As Dave Harvey retires from his co-leadership position at Park People, he reflects on the incredible journey since founding the organization in 2011.
Why are events in parks important? How do grants fit into Park People’s larger goals for creating change in city parks?
Park clean-ups bring neighbours together, foster connection, and leave a lasting impact—explore our 5-step guide to get started.
Explore inspiring community-led events funded by our microgrants program, from land-based learning to nature walks and skill-sharing workshops.
Finding volunteers doesn’t have to feel like an uphill battle. Here are some of his top tips to create an engaged, connected, and joyful volunteer team.
Come together with community members, park professionals, and municipal staff at the 2025 Toronto Park Summit!
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Finding volunteers doesn’t have to feel like an uphill battle. With a little intention and care, your group can create a welcoming volunteer experience that keeps people coming back.
Doug Bennet from Friends of Sorauren Park has spent years supporting and growing the park group’s base of active volunteers. Here are some of his top tips to create an engaged, connected, and joyful volunteer team.
Early on in their work together, Doug and the Friends of Sorauren Park realized that volunteer outreach kept falling to the bottom of their agenda. To change that, they began dedicating entire meetings to honing their recruitment and volunteer engagement strategies.This intentional focus helped them to build and maintain a strong and diverse core team that’s now large enough to pull off big park events without tiring out their members.Here are some prompting questions to help kick off your volunteer recruitment strategy meeting:
Who are we looking to reach? Who are our ideal volunteers? What skills, interests, or lived experiences would be valuable? Are there people in our neighbourhood or network who might love to help but haven’t been asked? Are there barriers that might be preventing people from getting involved (childcare, accessibility, communication style)? If so, how could we reduce these barriers? What’s the time commitment we require, and how can we also include people with busier schedules?
How will we find them? Where do potential volunteers spend their time (either online or in-person)? How can we show up there? What stories, images, or messages might catch someone’s attention and inspire them to get involved?
How will we make volunteering feel welcoming and worthwhile? How will we make it clear what volunteers can expect and how they can help? What would help people feel confident and connected right away? How will we ask volunteers for feedback and ideas to improve their experience?
Now that you know who you’re looking for, and what they’ll be doing, you’re ready to plan your outreach activities.
Think about the places your neighbours already spend time (such as community bulletin boards, local social media groups, farmers’ markets, libraries, or park events) and share a friendly, specific invitation to join your group. Use photos and stories that show what volunteering looks like, so people can picture themselves getting involved. Includes clear next steps like signing up for a newsletter or attending an upcoming event. The goal is to create lots of easy entry points for people to connect with your group.
You may want to test out a couple of approaches depending on your community, your capacity, and the technology you have available. For example, Friends of Sorauren Park first created a message board for volunteers, but found that they weren’t getting much traction. They swapped the message board for a simple sign-up form and noticed an increase in volunteer interest.
First impressions go a long way. A warm in-person introduction, a simple orientation email, or an invite to a casual planning meeting can all help set the tone for why someone would want to volunteer with you. Giving people a sense of what to expect also makes it easier for them to step in and feel like part of the team.To make sure everyone feels properly welcomed, consider starting a Volunteer Ambassadors Program. Doug’s group has seen the value of experienced volunteers stepping up to welcome and mentor new folks. Ambassadors can help answer questions, share their knowledge, and create a positive first experience for newcomers.
Over time, Doug noticed that volunteers who felt socially connected to the group were more likely to stay involved. Creating opportunities for people to get to know each other helps turn volunteering into something more meaningful than just a task. This could look like hosting a potluck, organizing a group photo at an event, or setting up a casual chat thread where people can share ideas and stay in touch.
As your group grows, some volunteers will naturally want to take on bigger roles. It helps to plan for this and encourage their development by creating opportunities to build their skills and confidence over time. Workshops, training sessions, or even informal mentoring can help volunteers feel valued and supported.
