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TD Park People Grants support local leaders to organize environmental education, sustainability or stewardship events that bring people together across Canada.
A guidance and resources to measure the impact of your park work on community health and wellbeing, integrating a social equity lens.
Learn more about green social prescribing, an evolving practice that encourages individuals to reestablish connections with nature and one another to enhance their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
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They say all good things must come to an end. But sometimes, if we are lucky, endings can be the start of something even more beautiful. That is exactly what happened at Parc Jarry in the Villeray-St-Michel-Parc-Extension borough of Montreal, where the community park group Coalition des amis du Parc Jarry (CAP Jarry)*, recipients of a TD Park People Grant, turned the cast-offs of the Christmas season into a beautiful Ephemeral Forest of recycled trees that reflected community members’ hope and dreams.
Every January, once the holidays come to an end, bare Christmas trees are tossed to the curb. In fact, there are approximately 6 million trees in Canada that await the landfill every year. If not recycled properly and simply thrown out, every tree can create approximately 16kg of carbon dioxide. Not only does this have a significant impact on the environment, but it also misses a great opportunity to give the trees a more impactful second life.
CAP Jarry, led by Michel Lafleur, set out to tackle this challenge. Instead of the landfill, they invited all Montreal residents to bring their old Christmas trees to Parc Jarry, plant them in pre-made wooden stands, and create a magical Ephemeral Forest where park-goers could wander in a safe and socially-distanced manner. After a two-weeks on display in the park, a company specializing in repurposing wood removed the trees and gave them a new life.
To make the trees even more magical, community members were invited to write their wishes and hopes for the new year on little pieces of paper tied to their tree. This gave every tree a personal touch and it gave people a chance to express their vision for the future. At a time when social interactions are rare and we long to interact with others, reading the personal wishes on every tree felt like an intimate exchange with the Christmas tree’s new owner – their ideas, their hopes, and dreams for the future.
The forest created a sense of human connection at a time when people need it most. Walking through the hundreds of trees in the middle of the vast Parc Jarry created an inspiring, joyful and frankly magical experience.
“Everyone was smiling”, remembers Villeray’s mayor Mme. Fumagalli, who helped facilitate the project from a political and administrative point of view.
“There was a lot of curiosity, a kind of mutual help, above all, such synergy… The project had an enormous positive impact”.
Mme. Fumagalli found it especially extraordinary how citizens got involved and took ownership of their parks this winter. From the Ephemeral Forest to the hordes of Montrealers who built snowmen across city parks after a snowstorm, she says we clearly see “the necessity during winter to have some kind of animation, especially with the current COVID context”.
Another key to this event’s success was in its simplicity: the idea is easily transferable to other parks, boroughs and cities to create their own magical Ephemeral Forest. “I am certain that it is an idea that will have a snowball effect”, assures Mme. Fumagalli. “There is so much potential, from vacant lots to small parks, the reproducible aspect on a small scale, and the fact that it requires few resources”.
Nothing is more rewarding than planting food and watching it grow from seed to harvest. That’s why thousands of people get their hands dirty in community gardens across the country. First and foremost, growing fruits and vegetables provides people with access to fresh food. But community gardens also play a vital role in connecting people to nature and each other, enhancing community resilience and well-being.
“The power of food, placemaking and public spaces is far-reaching and intersects greatly with the issues we are facing today.”
DeeDee, Marpole Temporary Community Garden
Among the 72 outstanding community park groups awarded TD Park People Grants this year are several that demonstrate how growing and harvesting food is a powerful pathway to cultivating community and ecological resilience.
Since 2016, TD Park People Grants have helped 365 grassroots community groups and community-based non-profits build vital connections between people and parks. Two of the community gardening groups supported through a TD Park People Grant this year are Marpole Temporary Community Garden in Vancouver and the Congolese Women’s Group in Ottawa.
Both groups demonstrate how environmental education, sustainability, and stewardship come together, both joyfully and fruitfully, in gardens that are programmed and animated by communities.
Marpole Temporary Community Garden was initiated by DeeDee Nelson who took it upon herself to investigate a “locked up and neglected” plot of land during the pandemic. As DeeDee initiated efforts to clean the space, she tells us, “people just started poking their heads in and asking about joining in.”The temporary garden is in Marpole, one of the geographic areas identified by the Vancouver Park Board as an Equity Initiative Zone. A developer provided the space to the community temporarily, just until construction begins. Located on a busy road, with, what Dee Dee describes as “cars whizzing by on Granville Street,” the garden is a green oasis that transports participants from the congestion and busyness of traffic into a lush space that nourishes the community.
The Congolese Women’s Group is made up of 21 new immigrant women living in the neighbourhoods served by the South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre (SEOCHC). The group was formed in 2019 after a picnic in the park inspired the group to make better use of outdoor spaces. Euphrasie, who works at the SEOCHC as a Community Developer, noticed that the women were both eager to find affordable sources of fresh food and keen to learn about plants. She humbly proposed a community gardening program, asking participants: “What do you think about starting a community garden? Even if it’s a small one, you can start there.” And with that, the women began growing food.
Also located in an equity-deserving neighbourhood, The Congolese Women’s Group sees the community garden sessions as an avenue to address issues like isolation, safety, and mental well-being in the community. In addition to gardening workshops, a Harvest Celebration will joyfully close off the season.
Access to quality, nutritious fruits and vegetables is a systemic challenge in equity-deserving communities. Food insecurity has become an even bigger challenge for low-income families as food costs continue to rise. As DeeDee shares:
“There are so many seniors on a fixed limited budget, and they have told me specifically that they’re growing their own food because it’s too expensive in the store.”
While both groups recognize the community gardens’ role in addressing food insecurity, they also prioritize sharing the harvests’ surplus with others. At Marpole Temporary Community Garden, participants frequently hand out fresh vegetables to passers-by. In fact, they’ve set up what they call a “Veggie Table” to formalize the generous gesture. When people ask “how much does it cost?” DeeDee gleefully responds,
“It’s free. It’s totally free.”
The Congolese Women’s Group also shares this spirit of solidarity. The food collected during the workshops will be distributed to the community during an end-of-season Harvest Celebration which Euphrase shares, will be a “great, great event.” The food from the harvest will be shared with the entire community as a gesture that Eurphase says symbolizes that “yes, there’s something we can do together that can be beneficial, not only to us who are working there but also to everyone in the community.”
The community gardens play an important role in connecting participants to one other and to the broader community. At Marpole Temporary Community Garden, DeeDee has witnessed how engagement in the community garden leads to greater civic engagement overall. She shares:
“All of a sudden people learn they have a voice. They start to realize that the municipal government is made up of real people that can help make things happen. Every citizen can think about what they would like in their community and then ask for it, and that goes not only for public spaces but for land use, active transportation options and virtually anything else that goes on in a community. We have a say in our cities and the more we realize this, the more empowered we are to speak up.”
DeeDee surmises that seniors have been particularly attracted to the garden because many live alone. Particularly during COVID when seniors needed to avoid indoor spaces to protect their health, the community garden gave them a unique opportunity to socialize in the outdoors. She adds: “We are in dire need of outside space for the community. For people to come and spend time in nature and have a community space to gather.”
