Dean Homicki’s Post

Mobility Camp Unconference no. 7 - hosted in York’s 15th Century Guildhall on Friday 20th Sept 2024 Lesson learned #2 - Change the record with Positive Vibes! ✌️☮️ We chose perhaps a bit of an unusual/different theme for this year's Mobility Camp… "Positive Vibes"… no further context required. During the day it struck me how often we get stuck in a continual moan and stasis that we have no power, we've achieved nothing, that we're stuck… etc etc. [insert further moans of your choice]. During Mobility Camp we saw what happens when you set a positive tone and frame for people. It felt like we gave people a license to feel good and positive about things - and it had an impact! Mobility Campers always bring good vibes, but this year the energy in the room was particularly buzzing, conversations were pro-active and people seemed to feel good about things. I remember the first time I read James Gleave’s Positive News edition of Mobility Matters. I felt instantly better about everything and remember sending it my teammates saying LOOK at all the amazing things that are happening 🤩 Then, in late 2023 Charlene Rohr, Janice Jaison and I were undertaking a series of interviews as part of a project. Remember that time? To rejog your memory… "plan for drivers". Bad, bad times… bad, bad vibes. Everyone we had interviewed was evidently feeling those bad vibes. It was rubbing off on me. I looked at the next interviewee….someone who is an expert on the environmental side… the vibes are about to get worse… Yet…to my surprise, the environmental perspective buoyed me up: ⭐️ Transport is doing relatively WELL compared to some other sectors. 🌟 We have a broad understanding of what needs to be done. ✨ We (largely) have the technologies we need in place and in progress. 💫 People have experience of using alternatives already. We just need to get on with it all… I FELT THE POSITIVE VIBES. Our co-organiser squad agreed to roll with the topic. I'd highly recommend setting the tone with Positive Vibes where you can in your conversations, workshops and events. Where will Bad/Negative Vibes get us, really? We've got this… 💪 Shout out to the co-organising squad Amber Kenyon, Kit Allwinter, Ejiro Ikoko, Omar Ajaz, Stephen Lynn, Chinebuli Uzondu, Catriona Swanson, Alistair Aitken

Britain is ranked bottom out of 14 European countries in terms of its level of nature connectedness according to a study by Richardson et al. in 2022. So, how do we bridge the gap to a deeper relationship with the natural world? This is something that we explored in this week’s NatureProcess Coach Training programme when I asked the participants how their own NaturePractice was developing. One participant shared how they were focusing on the plants in their house and changing the relationship they had with the little flies in their house. They hadn’t yet created an outdoor practice. Living in a city and easily overwhelmed with all the noise, they were studying their local area to find green spaces and mapping routes. When spring comes, they will start to venture out. If you have a chronic health condition it might be impossible for you to leave the house. I know that it’s true for me on the days when autistic fatigue hits badly. There are days I don’t have the energy to go to the allotment. So, I too surround myself with plants and have the bed positioned so that I can stare out the window at the sky when energy levels are low. When I first starting running the NatureProcess programmes I would have many clients turn up to sessions and share guiltily that they hadn’t spent any time outside. Upon further exploration, not only were they ill but they had set themselves up with plants and facing windows so that they could connect in a way that made them feel safe, comfortable and warm. It can be easy for those of us who grew up in villages and outdoors and who are capable to spend lots of time outdoors to judge those who find it difficult to spend time in the natural world. Yet it’s essential to meet people where they are at with their experiences. And help them create small experiences that can lead them to bigger ones. Especially if we want people to love and care for nature in the way that’s needed to create a truly sustainable future for all life in Earth. #natureconnection #coachtraining #personaldevelopment Image: Woman looking out a window at a natural setting Photo by Alec Douglas on Unsplash

We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Conestoga College's Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness, and Performance (CISWP)! Over the next four years we’ll work together to support research advancing health and safety in Ontario and creating safer workplaces. Together we’ll: ✅ measure job exposures in the construction and paramedic sectors to understand how they contribute to workplace injury and illness risk ✅ help businesses solve their job accommodation challenges with scalable resources ✅ help businesses reduce workplace injury and illness risk ✅ use innovative technology to advance the development of appropriately fitting and inclusively designed personal protective equipment and tools to minimize the risk of injuries and illnesses