Doug saw this in action at Friends of Sorauren Park. When he stepped down as Chair, long-time volunteer Joël Campbell was ready to step into the role. Joël had already led the group’s Adopt-A-Park-Tree program for several years, which gave him experience and built trust with the group. Because of this, the transition into leadership felt smooth and natural for Joël and for the whole team.It’s great practice to continually consider who might take over when current leaders step away from the group, and then make sure they have the tools to do so with confidence.
You really can’t thank volunteers enough. Doug and the Friends of Sorauren Park make a point of highlighting volunteers in their communications, and they’ve also partnered with a local sponsor to host volunteer appreciation events.Depending on the size of your group recognition might look different. If you’re not able to coordinate an event, consider posting photos on social media, sharing quotes from volunteers in a newsletter, or creating a simple infographic to show the impact of their work.Recognition helps volunteers feel seen and reminds everyone that their time and efforts matter.
Thanks to Doug at Friends of Sorauren Park for the great insights that come from years of successful work with volunteers!
This case study is part of the 2023 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing Inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
It’s provincial legislation that amends the Planning Act, which governs how parkland is conveyed to municipalities, and the Development Charges Act, which governs how growth-related parkland and park facilities are funded. The bill has reduced the amount of parkland that municipalities will see conveyed, as well as the amount of funding to develop park amenities. It will also impact what types of parkland are acceptable in the future, subject to future regulations, including encumbered land and POPS (privately owned public space).
I think the province was hearing a lot of consternation from the development industry on different fees that are charged to build housing. There was a lot of advocacy from the housing industry showing how much these fees added to the cost of new housing. And also how certain municipalities were not spending their parkland reserves. I think that those two things together, combined with the provincial government’s desire to provide more housing quickly, is what led to those changes.
On the short term side, a lot of municipalities are looking at their capital plan and trying to figure out whether they can still afford those things. In the long-term, I would say that communities built post-Bill 23 will have less parkland than pre-Bill 23 communities, so there is likely to be a bit of an inequity over time.
It was mostly about knowledge-sharing and helping each other understand how we were anticipating advocating. Whether different municipalities were looking to advocate themselves or whether they were looking to advocate by way of other groups, like professional parks associations. There are now 12 participating municipalities represented by managers or senior park planners. People read things differently, so it was good to see how other people were understanding it and what they had heard from their sources.
We were focusing on council briefing notes and advocating messages through the Association of Municipalities in Ontario, Ontario Landscape Association, and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute who seemed to have a bit more of the ear of the government. There wasn’t much of a push to do a public campaign because the deadlines were just so quick.
They didn’t make changes to the reduced amount of parkland that municipalities will see conveyed or provided as cash-in-lieu, but they did claw back on developers providing encumbered land or POPS. That is now subject to future regulation, which hopefully will come with criteria such as land within walking distance of the site. And the proposal that developers would be able to suggest lands that are off site to be conveyed–that’s subject to future regulation as well. Those were some pretty good changes.
We also continue to hold monthly virtual forums when participants have questions or issues. Additionally, we email each other with issues that arise where we can learn from each other.
I think what makes progress is when a number of different groups with credibility on a specific matter are on the same message. So figure out the groups that are aligned with your position and then emphasize the same key messages and concerns. If you can get a sense of which groups are being listened to by the provincial government, then you have a chance of your message being heard a little bit louder than if you go it alone. Sometimes you’ll be successful and sometimes you won’t. But every small gain on the things we’re dealing with–the places where people play–is a gain that is useful.
Join us and hundreds of park changemakers—NGOs, community groups, municipal staff, and advocates from across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond—for a day of knowledge sharing, connection, and inspiration.
This network-wide event gathers those dedicated to creating vibrant, accessible, and climate-resilient parks and public spaces.
Join the conversation on the future of city parks in Toronto, explore potential collaborations, and gain fresh perspectives from diverse voices in the community.
12:00 PM
Join us from 12:00 pm at Daniels Spectrum. In between talks, take part in engaging activities, meet like-minded people, and discover new initiatives at our community stations.
1:00 PM
With Ange Loft, Interdisciplinary Artist, who will reflect on Indigenous connections, partners, and aspirations that deepen Indigenous presence in parks.