In our interview, Euphrasie from the Congolese Women’s Group shares how the community garden is a vital source of joyful community connection:
“I saw children coming and wandering in the community garden to look at the plants. They started asking: ‘Oh, what’s this? Oh, what’s that?’ It’s a very nice place to be because participants engage with people of all ages. They meet their seniors, they meet their kids, they meet with their parents. And wow, it’s such a place a way to bring people together to break that isolation, to just help people to go beyond what is going on in their life. You know, and when they meet, it’s just laughter. I love it.”
While laughter and glee fill the garden, it’s important to recognize that community gardens do the serious heavy lifting when it comes to building social resilience. As DeeDee from Marpole Temporary Community Garden astutely recognizes, the kind of social resilience cultivated in community gardens will be increasingly important in the face of climate change:
“Growing that community spirit and community connection is I think, totally what makes a resilient community because then if something like the heat dome or flooding happens, we know who’s down the street and who needs help.”
As we recently highlighted in the 2022 Canadian City Parks Report: “There are multiple inequities in the access and enjoyment of urban green spaces, with ramifications for climate justice, equitable park development, and public health.”
Community gardens in equity deserving communities provide people with access to green outdoor spaces that support individuals’ health and well-being. We know that people who spend more time in nature enjoy enhanced cognitive functioning. They are also more likely to report high levels of happiness and well-being.
As Euphrasie from the Congolese Women’s Group nicely puts it:
“Even if you’re not working in the community garden, just going in there, you breathe, that fresh air, you hear the birds singing. This is good for your health, for this environment and for the community.”
In all of the programs at Marpole Temporary Community Garden, DeeDee starts with a meaningful land acknowledgement, inviting participants to think beyond how nature can benefit human life, and encourages everyone to think about how they can enhance the natural world:
“If we’re saying thank you to the land, that means we must be getting something. So what are we giving? I like to ask people to consider our relationship within nature just like any healthy relationship, one that has a spirit of reciprocity.”
During the workshops, DeeDee teaches participants to use permaculture and syntropic agriculture approaches derived from Indigenous knowledge to enrich the land. For her, those practices are key to ensuring a sustainable planet.
“It really makes us think about what would be the best way to make this sustainable growth, not just growing for this year, but growing for the future.”
Both Marpole Temporary Community Garden and the Congolese Women’s Group underscored that finding space for community gardens is incredibly challenging. While the Congolese Women’s Group was able to secure space through the City of Ottawa’s Community Garden Program, Euphrasie emphasized how long and complicated the process can be:
“It used to be easier to apply for a plot. You just had to go in person and ask. But now everything is online, which is making it more difficult for us. It takes us more time and energy.”
Marpole Temporary Community Garden is situated on private land. However, relying on the generosity of private land owners is not sustainable over the long term. As DeeDee puts it “We’re enjoying our wonderful borrowed backyard while we have it.”
Given the many benefits of community gardens, we need to ensure gardeners have access to spaces to build meaningful relationships with one another, their community and the natural environment.
“Gardening nourishes the community physically, emotionally and mentally. It is a significant reminder of how working together as a community benefits everyone.”
Euphrasie, Congolese Women’s Group
While Vancouver has an extensive and impressive park system, historically, there has been an inequitable distribution of park investments in the city. The Vancouver Park Board’s VanPlay Master Plan recognizes this discrepancy and seeks to address this inequity by using indicators to identify and prioritize geographic areas most in need of additional park investment, known as Initiative Zones.
Vancouver’s Initiative Zones were identified by examining three layers of data:
With support from the Vancouver Foundation, Park People surveyed and interviewed people living in the identified Initiative Zones.
Park People undertook the following process to generate an understanding of park engagement in Vancouver’s potential Initiative Zones:
Here is some of what we learned about parks from participants living in Vancouver’s Initiative Zones.
“Being near the water, the rhythm of the waves always calms me. I can feel the tension and stress leave my body, and when I leave, I feel ready to face the world again”
Rose
“The experience in parks is irreplaceable. I love being in this public space where you can see other people running, playing, walking, laughing, and interacting. That’s really hard to mimic anywhere else”
Theodore
Across the board, people recognize that parks can benefit people’s mental and physical health and help build strong social and neighbourhood connections, which are key to community resilience.
Over 97% of the survey respondents from Vancouver’s Initiative Zones agreed that parks play a significant role in their well-being and quality of life.
However, our research indicates that people living in potential Initiative Zones feel they don’t influence the parks in their communities.
Of our survey respondents:
The interview process highlighted why individuals in the Initiative Zones are less likely to engage in park decision-making. The interviews surfaced the following barriers to park engagement:
Whether it be family obligations, chronic pain, long working hours, depression, or social anxiety, the life pressures and realities of people living in equity-deserving communities leave them feeling they have little time “leftover” for time-consuming park engagement processes. So, while parks play an essential role in people’s health and well-being, those who most need parks most are least likely to have the time or energy to devote to shaping their parks.
Many participants expressed that they were disappointed by past park engagement experiences. These negative experiences made them reluctant to contribute to future park decision-making processes. For example, Molly shared that while she’s previously tried to submit park service requests through 311, her claims were rejected because she didn’t categorize them correctly. These kinds of negative experiences leave people demoralized by unduly complex and cumbersome bureaucracy.
Youth, in particular, feel left out of park engagement processes and, as a result, aren’t motivated to engage. Young people shared that in-person engagement events can be very intimidating for young people who worry that their contributions won’t be taken seriously by adults. A lack of youth-targeted outreach and engagement is particularly unfortunate because the planning processes underway today will likely be implemented when these youth enter adulthood. In short, young people are missing the chance to shape the city and community of their future.
“I think the biggest barriers to participating in engagement processes are energy, mental health, and time. For the most part, everyone I know is super burnt out, so they really don’t even feel empowered enough to participate in anything like that. Everyone’s kind of facing their own mental health thing, and the idea of putting energy into a process that probably isn’t going to do much doesn’t really seem worth it. Like what benefit are you going to get out of spending two hours at City Hall when you could spend those two hours preparing food for the next day or just watching TV and relaxing because you’re so tired?” – Rose
The research indicates that people living in Vancouver Initiative Zones don’t always feel safe or welcomed in their parks. Participants also highlighted that their parks do not appear to be well cared for. Respondents shared that a lack of quality park spaces and amenities keeps them from spending time in their parks. For example:
Participants in potential Initiative Zones identified several opportunities to improve park engagement and park use in their communities. Here’s what they recommended:
It’s vital that park programs and processes are deliberately designed for people who live in these communities. People engage in parks when they see their interests and identities reflected back at them. This is what creates a sense of belonging.
For example, the only time one participant, Ace, ever went to City Hall was for a Black History Month event. Similarly, Molly became more involved in her park when she came across a beginner skateboarding drop-in event that was created specifically for moms. From there, Molly grew her park engagement, participating in an event to inform Vancouver’s Skateboard Amenities Strategy.
Even if people don’t directly participate in culturally relevant park programs, the interview participants shared that they benefit from seeing others in their community being meaningfully engaged in their parks.
“I like the group of ladies who dance to Chinese music in that sheltered area at Slocan Park. They, and other groups, hold their exercise classes there, and I’ve missed seeing them this past year… They look like they’re having fun always.” – Fern
While many participants expressed safety concerns about their parks, they underscored that increased police presence is not the solution. In fact, quite a few respondents shared that increased police presence in the park would make them feel far less safe. Participants suggested that building strong community connections through park involvement would help improve perceptions of safety in parks. Patrick said, “when you get to know your neighbours better, community safety increases without the need for police presence.”
