A Glimpse into Park People’s Sparking Change and 8 80 Cities’ Ontario Community Changemakers Programs – Part 1

Parks and public spaces are places where communities connect, imagine, and thrive. In this two-part blog series, we explore programs we champion with our partner, 8 80 Cities, that support local leaders in reimaging and activating parks across Ontario. From mentorship and funding to creative activations, these programs show how trust, support, and imagination spark meaningful change.

The Vision Behind Sparking Change and Ontario Community Changemakers

Walk through any city in Canada, and you’ll find them: parks and public spaces. 

These spaces are the commons, the connecting space for community, the places where neighbours meet for the first time, where celebrations unfold, a place for democracy, and where we escape the hustle and bustle of city life to connect with nature. They’re where kids learn to ride bikes, where friends meet for picnics, and where you might just stumble into something unexpected.

Park People and 8 80 Cities share a simple but powerful belief: parks and public spaces are more than patches of grass or trails through trees. They are part of the city’s social fabric. They are places where belonging is practiced, where we learn to live alongside one another, and where we imagine something better together.

When people feel a sense of ownership over their parks and public spaces, everything changes. 

Benches get painted, gardens take root, and lanterns are lit. Entire herds of papier-mâché giraffes parade through neighbourhoods. Parks and public spaces become mirrors, reflecting the life and creativity of the community around them.

“Experimenting with Microparades in Waterloo Region”, OCC program, Hannah Gardiner, Waterloo.

That belief is at the heart of two programs we’re proud to lead alongside our friends at 8 80 Cities, and with the generous support of the Balsam Foundation: the Sparking Change program (Park People) and the Ontario Community Changemakers microgrant and leadership program (8 80 Cities).

Our long-standing partnership is rooted in the vision that parks are most vibrant when shaped by the people who use them. While Park People focuses on connecting and supporting community leaders to animate and care for their local parks, 8 80 Cities brings a placemaking lens and their signature principle: If a city works for an eight-year-old and an eighty-year-old, it works for everyone. 

Together, we champion community-driven urbanism, supporting local community leaders who transform spaces into places of belonging. Through these programs, grassroots groups and individuals continue to animate their communities and drive local change, often well beyond the programs themselves.

Together, we’ve seen how this alignment of vision translates into real impact: Park People’s community networks and mentorship pair seamlessly with 8 80 Cities’ Ontario Community Changemakers program, which equips leaders with funding, training, and a peer network. Many participants move between both programs, carrying forward skills, ideas, and partnerships that ripple into parks and neighbourhoods and impactful change across the province.

Sparking Change: Leadership that Belongs to the Neighbourhood

We know that lasting change happens when cities, community members, and non-profit partners work together toward a shared vision. By combining their strengths, we can amplify the impact of our public spaces.

Park People’s Sparking Change program centres building capacity, offering mentorship, and removing barriers so those connected to their parkspaces can shape it in ways that matter most to them. Park People asks: What could this park be if it truly reflected the people who use it? Then we provide the tools, coaching, networks, and seed funding to make that vision real.

“Little Community Garden”, Sparking Change program, Scarborough, Toronto.

The projects that grow out of Sparking Change take many forms: story-sharing circles, cultural festivals, trauma-informed ravine hikes, community gardens, park clean-ups, environmental stewardship days, art installations, youth-led gardening programs, and neighbourhood celebrations. All are locally led. All emerge from the creativity, care, and knowledge of the people who know their park best. And all, in their way, show what is possible when communities are given the trust and support to lead in their public spaces.

Ontario Community Changemakers: Trusting People to Shape Public Space

8 80 Cities’ Ontario Community Changemakers (OCC) program takes a similar approach. The program gives participants a year of mentorship, peer learning, and project funding to make a big idea happen in their community.

Over 2024 and forward, 8 80 Cities recently opened the program to people of all ages, reflecting that creativity, energy, and vision aren’t bound by age. That change means more voices, perspectives, and chances for public spaces to be shaped by the people who care about them most.

“Food for Joy: Promoting Well-being and Inclusion in Little Jamaica”, OCC program, Micha Happie Edwards, Toronto.

Many Sparking Change leaders have also been Changemakers, with both programs playing a key role in supporting their growth and impact. 

Mehedi Khan and Igor Samardzic are strong examples; through both their fellowship years, they gained tools, mentorship, and connections that helped them advance their Muslims in Public Space initiative with their co-lead, Linda Selam. These programs provided the platform to deepen their work, from making parks and plazas more inclusive for Muslim communities to celebrating Islamic culture in public spaces. 

With ongoing support from Park People, 8 80 Cities, and collaborators like PlazaPOPS, they have been able to launch and sustain projects such as Tower POPS, where they are helping to transform underused spaces around high-rise towers into welcoming, active public places for people in Toronto and Mississauga.

PlazaPOPs x Muslim in Public Space project, Scarborough, Toronto.

On top of all their community and cultural leadership, Mehedi and Igor managed the 2025 city-wide Jane’s Walk Toronto Festival, inviting the city to “walk with us” and celebrate the stories of its neighbourhoods. 

Read Part 2 to meet the changemakers shaping Ontario’s parks and see the creative ways they’re transforming their communities.

Why This Works

At the heart of every project is trust in community and the belief that amazing things can happen in public space with a little spark, a little funding, and some truly incredible changemakers.

Park People’s Sparking Change program trusts communities to lead. The 8 80 Cities Ontario Community Changemakers program trusts individuals to turn vision into action. 

When people have the tools and support they need, they can transform neighbourhoods, parks, and public spaces into places of connection and belonging. It creates space for imagination, brings communities together across generations, and inspires community members to animate parks, ravines, hydro corridors, and all the spaces in between. 

It allows culture to be celebrated in comfort and joy to ripple through public spaces. Most of all, it helps people build stronger and more connected communities across Ontario.

We are deeply grateful to the Balsam Foundation for believing in people, for championing ideas that don’t always fit neatly into a box, and for helping grow a network of leaders who are shaping the future of parks and public spaces across Ontario.

The 2025 Ontario Community Changemakers have officially been announced! Meet these inspiring leaders and follow their projects as they bring new ideas, energy, and creativity to parks and public spaces across Ontario. Start thinking about applying for microgrants, leadership training, and mentorship from Park People and 8 80 Cities to launch your own inclusive public space or park project in 2026.

Read Part 2 to meet the changemakers shaping Ontario’s parks and see the creative ways they’re transforming their communities.