3:00 PM
Park leaders will share insights and inspiring stories on how community-driven initiatives and local collaborations are transforming parks into vibrant spaces that foster social connection.
With:
This panel will be moderated by Eunice Wong, Lead Researcher at Monumental.
4:00 PM
Enjoy finger food while exchanging ideas, sharing inspiring projects, and envisioning the future of our urban parks.
ANGE LOFT (Kanien’kehá:ka, from Kahnawà:ke, Canada; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) is an interdisciplinary performing artist. Her collaborations use arts…
Eunice is an award-winning urban designer, researcher, registered planner, and all-around curious person. As a lead researcher at Monumental, Eunice…
Analytical, energetic, and detail oriented, Shakhlo Sharipova is a passionate leader who thrives on turning ideas into action. With a…
Ana Cuciureanu is a sustainability leader working with the City of Toronto to advance green infrastructure and promote equitable climate…
Julia Hitchcock’s ancestors are from Latvia and England and she was born in Hamilton. Julia has been an organic vegetable…
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Daniels Spectrum is located on the unceded Ancestral shared lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit Nations.
Daniels Spectrum is a community cultural hub in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood. It is home to many outstanding arts-based and community-focused organizations, and contains several event, performance and exhibition spaces that host tens of thousands of visitors and hundreds of arts and cultural events each year.
We encourage you to visit the Daniels Spectrum Hallway Galleries (free and open to the public) before or after the summit to explore the ongoing art exhibitions, which showcase the work of talented artists from Regent Park and beyond.
Building access:
Daniels Spectrum is fully accessible by Ontario standards. Barrier-free access to the building via the Dundas Street entrance.
Amenities and Support:
Email Cynthia Hashie to let us know how we can support your attendance at chashie@parkpeople.ca.
This event will be facilitated in English.
Daniels Spectrum is located at 585 Dundas St E, Toronto, ON M5A 2B7. The main entrance is on Regent Park Blvd, barrier-free entrance is on Dundas Street.
Parking:
Paid public parking at Daniels Spectrum is available in a lot located underneath the building (approx. 100 spaces). The vehicle entrance is located at the rear of the building, accessed via Sackville Street on the western side of the building. Parking is $10.00 for 8 hours. We encourage you to come via public transit if possible.
Public transportation:
Cycling: A Bike Share station is located a 12-minute walk away.
If transportation assistance is needed, please let us know, and we can arrange coverage upon request.
Music will be playing in the background during the event. It will be at low/moderate volume.
Interaction level will be high. Participants are encouraged to initiate conversations and engage in discussion with others. However, this is optional.
We’ll be serving a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and finger foods—including gluten-free and vegan options—during the networking session following the talks. Water stations will be on-site, so we encourage you to bring a reusable bottle to help reduce waste.
The Toronto Park Summit is rain or shine as the event is indoors.
The Don River, which runs north-south through Toronto and ends at Lake Ontario, has a long and complicated history. As The Globe and Mail points out, the river has provided transportation and food for Indigenous Peoples, been a boon to beekeepers, used as an industrial and human waste dump, was once perfumed for a royal visit, caught on fire twice, and finally was partially filled in and straightened in the early late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the words of Jennifer Bonnell, York University professor and author of Reclaiming the Don: the Don is the “most-messed-with-river” in Canada.
Toronto isn’t alone in mistreating its waterways. Many Canadian cities went on a similar crusade of burying, channelizing or filling in streams, rivers, and marshes to make way for urban development. Nature was often viewed as a thing to be tamed, rather than a force to be understood and respected.
Our survey found that 17% of cities have projects, planned or completed, to “daylight” buried rivers by restoring them to the surface, such as Vancouver’s Tatlow and Volunteer Park Stream Restoration project. Other projects approach daylighting through public art, as in the case of Toronto’s Garrison Creek, including murals that celebrate the importance of water to Indigenous Peoples.
Toronto is currently deep into a years-long, billion dollar project to “un-mess” the Don River. Led by Waterfront Toronto in coordination with the City of Toronto, the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection project, aims to restore natural habitat and safeguard adjacent areas from flooding at the same time.