Several participants highlighted methods to better connect young people to parks. Susan suggested that the Park Board start using Tik Tok for youth outreach and consider the “instagrammability factor” in park designs. She emphasized that while teens may show up at a given park to take photos, once they’re at the park, they’re more likely to stay and benefit from the experience.
Participants underscored that youth engagement is tied to better park engagement and access overall. This is particularly true for individuals who are not comfortable communicating in English. As one young participant noted, she’s been filling out and translating important technical documents for her parents since the age of 12, an experience many children of immigrants can relate to. In some cultures, older generations are more likely to trust information or take action on issues when the information comes from a trusted family member or friend. We heard from journal participants that their parents and grandparents are more likely to trust information coming directly from their children than from a government body or the internet. Participants shared that young people can help make park experiences more comfortable for adults who may experience challenges such as language or trust barriers.
Our research with participants living in Vancouver’s Initiative Zones demonstrates much of what we learned in Park People’s Sparking Change Report, which found:
“Parks are not simply green places of respite with grass and trees—they are critical pieces of the social infrastructure of our cities. And we believe they have a role to play in creating more inclusive, equitable places that are shaped by and for the people living there.”
We need to create parks that are designed for and accessed by those who can most benefit from them. The Vancouver Park Board’s forward-thinking VanPlay Master Plan goes a long way toward creating more equitable park resource allocation. As the research highlights, we need to ensure that equity-deserving communities feel heard in the planning and management of parks and that parks are designed to ensure the benefits of parks are equitably distributed.
*The nine journal participants chose the following pseudonyms for themselves so that we could share their experiences and insights anonymously
Parks are not neutral spaces but places where legacies of colonialism and white supremacy too often perpetuate urban inequity. At the same time, Black and racial justice movements have helped reimagine parks as places where the presence, experiences, and needs of Black Canadians can be visible and valued.
To recognize Black History Month, we’ve selected some of the content that has resonated with Park People over the past years, highlighting works that contribute to centering Black liberation in planning, designing, and managing parks and public spaces. We’re grateful to the Black thought leaders and communities contributing to a radical rethinking of our parks and public spaces.
Race and Nature in the City: Engaging youth of colour in nature-based activities, 2021, Nature Canada
An evidence-based, community-informed needs assessment that makes recommendations for meaningfully engaging racialized communities in nature and nature-based programming in urban areas.
Healing Disconnectedness with Collective Stewardship, Canadian City Parks Report, 2021, Park People
How reframing our notions of park stewardship can help restore relationships to the land. Parks have become a vital communal space in the COVID-19 pandemic. They appeal to our need for relationships; both to each other in a time of social distancing and to the outdoors as we are asked to stay at home. But we often fail to acknowledge the role of parks in generations of dispossession.
An Invitation to Hike: Let’s Hike T.O.’s Approach to Connecting People of Colour, Newcomers and Young Adults to Nature in Toronto, Park People
Let’s Hike TO is a thriving Toronto organization that intentionally extends a warm invitation to people of colour, newcomers and young adults to join in engaging group hikes. While anyone can attend their walks regardless of age or identity, the group has made an intentional effort since its inception in July 2021 to become the city’s diversity-focused hiking group.
Humber River Black History Walk, Jacqueline L. Scott, 2021, Park People
A guest post was written by Jacqueline L. Scott. Jacqueline is a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto, OISE, in the Department of Social Justice Education. She is a hike leader with two outdoor clubs. Jacqueline leads Black History Walks in Toronto. She is the author of travel and adventure books, from a Black perspective.
Urban Park Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are Socially Vulnerable Communities Disproportionately Impacted? Edited by Michelle L. Johnson, 2021, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities.
The COVID-19 pandemic altered human behaviour around the world. To maintain mental and physical health during periods of lockdown and quarantine, people often engaged in outdoor, physically distanced activities such as visits to parks and green space. However, research tracking outdoor recreation patterns during the pandemic has yielded inconsistent results, and few studies have explored the impacts of COVID-19 on park use across diverse neighbourhoods. The research team used a mixed-methods approach to examine changes in park use patterns in cities across North Carolina, USA, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on impacts in socially vulnerable communities (based on racial/ethnic composition and socioeconomic status).
Examining privilege and power in US urban parks and open space during the double crises of antiblack racism and COVID-19, Fushcia-Ann Hoover & Theodore C. Lim, 2021, Springer Link
Creating the positive outcomes socio-ecological researchers and practitioners seek for urban areas requires acknowledging and addressing the interactions of race and systemic racism in parks, open and green spaces. Racial experiences are inseparable from physical landscapes and the processes of designing, managing, or studying them. From COVID-19 to the Black Lives Matter movement and protests, the events of 2020 in the United States underscore how considerations of social justice must extend beyond the conventional distributional focus of environmental justice. It must incorporate an understanding of how the built environment is racialized spatially, but not always readily quantified through the proximity-based measurements frequently used in research and practice.
Jay Pitter On ‘Being Black In Public’ — And Its Implications For Sustainable Transport Policy, Jay Pitter, 2024, Streets Blog
An interview with placemaker and mobility justice icon Jay Pitter to talk about “Being Black in Public” and her work to inspire policymakers to adopt new strategies and approaches to “transform Black public space precarity into equitable and joyful public space through policy reform.
Public Safety at the City’s Core, Jay Pitter, 2021, Azure Magazine
Public safety is not merely the absence of physical threat; it is the presence of inclusive places shaped by equitable urban placemaking and policy. It is the visceral yet indescribable sense of belonging that is experienced in spaces which invite rather than tolerate differences.
Want safer cities and public spaces? Invest in BIPOC-led work. Lena Phillips, 2021, Safe in Public Space
Given the increasingly urban orientation of the world, a re-set of how cities are shaped moving forward is critical. Socioeconomic disparities have long been named by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC). This has been compounded by the heightened visibility of systemic racism, particularly its impact on Black lives. The field of planning, specifically, is tasked with constructing our built environments and mediating our socioeconomic infrastructure through mechanisms like funding, governance and public space policy. However, through ongoing processes of colonialism and racism, planning works to reinforce oppressive systems. The lack of diversity and critical interrogation within this field – one that fails to recognize its impact on the everyday lives of communities – contributes to the perpetual underfunding of BIPOC-led initiatives and allows systemic injustice to play out in our public spaces.
6 ways to approach urban green spaces in the push for racial justice and health equity, Nahda Hassen, 2021, The Conversation
How can we take an intersectional, anti-racist approach to plan urban green spaces as a public health measure? Policy-makers, planners and public health professionals can learn from critical race and critical theory scholars in pushing for multidisciplinary action. Here are six ideas for policy-makers, city officials, public health, city builders and planners to consider in research, policy and practice.
Green spaces, mental health and well-being in the time of COVID-19, Nadha Hassen, 2021, York U
In her doctoral study on “Parks Prescriptions and Perceptions: Experiences of Racialized People with Mood Disorders in Green Spaces,” Vanier scholar Nadha Hassen explores the experiences of racialized people living with mental illness in urban green spaces in Toronto. Using a visual research method called photovoice, Hassen’s research captures the experiences of people who are racialized and living with mood disorders as they interact with Toronto’s urban green spaces.