What I find truly fascinating (but which also held true for many neighborhoods there 30+ years ago when I lived in the area) is that many areas of San Diego county have good pedestrian space and infrastructure. But what is absent is a culture of walking & #walkability. There are definitely great pockets of walking culture around the sprawling county, but they are just that - pockets, isolated and frankly the most convenient thing for most folks in the region is to drive. It’s difficult to have a functional life in regions like this if you don’t have a car. You can build your life for example around some of the public transit options but you have to be fiercely dedicated to crafting that life, it’s neither mainstream nor usually easy. I thought a lot about cultures of mobility when I was in San Diego. How to craft a culture of walking and walkability in areas that DO have good space and infrastructure for it but the routines, mobility habits and culture for it just don’t exist. I have a lot of ideas for this (too much to cram into a post) and over at GWCN: Global Walkability Correspondents Network our local chapters launching are also often led by people who are exploring similar questions and pioneering shaping local walking movements themselves. And I have to confess, it’s easy to see why people don’t walk when, even if there is great pedestrian space, there’s no evidence whatsoever of walking habits and culture. I generally felt safe moving along the sidewalks of the area we stayed but there were times where, as a woman and specifically as a mother moving by foot with two children I felt vulnerable being the lone pedestrian as a steady stream of car traffic zoomed by us. Also, I certainly did not rely only on walking during our stay, it would have been beyond difficult with the distances covered especially with two young children, which brings up aspects of local living that are dear to me (especially after becoming a mother) but that’s another post….

#firstaid is an essential skill that we all should have for #peaceofmind! Be for the #workplace, home or for the #sportingfield, being able to know what to do in an #emergency is vital. #investinyourself and #learnfirstaid with us in #term2 - find more at https://lnkd.in/gUeKiKWC

Cape Town | Is our Four Seasons 🌦️😎🌈 Our HQ is based in the heart of Cape Town and we embrace the city’s dramatic weather changes. Inspired by the saying that Cape Town experiences “four seasons in one day,” we’ve created a video piece titled “The Four Seasons.” Just like the weather, your journey of self-development can be unpredictable. But with Omni’s diverse learning solutions, we’ll never let the weather hinder your growth. 🌱 Whether you prefer in-person or online learning, we customize our solutions to meet your unique needs. Our convenient and flexible programs ensure you can continue learning and developing, no matter the season. 🌞🌧️💨❄️ Join us and experience the convenience of learning that adapts to your life, just like the weather in Cape Town 😀 Let's get you started today: https://lnkd.in/d3KRP7i #WeareOmni #CapeTown #FourSeasons #LearningSolutions #SelfDevelopment #Convenience #StackableLearning #LearningPathways #Workforce2030 #DevelopmentStack

Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness, and Performance (CISWP) at Conestoga College has received a prestigious funding award from the Canada Foundation for Innovation/Fondation canadienne pour l'innovation (CFI) and Ontario Research Fund (ORF) to support CONSTRUCT, our new Centre for Ontario’s Network of Skilled Trade Researchers, Unions, Contractors, and Tradespeople. CONSTRUCT is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing workforce challenges in the skilled trades sector. By fostering collaboration and innovation, it seeks to create safer, more inclusive work environments for skilled trades professionals. The contribution to CISWP, made through CFI, ORF, and partners, will enable the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment that will help measure skilled trades workers’ workplace demands, hazards, and physiological responses. It’s a game-changer for workplace safety. Learn more at Conestoga News: https://lnkd.in/gzwSq8Vg CISWP's innovative initiative was featured in CFI's funding announcement: https://lnkd.in/eTfGccUY Let’s celebrate this milestone for skilled trades in Ontario and Canada! #CONSTRUCT #SkilledTrades #Innovation #AppliedResearch

From a revised National Planning Framework through the Place Principle, the Place Standard Tool, Place and Wellbeing Outcomes and the Planning Improvement Framework, there's much to celebrate within Scottish planning. In his latest Planning Positive column for The Planner website, Scotland's national planning champion Craig McLaren runs the rule over the various placemaking tools and programmes available to planners. "It’s helpful that the stories are being told, the lessons learned are being aired and challenges are being addressed," he says, arguing that such tools are changing the placemaking game. Click the link to read. https://lnkd.in/e7JZAUPn #townplanning #urbanplanning #placemaking #wellbeing #npf4 #improvementservice #planningjournalism

Today it is a rainy day in Denmark. 🌧️☂️ But the peculiar thing about rain in DK is that it is this tiny, little rain that seemingly is nothing to worry about, but when you are actually under it, you get wet in 20 seconds.😐 But why am I saying this. I am saying it, because I did not feel like biking to work and getting wet. Thus I made a choice to work from home today. At Kold+Partners I feel free to chose what is best for me. Great workplaces make you feel productive and appreciated by giving you the option to chose from being in the office and getting wet, or stay home and be dry 😁🤩 It is as simple as that. What about you? Do you have that freedom of choice on the workplace? P.S I got wet on the way home - had to get the kids to school and kindergarden 😅 #koldpartners #greatplacetowork #culturematters #flexibility

Livability and quality of life are crucial for companies to consider when making a location decision. See how #Illinois' countless lifestyle options 🏙️🏠 and inclusive environment make it a place where #talent tends to stay in our #TalentGuide: https://ow.ly/VpVT50Qe2i7