Waterfront Toronto is designing with natural forces rather than against them in the Don Mouth Naturalization project. By re-introducing the river’s meandering path as it meets the lake, the project will slow the flow of water, while new riverbanks are designed specifically to flood, protecting new neighbourhoods that will be built up around them. In a major storm–more common due to climate change–the Don River could see “water equivalent to two-thirds of Niagara Falls” flow down its length.
As Waterfront Toronto Parks and Public Realm Project Director Shannon Baker told Park People in 2021, the goal is not to block water or prevent it from rising and ebbing, but “to accept it and just be resilient to it in the same way that a natural system would be.” For example, vegetation was carefully selected for species that “can bend and flex and allow water to move through.” The riverbank is divided up into different sections from upland forest at the top of bank down to submergent (underwater) marsh, each with their own planting palette.
The task is gargantuan–the largest urban construction project in the country. It has involved moving and cleaning tons of earth, shaping and stabilizing riverbanks using techniques like wood anchors and shale rock, and plantings to support a new river ecology and habitats. Finally park spaces will be created along the edges with various programming, including new trails, beaches, and areas for boat launches to allow for more interaction with the lake.
In the end, by placing the rivermouth back in its natural state, the hope is that all of this engineering will be invisible to anyone enjoying the newly created spaces. While the scale of this project is enormous, it still offers lessons for other cities looking to renaturalize and daylight formerly buried and channeled waterways, reconfiguring their relationship to water from one of control to one of mutual respect.
Pumpkin parades are a creative way to celebrate local creativity and give carved jack-o’-lanterns a second life.
Usually held the next evening after Halloween, pumpkin parades encourage neighbours to light up local pathways and parks in a stunning display of community spirit. Free, family-friendly, and great for photos, these parades also encourage sustainability as volunteers arrange to compost submissions after the parade is over.
Pumpkin parades are also a made-in-Canada phenomenon! Back in 2004, the Friends of Sorauren Park kicked off the trend when they organized local residents to publicly display their creations in the park. From about 100 pumpkins in that first year to over 3,000 today—and with copycat parades now being held across the continent—the pumpkin parade is here to stay.
Ready to turn your own park or neighborhood into a glowing showcase? Here’s a step-by-step guide to make your pumpkin parade a smashing success.
Take a walk around the park with your community park group to choose the best route for your pumpkin parade. It can be hard to predict how many jack-o-lanterns will be part of your parade in the first year, so make sure you have the flexibility to make the path longer if necessary. Keep wheelchair and stroller accessibility in mind, and find opportunities to place pumpkins on different levels for optimum visibility.
Most park events of this size require a permit. In Toronto, there’s even a special Pumpkin Parade permit which makes the compost process simple and affordable. Check with your municipality or parks department to see if you require a permit or special insurance.
For effective (and free!) promotions, use social media to post in neighbourhood groups and email community centers, elementary schools, local businesses, and your city councillor asking them to spread the word through their own newsletters, bulletin boards, and social accounts. Put up posters in high-traffic areas like libraries, coffee shops, and grocery stores, and distribute flyers at local events leading up to the parade. Engage local media outlets—like newspapers, radio stations, and blogs—to feature the event in their community calendars. Finally, invite community members to help with promotion by tagging friends or sharing photos of their pumpkins as they prepare for the big night. The more people feel connected to the event, the more excitement and turnout you’ll generate!
You’ll need a few helping hands to prepare a great parade. Schedule a few volunteers to arrive early to get the pathway started and help people place their pumpkins. Community members can drop off jack-o-lanterns earlier than you might expect, with the after-school period being the most convenient time for many. Our park group experts advise groups to be on-site by 3:30pm.Volunteers can also distribute candles and help to light (and re-light) jack-o-lanterns throughout the night. Finally, you’ll want to have volunteers set up a table to collect sign-ups for your e-newsletter and ask people if they want to sign on to volunteer for next year’s Pumpkin Parade.