Leveraging built environment interventions to equitably promote health during and after COVID-19 in Toronto, Canada, Nadha Hassen, 2021, Oxford Academics
This paper puts forward three considerations for built environment interventions to promote health equitably: addressing structural determinants of health and embedding anti-racist intersectional principles, revisiting tactical urbanism as a health promotion tool and rethinking community engagement processes through equity-based placemaking. This paper outlines four built environment interventions in Toronto, Canada, that seek to address the challenges in navigating urban space safely in the short term, including street design that prioritizes pedestrians, protected cycling infrastructure, access to inclusive green space and safe, affordable housing. Longer-term strategies to create equitable health-promoting urban environments are discussed and may be valuable to other cities with similar urban equity concerns.
‘Without social justice, you cannot have environmental justice’: Making Toronto’s urban forests more inclusive spaces, Ambika Tenneti, 2021, University of Toronto, Scarborough
“Access is not just about proximity,” says Tenneti, an environmental science graduate from India who is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at U of T’s Daniels Forestry. People may live near a ravine, but if there’s no entrance near where they live and they have to walk, bike or take public transit before getting into it, then it’s not accessible. That also costs time and money, which recent immigrants often lack when they first arrive. Likewise, there are some psychological barriers that prevent people from enjoying the ravines and other natural areas in the city. This is where Tenneti’s research comes into play. As a recent immigrant to Canada, she investigates community engagement in the city’s urban forests, looking specifically at factors that lead to inclusion or exclusion, with a focus on the experience of new immigrants. Her research suggests that immigrant communities are interested and do enjoy urban nature, but they prefer parks over wilderness areas. She says in general, people feel comfortable going to well-maintained, multi-use green areas where children have access to playing fields and other amenities such as seating, equipment, trees and gardens. Access to washrooms and drinking water is also important for planning family outings.’
A question of life and death’: Why climate action must also take racial justice into account, What on Earth, 2021, CBC
Jesse Firempong is a communications officer with Greenpeace Canada. She spoke to What on Earth host Laura Lynch about how major environmental groups often centre white voices to the exclusion of BIPOC voices and concerns.
Parks Need Leaders of Colour, Canadian City Parks Report, 2021, Park People
How BIPOC park leaders are centring conversations of justice and power in parks. This past year was marked by an unprecedented wave of racial justice movements that fostered hope and resilience in the middle of a global pandemic (no small task). Across Canada and the world, Black, Indigenous and people of colour demanded justice in all its forms.
‘She’s out here trailblazing’: these 10 Black environmentalists are building community, Serena Austin, 2024, the Narwhal
Black Canadian scientists, researchers and environmental advocates discuss the importance of mentors, protégés and friends in their fields
Black Placemaking: United Through Heritage, Selma Elkhazin, 2023, Heritage Toronto
The African and Caribbean diaspora in Toronto consistently crafts places for the dynamic Black community. These places are spaces of belonging for the Black identity, and allow for the community to connect, invent, and continue creating diverse culture in the city.
Nothing for us, without us, 2024, University of Toronto and School of Cities
This mini-documentary explores anti-Black racism in Canadian city planning (Little Jamaica in Toronto, Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver, and Africville in Nova Scotia) and sheds light on the persistent issue of anti-Black racism and its impact on urban planning.
Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-Century Halifax, Ted Rutland, 2018Modern urban planning has long promised to improve the quality of human life. But how is human life defined? Displacing Blackness develops a unique critique of urban planning by focusing, not on its subservience to economic or political elites, but on its efforts to improve people’s lives. In his book, the author shows how race – specifically blackness – has defined the boundaries of the human being and guided urban planning, with grave consequences for the city’s Black residents.
Watch: A Conversation About Racism in the Outdoors, Brentin Mock, 2021, Audubon
On this episode of I Saw a Bird, Brentin Mock, a staff writer for CityLab, joined hosts David Ringer and Christine Lin to discuss his recent article on the dangers Black people face in the outdoors
How will we ensure equitable access to parks and public spaces? City Talk Canada, 2020, Canadian Urban Institute
Featuring Dave Harvey, Executive Director, Park People; Carlos Moreno, Scientific Director, Chair ETI (Entrepreneurship – Territory – Innovation), Panthéon – Sorbonne University; Rena Soutar, Reconciliation Planner, City of Vancouver Parks & Recreation; and Cheyenne Sundance, Founder & Farmer, Sundance Harvest Farm.
Advancing Climate Justice in Parks, 2021, Park People
Urban green spaces help mitigate the impacts of climate change by reducing temperatures and lowering flood risk. However, unequal access to these spaces leaves many lower-income, racialized communities more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Addressing these inequities involves the more equitable distribution of green space and changes in how we engage and involve communities in the design and planning of city parks.
Change, Hope, and Tension: Perspectives and Practices on Making Green Spaces BIPOC Inclusive, 2021, Park People
A candid conversation with 3 distinguished panellists exploring the barriers and opportunities for creating parks as natural places for engagement across differences.
This summer, Park People’s Sparking Change and TD Park People Grants programs in Toronto connected 36 equity-deserving community park groups with training, networks, seed funding and coaching to support city parks as places that connect people to nature and each other.
Many grant recipients around Toronto are activating community parks as sites of decolonization and reconciliation. One of these is The Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Group (IPSG).
The IPSG at St. Matthew’s United Church was founded in 2018 to offer and foster local leadership in building balanced, just relationships with Indigenous people, the land, the water, and all living beings. In addition to hosting year-round events, a core group of 20 volunteers steward the green space beside the church, located in Toronto’s Corso Italia neighbourhood. During an August evening golden hour, Wesley Reibeling met with Elder Catherine Brooks to talk about the Indigenous People’s Solidarity Group, reconciliation and moving toward building a better future together. Earlier that evening, Elder Catherine Brooks, the IPSG, and local leaders and community members joined together to launch the National Healing Forest initiative in what is now known as Bickford Park.
Elder Catherine encouraged the IPSG to become the first Toronto National Healing Forest initiative, joining 9 other projects from coast to coast “in the spirit of reconciliation”.
This initiative is an invitation to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, organizations, and individuals to create green spaces across Canada, to honour residential school victims, survivors, and their families, as well as missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Elder Catherine Brooks: “Well, first of all, one of the co-leads, Robin Buyers, and I met years ago when I was the Executive Director of a native women’s shelter. She was teaching at George Brown College in Community Work. She had her students do little fundraising projects for us, because, of course, what are shelters always short of? Money, or what we would call “Zhooniya”.
She became a friend over time and invited me to a book talk from author and journalist Tanya Talaga. The book group was very thoughtful and there seemed to be a lot of care put into it.
So I got kind of interested in going to the book talks, and then they said to me, “Well, how would you like to be our elder in residence at St. Matthew’s Church?” And of course, I kind of went, “I beg your pardon?”
So I thought about it, and I thought if we’re going to do this work towards reconciliation, then maybe this isn’t a bad idea. You know, maybe this is actually a good idea! So I went and talked to a Traditional Healer, whose judgment I really trust and respect. And they said, “It’s certainly something that hasn’t been done, and we should do new things.” So here I am.
