear how we engage youth in planning-related initiatives and how we're unpacking youths’ perceived disengagement from planning and public engagement. To learn more about the session visit this link: https://lnkd.in/g6fCbNAi Urban Minds will have a booth in the "Conversations Corner" located in Chedoke "C" on the 3rd floor. Come by to meet the team and learn more about how Urban Minds is promoting youth engagement in city-building. Hope to see you there!

A little rain couldn't stop this amazing group of gr.10 students from getting on their bikes and riding 12 km around Guelph yesterday, learning about active transportation infrastructure and wayfinding signage along the way. Urban Minds have been working with Claire Basinski, MCIP, RPP, CP3, Isooda Niroomand, and Kate Berry on the City of Guelph's Active Transportation Wayfinding Strategy over the past few months. This project led us to work with Hayley Tompkins as well to organize this group ride and workshop for youth to share their thoughts and experiences as cyclists and pedestrians in the city. They spoke about popular destinations they'd walk or bike to, drew mental maps of their routes to school, and designed their own signs for places that needed wayfinding information along our route yesterday! My legs might be a bit sore and my bike is absolutely caked in mud, but my heart is full because this is what #youthengagement is all about! 💪🏻UM team: Shehzeena Khan Oluwatamilore Ayeye Chanel Chin Shanzay K.

On behalf of Urban Minds, I joined the celebration of the opening of Northcrest Developments YZD Experience Centre & Plaza yesterday. I am delighted to see the space with different forms of art and play - “the float” mural by Jacquie Comrie using colour psychology to bring joy to our life❤️, the swings, the mini-golf⛳️, different winter stations relocated from the Beach, the decorations on the long fences around the site, the tiger mural by Jieun June Kim at the entrance (🐅 for courage and the butterflies for transformation🦋), and the mushroom mural symbolising “the conversion of the unused/ death matters” on the mushroom container farm!🍄 The colours enliven the grey concrete runway. It’s inspiring to see the meaningful engagement and partnership with the diverse communities. With the approval of the Secondary Plan, one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in North America is taking off! 🛫

We are happy to report that 1UP Leaders Lab 2024 was a huge success! This year’s Leaders Lab took place on Saturday, August 17th and Sunday, August 18th. We had over 20 high school students join us from across Ontario, all of whom were eager to become 1UP Fellows and start their own 1UP school chapters. Check out this recap video made by the 1UP Creatives Team to hear participants reflect on their 1UP Leaders Lab experience: https://lnkd.in/e-iJDR4W

Have you wanted to get more involved in your community and industry but are not sure how to start? Whether you are a student, emerging professional, or an established practitioner, our next TSA CONNECT is the perfect opportunity to make connections and explore volunteerism in the GTA's architecture community! On Wednesday, October 9, at 6:30 PM, join us for an evening of networking and relationship building as our Featured Guests share their stories and advice as active volunteers in our community: from what motivates them to volunteer to how they balance their work, family, and volunteering obligations. Our Featured Guests represent a wide variety of volunteer roles and organizations working to make our industry and city better for all, from non-profits to advocacy groups, regulators to municipal committees. For this session, we welcome this inspiring group of Featured Guests: - Afsaneh Asayesh, Becoming Architects Canada / Devenir architecte Canada - Anna Owusu, BAIDA (Black Architects + Interior Designers Association) Canada - Janice Miyagi, Toronto Society of Architects - Elijah (Eli) M. Bawuah, Mentorship Initiative for Indigenous & Planners of Colour (MIIPOC) - Jennifer Esposito, Building Equality in Architecture Toronto - Joanne Chan, ARIDO - Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario - Joe Lobko, City of Toronto Design Review Panel - Katerina Bong, Toronto Preservation Board - Kristi Doyle, Ontario Association of Architects  - Olivia Keung, RAIC - IRAC - Pamela Bruneau, Toronto Society of Architects - Patricia Milne, Architectural Conservancy Ontario, Toronto Branch - Renée Powell-Hines, BAIDA (Black Architects + Interior Designers Association) Canada - Robyn Brown, ULI Toronto - Settimo Vilardi, Ontario Association of Architects  - Tatiana Soldatova, Urban Minds - Tejasi Gadkari, SOSA - Society of South Asian Architects, Canada - Ute Maya-Giambattista, DIAC, Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU) - Veronica Madonna, TMU Alumni - Vivian Lee, The Canadian Architectural certification Board-Le Conseil canadien de certification en architcture - Zviko Mhakayakora, DesignTO So come out and meet some of the amazing volunteers making a difference in our community and to learn more about how you can get involved! This TSA CONNECT will also double as this year’s OAA President’s Visit, with OAA President Settimo Vilardi and Executive Director Kristi Doyle joining us as guests. So come down and learn more about what the OAA has been up to! Get your tickets today – limited spots are available! And as always this event is free for TSA Members (student membership is free!). https://lnkd.in/gRJA_x_6 #architecture #volunteering #volunteer #architect #torontosocietyofarchitects #networking

We have an exciting new blog post! One of our Communications Coordinators, Audy Noor, highlights key moments of 1UP Leaders Lab 2024—our annual leadership training program that prepares high school students from across Ontario to lead their own 1UP school chapters. Read the blog to learn why this year's Leaders Lab was one of our most successful ones yet: https://lnkd.in/gMSaUUDX