Will you clean up the park the night of the Parade or the next morning? Either way, you’ll need lots of volunteers with wheelbarrows or wagons to efficiently move the pumpkins from the ground to the compost bin, and to remove all of the candles from the jack-o-lanterns. The City of Toronto supports this effort by providing organic waste bins, and the pumpkins are turned into compost that can be used in parks and gardens throughout the city.
Make sure to let people know what to bring and what time to gather.
More cities across Canada are prioritizing the naturalization of existing parkland. Converting manicured parkland into natural meadows has multiple benefits including increasing climate resilience, biodiversity, and nature connection for residents.
However, these projects have also proven controversial. For example, Vancouver’s “no-mow” pilot project, which naturalized certain sections of parks, was met with opposition by some residents who viewed the spaces as unkempt–a challenge that many other cities in Canada have reported facing.
Karley Cianchino thinks a lot about park naturalization. As City of Brampton Environmental Project Specialist, Cianchino’s job is to plan parks collaboratively with communities through the lens of nature.
Brampton prioritizes naturalization projects using its unique Eco Park Strategy–a citywide strategy that contains principles for conserving and enhancing both natural and cultural heritage. The strategy includes a helpful tool in understanding how to plan spaces, situating them on a scale from highly naturalized systems to high functioning social systems, recognizing that most places are a blend.
“If a park has a low environmental score, then we’ll look for opportunities to bring some restoration work forward.”
Karley Cianchino, City of Brampton Environmental Project Specialist
No matter how good they are, strategies have a habit of sitting on a shelf gathering dust. To ensure that doesn’t happen, Cianchino said that she does a lot of internal coordination, including a bi-monthly Eco Park meeting, as well as “casual conversations” with colleagues about new projects and discussing how to incorporate the Eco Park objectives. For example, if a park is undergoing upgrades, perhaps that’s an opportunity to incorporate naturalization work. This approach not only minimizes redundant community engagement and resource allocation but also enhances synergy between projects.
Not all of these projects go off without a hitch, however. Recently the city naturalized a large section of Dearbourne Park–the first time the city had brought its naturalization program to a busy neighbourhood park. It wasn’t received well, Cianchino said, with residents pointing out they had lost park space they used for other activities.
The city held a community meeting with residents who selected a smaller 10,000 square foot space in the park to be a programmed pollinator habitat, which would be stewarded by the community group Cianchino created with ongoing support from the city. In the future Cianchino said she wants to implement a QR code system in locations identified for potential naturalization asking residents to let the city know how they currently use the space.
Supporting community stewards will be a key part of the project’s ongoing success. Working with volunteers, Cianchino led the group’s first “bio blitz,” where residents measure the number of pollinators before the planting of native species this fall. Cianchino also works with the group to discuss what people can do in their own yards to support naturalization efforts. The core of the Eco Park Strategy, she said, is a series of linked habitats and green corridors,
“and you can’t just do that through public land. It’s critical that we educate landowners and help them build capacity to naturalize their spaces in a manner that works for them.”
Further Reading:
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, children and youth in grades 6 to 10 report playing outdoors for just 15 minutes per day on average.
This has serious consequences for their health and wellbeing: children spending less time outdoors has been linked to decreased appreciation of the environment, health problems including obesity and vitamin D deficiency, attention difficulties, and higher rates of emotional illnesses like anxiety and depression.
Moving youth programming outdoors to a park is a wonderful opportunity to connect kids with nature, foster creativity, and encourage physical activity. So, how can we encourage young people to leave the couch and reconnect with nature?
We spoke with Shakeera Solomon from Vision of Hope Resource Centre in Brampton—who received a TD Park People Grant in 2019—about what they learned when they brought their monthly Youth Council programming outdoors into the park.
Here are Shakeera’s tips for moving your indoor programming outside.
First up, observe your local park to see which aspects could be appealing for youth and suitable for your programs. Check for amenities like restrooms, shaded areas, picnic tables, and open spaces. Identify any potential safety hazards (such as bodies of water or uneven ground) that might require extra supervision for youth participants.