And then initially, I began by doing various types of ceremonies and we have continued in terms of looking at ways to support Indigenous people. And that’s exactly what the group does.
So I’m kind of guiding them but they come up with their ideas. They have been doing that since before I was here and I give them credit for that.”
Elder Catherine Brooks: “I think it was one of the Cree chiefs, who said, ‘When the last tree is cut down, the last fish is eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.’
And you know, you can’t go fly up there and move up there, as there won’t be anything to send up there to keep you going. You’re not going to go live on Mars. What would be better, is if we all had enough to eat, a place to live, and decent education for our children and work on teaching not to wreck the planet.
Our job is supposed to be stewards of this place, keep it safe, and also express our gratitude and appreciation to creation, for being here, for being alive. People are just beginning to realize what a miracle it is to be human beings and all these wonderful things to exist. So we’re just beginning to have that sense of connection.
“I think a great example of this is how the Indigenous People’s Solidarity Group is using gardening to teach respect for the land. Teaching young children and grown-ups to love the land and to take care of it so that they can understand the relationship between the bees, the plants and having corn and food. By doing this, you are teaching them to know that this is a really important matter because this is how we live. Everybody lives off the land, in a manner of speaking, because that’s where our food comes for, so we are all benefiting from that.”
Funding through the United Church, Pollinate TO, and Canada Summer Jobs allowed IPSG to expand their work exponentially in 2021 and into 2022, recognizing Catherine Brooks as Elder-in-Residence, hosting online and outdoor events, and hiring youth to assist in maintaining the garden space, and to re-design the north end of the green space at St. Matthews United Church with over 50 native species.
Through Park People’s microgrants, Sparking Change and TD Park People Grants, IPSG was able to expand its programming and outreach. On June 14, 2022, IPSG hosted an Ode’miin Giizas Celebration: Strawberry Moon Lodge, Feast, & Ceremony.
The Strawberry Moon Feast and Ceremony celebrates the strawberry. The strawberry is the first berry of the season, which is often represented in Indigenous culture as a berry of connection, maintaining and fulfilling relationships. Full Moon ceremonies celebrate Grandmother Moon, the waters, and women as keepers of the waters.
At the event, Women, 2 Spirit, trans and intersex people were all welcome to join in the ceremony. Subsequently, they gathered inside for a feast of traditional foods, songs and teachings led by Elder Catherine Brooks. Men and others not participating in the moon ceremony remained outside in conversation with a Firekeeper. Once the moon had risen, everyone congregated around the sacred fire to make offerings together, while bowls of water were used to reflect the moon.
As Elder Catherine told me during the interview, “If we only could learn how to live here in peace and harmony with our fellow beings. Nothing in the world, like this tree, the grass, the sky, the water, nothing needs us. But we need everything. Our job is to be stewards of this place, keep it safe, and also express our gratitude and appreciation to creation, for being here, and for being alive. People are just beginning to realize what a miracle it is to be human beings and for all these wonderful things to exist. So we’re just beginning to have that sense of connection.“
Some examples of this connection include a Territorial Acknowledgement that was raised at St Matthew’s United Church in 2020, and a food and traditional medicine garden was planted, Noojimo’iwewin Gitigaan — Healing Garden.
The transformation of what was once grass on infill from 150 years of city-building to a healing garden. Noojimo’iwewin Gitigaan is situated on a busy St. Clair West corner, in the Bracondale Hill and Wychwood area. The garden’s location helps engage passersby in the neighbourhood which is key to expanding the garden’s reach. Members of the community stewarding the small greenspace adjacent to St. Matthews United Church, (IPSG) and volunteers have modelled how small green urban spaces may become sites of re-connection with nature and recognition of Indigenous spirituality.
Elder Catherine and Wesley discussed better ways forward and how to work together toward better futures and this is what she had to say; “People, spirits are so resilient – or you, and I wouldn’t be talking.
And it’s true of the other people who came here too. Some of the people that came here were leaving because things were hard. In Europe, a reason the bubonic plague kept killing so many people in waves is that they just didn’t have food and when they came to the New World– or what they call the “New World” – Turtle Island, and South America, then they discovered all the potatoes, different kinds of potatoes, tomatoes, corns, beans farms, squash, and tobacco, which is sacred to us. You know, the prophecy did say we’re all going to meet up. We have the ‘Noah’s Ark’ of human beings here on Turtle Island.
We’re going to learn to live together in peace and harmony and then we’re going to help our brothers and sisters all over the world also to live in peace and harmony. It’s a prophecy and it doesn’t mean we got the exact time when it’s going to happen. But we can try our best to work every day towards that. We need to be people of action.”
With municipal elections coming up here in Toronto, Elder Catherine offers some great advice about how to help Indigenous issues be front of mind for municipal leaders:
“Listen to me, you know, it makes a difference in who gets elected– and you know, the difference between good and fair is much less than the distance between fair and bad, ignorant and indifferent. If you want to help Indigenous people, elect people!“
Go talk to those people you elect and say you care about our issues because they listen. I think most people who get elected do want to serve in a way for the public. Here’s the thing we need that support. It doesn’t have to be every week, but maybe go once a year and knock on their doors, because we have the right to be represented, whether we voted for them or not. That would be an incredible help.”
“Go visit your MP and MPP and tell them you care about Aboriginal issues and Indigenous issues, women’s issues, LGBT+ issues. Get out there and support people! That will bring about the change we want to see. Never give up. We wouldn’t have made as much progress if we had given up. If our ancestors had given up, we as a people wouldn’t be here today. “
If your city or local community is having municipal elections coming up this season, this is a reminder to get out and vote and vote with the community in mind when you cast your ballot.
In exploring the research on nature connectedness and health, many strategies are identified to facilitate human-nature connections, including stewardship activities, nature mindfulness, preserving natural wooded areas, embedding sports into nature programs, and embracing diverse cultural knowledge and practices into park maintenance and events. But how do these strategies work on the ground with actual urban residents? We turned to our new Cornerstone partner, Meewasin Valley Authority, to understand how they foster nature connectedness in their urban park.
The Cornerstone Parks program, which works to maximize the impact and influence of Canada’s large urban parks, underwent two years of research with large urban park users and stewards to better understand the connection between parks and health. The recently published results suggested something we were already keenly aware of through conversations with communities and from our passions for spending time in parks – park use is associated with better health and well-being. But what really stood out from the research was that the most predictive factor of better health and well-being was park users’ feeling of nature connectedness.
Our Cornerstone Parks survey of park users found a significant relationship between feeling connected with nature and higher reported mental health, physical health and general well-being. This means that as large urban park users feel more connected to nature, they rate their mental, physical, and wellbeing higher.
However, most park users (67%) who visit Cornerstone parks primarily spend their time engaging in social activities, sports or recreational activities rather than enriching nature-based activities (33% of park users). And we see that park users who engage primarily in nature-based activities in Cornerstone parks report stronger nature connections and higher well-being scores.
So how do we, as park users, park professionals and community members, ensure that people are getting the greatest benefit from visiting large urban parks? In exploring the research on nature connectedness and health, many strategies are identified to facilitate human-nature connections, including stewardship activities, nature mindfulness, preserving natural wooded areas, embedding sports into nature programs, and embracing diverse cultural knowledge and practices into park maintenance and events. But how do these strategies work on the ground with actual urban residents? We turned to our new Cornerstone partner, Meewasin Valley Authority, to understand how they foster nature connectedness in their urban park.
Meewasin Valley is a 6700-hectare park that spans the South Saskatchewan River for 75 km through and beyond the city of Saskatoon. The park is an ecological treasure composed of a prairie landscape with several unique ecosystems not found throughout the rest of the country. Grasslands, like those found in Meewasin, are one of the most imperilled ecosystems on the planet. They are incredibly rich in biodiversity and have been one of the most affected by human activity.
Due to Meewasin’s central location and massive trail system, the park welcomes over 2 million visits annually! The accessibility of the park allows city residents and tourists to easily explore nature without leaving the city.
Meewasin Valley Authority is a leader in innovative nature programming. They host curriculum-connected programs for children, an app sharing Indigenous stories of the Valley, pollinator walks, dark skies stargazing, and sheep grazing demonstrations.
So what can we learn from Meewasin’s diverse nature programming, and how can those learnings, along with what the research tells us, be leveraged to optimize the health benefits of large urban parks?
At Meewasin, stewardship is a major part of park programming. Meewasin has over 1,000 volunteers who work on various stewardship activities throughout the Meewasin Valley, including wrapping trees with wire to mitigate beaver damage, removing invasive species, replanting of native vegetation, engaging in wildlife inventory and litter clean-up in the park.
One way Meewasin ensures that stewardship activities are accessible and encouraging to diverse users is by offering various volunteer opportunities. This ensures that people can be involved in ways that most pique their interests or needs. For example, those looking to contribute to conservation efforts in the park that are not physically able to do plantings and invasive species control can help with wildlife inventory projects, public education and nature interpretation at events or join the marketing and public programming team.
There is a growing body of research around the benefits of nature mindfulness and ecotherapy activities, increasing their popularity. Nature mindfulness and ecotherapy are broad terms that refer to activities involving mediation, bringing awareness of the natural world around us, yoga, deep breathing and raising consciousness of our place in the natural world. Not surprisingly, the research on these types of activities suggests that they deepen people’s connection to nature.
Research has also found that nature mindfulness activities have significant implications for children specifically. Engaging in nature mindfulness activities improves children’s sense of connection to nature, motivation for pro-environmental behaviours, and overall mood. Meewasin seems to be well aware of the benefits of mindfulness as their school education programs include nature mindfulness activities to help ground students in the park and strengthen their connection to nature.
In a time where we are inundated with negative news, specifically climate and environmental disasters, it can be hard not to feel overwhelmed and disempowered. This can lead to disengagement with nature and nature programs as people try to avoid feelings of eco-grief and climate anxiety.
Meewasin looks to provide relief from climate anxiety and negative environmental news with their more lighthearted programs like Naughty by Nature, which looks at the dating and mating strategies of the animals in the park. The program allows people to engage in joyful activities in nature and appeals to those who may not already be interested in conservation.
By offering different types of programs and focusing on fun, Meewasin can engage new populations in conservation and connect people to nature and conservation in a joyful way.
We often think of sport and park recreation as directly conflicting with nature conservation. In the past, we’ve seen nature spaces cleared to make way for new sports facilities.
However, the health of nature and sports are directly intertwined. As the climate changes, certain winter sports may become obsolete, and summer sports may become dangerous in extreme heat. So, it only makes sense that those passionate about sports also feel a sense of responsibility to the environment.
Many research institutions and policymakers have picked up on this connection and have started to make the case for using sports and recreation as a gateway to nature education. Using sports as an entry point, we can engage a whole different group of people in nature conservation and fuel their sense of connection to nature.The Sip and Skate program at Meewasin is a great example of how to put this approach into practice. Meewasin attracts visitors to join an evening of skating in the river valley with food and drinks and then provides opportunities for conservation education throughout the event. The brilliance of these events is that the Meewasin team inspires a passion for conservation by emphasizing the need to care for the planet to ensure that outdoor skating rinks can continue to exist.
Biocultural diversity refers to the idea that the way we think about nature is based on our culture and heritage. For example, humans have evolved alongside the unique biodiversity in their native regions, have different languages and cultures, and therefore have different names, knowledge and practices relating to the land. This is biocultural diversity.
One explanation for why people feel disconnected from nature is due to a lack of cultural ties to their current environment. In Canada, we see this through the erasure of Indigenous cultures and Indigenous traditional knowledge and practices of caring for the land. This creates a disconnect between Indigenous peoples and nature.
To combat this, Meewasin, alongside other Cornerstone parks, is working towards building strong partnerships with Indigenous groups and ensuring stewardship practices are informed by the traditional caretakers of the land. Meewasin is currently working with many partners to expand access to traditional medicines and plants, provide urban ceremonial space and host fire ceremonies. This allows Indigenous populations to connect with nature in the park in ways that are most meaningful to them.
Now that we better understand the pathways to improved health through park use, wherein the key is nature connectedness, we must optimize these benefits for everyone! Cornerstone parks have demonstrated their ability to foster nature connections for city residents and are leaders in finding innovative approaches to bring nature to more people.
As we advocate for more nature spaces, we also need to advocate for more nature programs that appeal to diverse users and incorporate many ways to connect with the land. Follow Park People, Meewasin and the rest of our Cornerstone partners online as we unpack more innovative nature programs and design strategies to optimize the interconnected health of our people, parks and cities.
Parks are not “nice to haves,” they are critical social, health, and environmental infrastructure for Toronto. City parks are lifelines in extreme heat waves. Social connectors in an age of increasing polarization. Keepers of biodiversity despite ever fragmenting urban landscapes.
To meet the biggest challenges we face in Toronto—climate change, biodiversity loss, social polarization, rising inequality—we need whole new ways to plan, design, manage, program, and govern parks.
This shift requires doing things differently. It requires ensuring proper funding, sharing decision-making power, addressing inequities head-on, and prioritizing action on truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
As Toronto faces upcoming municipal elections, we urge candidates for Mayor and Council to accelerate the transition to a more equitable, resilient future for city parks by working with us on the ideas presented in this platform.
All of the ideas in this platform require us to invest more time and money into city parks. In our 2022 survey of residents of Canadian cities, 87% said they support more investment in parks.
Responsible for 60% of Canada’s infrastructure, municipalities like Toronto receive only 10 cents on every tax dollar. That means our three levels of government, each of which has responsibilities for our natural environment and human health, all need to come to the table.
This is easier said than done. The multiple benefits of parks—health, environmental, social, economic—actually make it harder to invest at the scale we need to. Why? Because the benefits of investing in parks are distributed across many different ministries and government departments, each of which is accountable for its own budgets and plans. That is why we need to support governments to pursue an ambitious, whole-of-government approach to investment in Toronto parks.
Investing more in city parks is not an imposition or an obligation. It is an opportunity to transform Toronto for the better.
There is a clear and growing disparity in who has access to quality green spaces in Toronto. As COVID laid bare, equity-deserving communities face complex, interrelated health crises. Toronto must recognize how race, income and the built environment conspire to make parks a pressing environmental justice issue in our city.
Park Policy Directions:
Usable parks are the bar for entry. Toronto’s parks maintenance and operating budget have not kept pace with use and demand. There’s an urgent need to increase park operating budgets to ensure basic amenities like bathrooms and water are the standard in every single Toronto park.
Spending on park operating budgets must start to keep pace with demand. It is basic: amenities like bathrooms and water must be the standard in every single Toronto park, with a priority focus on equity-deserving and high-use parks. Investments in basic amenities that promote park use must include:
Further reading:
Towards equitable parks, Canadian City Parks Report 2020
People living in Toronto will need to adapt to hotter, wetter and more unpredictable climates. Climate change is here and is already impacting our city. With the right investment, parks can serve as climate infrastructure and provide people with critical places of refuge in hot, dense cities where a major health crisis is looming.
At the same time, people are seeking out nature more for its mental and physical health benefits. People want more places to experience nature close to home: 71% of survey respondents said they value visiting naturalized spaces within a 10-minute walk of homes, such as a native plant garden or small meadow. In fact, 87% of respondents said they were in favour of more native plant species within parks—the second most requested amenity after public washrooms. Toronto’s Ravine Strategy offers a strong road map for ensuring these vital biodiversity and natural habitats are safeguarded for the future and enjoyed by residents, but funding has remained limited.
Policy Directions:
Invest in the co-benefits of naturalized spaces as climate resilience infrastructure, urban biodiversity habitat and vital nature connections in Toronto.
Further reading
Deepening the conservation conversation, Canadian City Parks Report 2020
There is an urgent need for new models of Toronto park governance rooted in shared decision-making power. We need a new way of managing city parks that are more inclusive, community-focused, and respects the land rights of Indigenous peoples and the knowledge of communities.
Park planning and design practices
Over the past several years, communities have been actively working to decentralize power in institutional spaces.
It is time for Toronto to give communities more decision-making power on the park issues that affect them most, particularly in equity-deserving communities.
Abundance, the theme of Park People’s 2022 Conference, is an invitation to radically reimagine city parks. For three days, September 21-23, the virtual event will focus our collective attention on the transformational park work charting a new path forward in cities.
Community park groups, park non-profits and park professionals are recognizing parks as essential urban infrastructure and building new approaches to collaboration, community engagement and nature connections. The Park People Conference is an invitation to engage with the incredible people, places and projects that manifest abundance in our city parks.
We’ve identified 4 key pathways to generating abundance in parks: decolonizing practices and narratives, engaging in power sharing, recognizing parks as sites of healing and justice, and cultivating human/nature connections.
Indigenous leaders and allies are calling for settlers to reckon with colonialism and decentre settler approaches in park work. We’re hosting numerous sessions during the Park People Conference that feature people and organizations that are leading the movement to collectively decolonize Canada’s city parks.
How can municipalities, community groups, non-profits and residents meaningfully work together to create spaces that address community needs in parks? The Park People Conference features several sessions that approach collaboration as an act of power-sharing where the process is just as important as the project itself.
What would parks look like if we saw everyone as equally worthy of having their needs met in shared spaces? Inclusion and access look much different from the perspective of those who are too often viewed as outsiders. But, their experience in parks tells us much about our communities, our cities and ourselves.
Several Park People Conference presenters demonstrate how centring nature builds both community and ecological resilience.
Check out the whole agenda, and 100+ speakers bringing together the incredible people, places and projects that manifest abundance in city parks.
See you at the Park People Conference!
“We might get interrupted. I might get a call. I’m monitoring the hotline.”
This is how my conversation with Carolynne Crawley begins.
The hotline Carolynne is referring to belongs to the Turtle Protectors High Park: a volunteer-run phone line that park-goers use to report sightings of nesting turtles in Toronto’s High Park.
Carolynne, one of the two founders of Turtle Protectors High Park is a Mi’kmaw woman with mixed ancestry from the East Coast. She is the Founder of Msit No’kmaq, which means “All My Relations” in Mi’kmaq. Importantly, Carolynne is also Turtle Clan and a member of the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle.
Typically, when we feature stories of TD Park People Grant recipients, we profile park-based events that showcase the vital connections between people and nature.
However, the origin story of Turtle Protectors High Park is particularly meaningful because it manifests two important Indigenous knowledge principles that can shape how we engage with nature and one another:
One morning in June 2021, Carolynne was strolling through High Park when she saw a large snapping turtle walking in circles. Even though Carolynne didn’t know what was happening, she sensed it was something important. She also understood that what looked like harmless summer park goers and off-leash dogs to humans could easily interrupt whatever was happening and cause harm to the snapping turtle, whose life is no less important than her own.Park People’s 2022 Canadian City Parks Report addresses the concept of nature connectedness, and profiles Carolynne’s highly respected work helping others cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the Earth and other beings. As the report highlights, settlers have historically had an extractive relationship with nature. One example of this extractive orientation is our tendency to only value parks in terms of how they benefit human lives. A reciprocal relationship would invite us to consider how we can contribute to natural spaces, such as those we encounter in parks.
“I always invite people to think about our relationships with people. If you’re always giving, giving, giving, and someone’s taking, taking, taking without respect and gratitude, then there’s an imbalance there.” Adding, “As people, we have an individual and collective responsibility to be in a good relationship with the Earth, just as well as being in a good relationship with ourselves and each other.”
Carolynne Crawley
Speaking to Carolynne, it’s clear that this orientation shapes her daily experiences of High Park. Carolynne is attuned to noticing nature and demonstrating love and respect for all beings that she shares the park with. This is why Carolynne took the time to pause, pay attention and move into action on the snapping turtle’s behalf.
Hearing the story, I wonder if I would’ve noticed the turtle at all. Or, whether I would’ve had the inclination to stop and reflect on the turtle’s behaviour. I ask myself whether, like Carolynne, I would’ve made the time and space to address a turtle’s needs.
It’s somewhat ironic that the turtle at the centre of this important origin story highlights the importance of slowing down and taking the time to cultivate relationships with the natural world. If I behaved less like a hare on the run and more like a slowly meandering turtle in the park, perhaps I would take the time to pause, notice and demonstrate reciprocity.
Turns out this is only one of many lessons we can learn from turtles.
Upon encountering the turtle, Carolynne called Jenny Davis, who was the Event and Volunteer Coordinator at the High Park Nature Centre. Jenny’s expertise is collaboration. In fact, in her biography for the 2022 Park People Conference, she describes herself as uniquely adept at “bringing people together to get things done in a good way and fast.”
Both those qualities were key to protecting the snapping turtle.
Together, the two women made a series of phone calls with many experts they had existing relationships with, including in High Park staff, as well as biologist Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux, who specializes in turtles at York University. In fact, it was Marc who connected Carolynne and Jenny to another community park group dedicated to turtles: Brampton’s Heart Lake Turtle Troopers, also a current TD Park People Grants recipient.
Through these conversations, Carolynee and Jenny established several things:
Before Carolynne and Jenny even laid down the first turtle protector built by High Park Acting Foreperson Kyle Moffit, other park-goers came over to share their accounts of turtles laying eggs throughout the park.
Inspired by the Snapping Turtle she encountered, Carolynne and Jenny decided to create a turtle nest protection program in High Park that would:
The protection of the first nest set the course for the project.
To launch a program like this, Carolynne and Jenny would need support from the City, volunteers who would be their active eyes and ears in the park, and a whole lot of materials and people-power to build nest protectors.
Helen Sousa, the General Park Supervisor took the first positive step by reducing barriers to protecting turtles in High Park. While securing support for a project like this would typically require a complicated and bureaucratic process, Helen responded to Jenny and Carolynne’s concept for Turtle Protectors High Park with, “yeah, let’s do it, let’s try it.” And with that, the construction of several more turtle protectors was underway.
As Jenny and Carolynne underscore, the City’s orientation toward collaborating in “a good way” centered relationship-building and trust. The simple act of saying ‘yes,’ unlocked numerous other positive relationships and collaborations that ultimately led to a robust program to protect turtles and their eggs in High Park.
These relationships include:
Throughout my conversations with Jenny and Carolynne it’s clear that it took a tremendous amount of collaboration to get the Turtle Protectors High Park project off the ground. In fact, it almost feels like this project needs a credit reel to capture all of the many people who have contributed to its success (wait for that at the end of the post).
Indigenous artist Catherine Tammaro, a seated Spotted Turtle Clan FaithKeeper and multi-disciplinary artist, designed the turtle image that is featured on the brightly coloured signs that Animal Services manufactured to engage the community in turtle protection. Jenny highlights why this gesture means so much:
“Now you have the city following the lead of Indigenous people. That’s hopefully a model we can move forward with.”
The leadership of Indigenous people has laid the groundwork for a new kind of collaboration.
For example, the project officially started with a Clan Feast on May 1, 2022.
And when a small construction project was slated for a section of the park known to be a snapping turtle nesting site, the park’s General Supervisor reached out to Turtle Protectors High Park for advice and guidance. As a result of this relationship, the City will now consider turtle nesting season when planning future construction projects.
The Turtle Protectors High Park will make their map of turtle nesting sites available to Animal Services, High Park staff, and the local Councillor. Because turtles tend to return to the same nesting sites year in and year out (a practice called ‘site fidelity,”) the map can help city staff be on the lookout for nesting turtles to avoid damaging or destroying their nests.
The City has also agreed to pause mowing when the snapping turtle hatchling emerge in September/October and when the Midland Painted Hatchlings emerge in May/June
In the 2022 Canadian City Parks Report, Carolynne Crawley refers to her work as helping people “return home to the relationship with the Earth” and creating space for people to slow down and notice the world around them.
The Turtle Protectors High Park owes its start to the two founders’ respect, gratitude, and love for all beings. This approach opened the door to a series of valuable collaborations that truly embody what it means to work together in a good way, where trust and relationships come first.
Carolynne and Jenny would like to credit the following people who have worked closely with them to bring Turtle Protectors High Park to fruition:
What to do if you spot a nesting turtle from late May to mid-July:
When we think of healthcare, we frequently picture hospitals, prescription drugs, and waiting areas. But what if the journey to recovery also included strolls in the park or gardening with your neighbours?
Park People views community and connection as a powerful tool for improving health and wellbeing. This is the essence of green social prescribing, an evolving practice that encourages individuals to reestablish connections with nature and one another to enhance their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
“The thing about parks and ravines and natural areas is that they really deliver on a lot of public good. I mentioned physical health. Obviously, you’re active, you’re getting exercise, fresh air. Mental health is huge. You know, I live close to High Park, which is close to St Joseph’s Hospital, and I think of St Joe’s and High Park as the two key health care providers in my neighborhood, physical health, mental health, social cohesion, particularly in a city like Toronto.”
City of Toronto staff
Green social prescribing involves connecting individuals to nature-based programs and activities in the community, such as gardening, cultural gatherings, walking clubs, or arts in the park, to enhance their overall wellbeing1.
It’s about healing through connection with nature, with those around us, and with ourselves.
Such programs are not limited to clinics. They happen on the ground where individuals reside and gather. They are led by community leaders and passionate residents who understand what matters most to their neighbourhoods.
Traditionally, this model follows a pathway: a healthcare professional identifies a need, a link worker supports the person in exploring their interests and then connects them to community-based, nature-focused activities2. In this pathway, community programs serve as the social intervention, which allows the prescription to come to life.
A Link Worker (also referred to as a community connector, navigator, or coordinator) is a committed support person who ridges health and social care. They work with individuals to identify needs, set goals, and overcome barriers, while connecting them to community resources. Link Workers establish trust, co-create plans, and work alongside healthcare and social service providers, offering wraparound support as part of broader care team.
The prevalence of social isolation, anxiety, and burnout is increasing4. For numerous individuals, particularly those from racialized, immigrant, and low-income communities, accessing mental health services continues to be a challenge and poses several barriers5.
That’s where green social prescribing provides something impactful:
Research indicates that time spent in nature can alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression6. A study discovered that spending as little as 20 minutes in a park can greatly reduce cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress.
Yet, beyond the scientific aspects, what Park People offers is this: supports for individuals reconnect with the environment, their culture, and one another.
Park People’s Sparking Change program wasn’t launched as a “green social prescribing” initiative. Rather, it represents the social intervention side of the pathway, the very kinds of community-led activities that people could one day be referred to in a healthcare-linked system.
Through cultural events, gardening, peer-led walks, and more, community champions are offering their own version of care rooted in place, culture, and joy. The program supports people to form groups that can organize activities in their local parks regularly over time, builds their capacity to advocate for improvements in their green spaces, and fosters partnerships to expand the range of activities and opportunities that community groups can take part in.
“We have witnessed firsthand the positive impacts that well-maintained parks and greenspace have on the health and wellbeing of our neighborhood’s residents. Through Sparking Change, we have worked to ensure that outdoor spaces are more inclusive and accessible, promoting physical activity, mental health, and bringing people together.”
Community member
In 2024, Sparking Change supported over 50 groups to activate greenspaces across Toronto. Together, they organized 110 days of programming and reached 3,300+ people. Nearly all participants (96%) reported stronger community connections7 and a large majority (80%) also said that through Sparking Change they feel a sense of belonging to their community.
Green social prescribing does not aim to replace traditional healthcare, rather, it seeks to expand our understanding of the various ways care can be experienced. It serves as a reminder that wellness does not only exist in clinics or hospitals, but can also be found in everyday settings: a nearby ravine, a community garden, or a group of neighbours gathered in the park.
At Park People, we’ve seen how community-led initiatives can reduce isolation, improve mental health, and bring joy through simple acts of gathering, caring, and connecting to nature.
“It’s been an eye opener and adventure locating and navigating Toronto’s beautiful parks, our seniors group facial expressions after entering the park, and seing such a wonderful site of luscious greenspaces with some of nature’s animals all around. Conversations of how good it feels to be in such a peaceful and serene place, offers a sense of wellbeing for us all. Thank you Park People.”
The challenge and opportunity is to build stronger bridges between community-led interventions like Sparking Change and the healthcare system. How can initiatives like Sparking Change be more connected to the healthcare system? What would it look like for healthcare providers to prescribe a walking group in a local park? How might link workers and healthcare providers collaborate with community champions to ensure people get referred to programs that reflect their needs, languages, and culture?
To make this vision possible, future steps could include:
By making these connections, cities can unlock the potential of green social prescribing.
Because when we invest in community care in every aspect, we’re not only creating healthier cities;
We’re fostering a sense of belonging.