Next, take note of the surrounding area: are you near a school, convenience store, or other location that youth are already drawn to? If so, this could make your park a great spot for outreach!
When Vision of Hope chose to move their monthly Youth Council meetings from the east Brampton Resource Centre, they picked Anne Nash Park—a small, local park with just a modest play area because of its prime location beside an elementary school. This way, the Youth Council caught the attention of kids from the elementary school and those passing by on their way home from school. Their new visibility helped the Youth Council attract many more members who now regularly attend meetings and events.
Tips:
Hosting a gathering in a park is a great way to deepen relationships in your community. By involving parents, park staff, and other partner organizations in your outdoor programming, you can help create stronger community bounds.
As Shakeera explains, when youth-focused programs happened indoors, parents would wait on the sidelines and kill time on their own. But when programming moved into the park, parents interacted in a whole new way. In the small park, it became awkward for parents not to talk, and so they started chatting and getting to know one another. When parents connect, there are many benefits, particularly in an underserved community. Parents who know one another are much more likely to support each other and build resilience in times of need.
Adapting indoor activities to the outdoor environment offers incredible opportunities to get creative. For example, storytelling can become a nature scavenger hunt, and art projects can use natural materials. Think about how you’ll use the unique character of your park to inspire your youth participants, and how you might encourage them to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the space.
Shakeera told us bringing programming to the park helped the youth feel that the space was truly theirs. She was even surprised when her group eagerly suggested organizing a park clean-up. That’s when she realized the park had really become “their place.”
“They were so proud of what they accomplished for their park.”
Shakeera Solomon, Vision of Hope Resource Centre
She observed their pride when they posed for a team photo with gloves and garbage bags.
Tips
Our city and our ravines were shaped by past extreme weather events. Looking ahead, our ravines can help us be more climate-resilient. But first, we need to protect them.
In this webinar, David MacLeod, Senior Environmental Specialist with the City of Toronto, and Carbon Conversations TO explore how these natural spaces can mitigate climate impacts and the steps we must take to protect them.
The webinar is held in English; French subtitles are available.
In July 2018 and November 2018, Park People worked with the City of Toronto and over 100 volunteers to conduct a public life study of the King Street Pilot.
The study used a behavioural observation approach to examine the use of the new public spaces that were created along the street as part of the pilot between Bathurst and Jarvis Streets. The purpose was to better understand how the new public spaces were working, including who was using them and for what activities, in order to evaluate their impact and determine recommendations for potential improvements.
This case study is part of the 2024 Canadian City Parks Report, showcasing Inspiring projects, people, and policies from across Canada that offer tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges facing city parks.
Designing for inclusivity and accessibility is top of mind for many municipalities. From our surveys, 78% of municipalities indicated that universal accessible design is a high priority in their work. And while many municipalities look to provincial accessibility guidelines to meet basic standards, our 2022 public survey revealed that 10% of city residents say that insufficient accessibility features discourage them from visiting and enjoying city parks. This suggests that parks are still not working for everyone.
Waterfront Toronto, a tri-government agency, noticed gaps in existing provincial and municipal accessibility guidelines when designing new public spaces, specifically spaces around water. Some of these gaps include standards around the design of boat launches, boardwalks, beaches and water entry points.
Waterfront Toronto knew that in order to create truly accessible public spaces they needed to learn from, listen to and involve the people who understand accessibility challenges and opportunities the best – people living with disabilities.
Waterfront Toronto assembled an advisory committee made up of individuals with professional and technical expertise, most of whom are people living with disabilities, to guide the development of their new design guidelines. The guidelines aim to go above and beyond existing requirements and ensure waterfront settings can be enjoyed by all. Notable requirements include standards that all beaches must have accessible pathways into the water and boat launches for adapted canoes and kayaks must be provided.
The process of including community members with lived experience in an advisory committee is not a novel engagement practice. But what really sets this work apart is that the guidelines incorporated a permanent mechanism to include those with lived experience in all future projects.
The advisory committee emphasized the guiding principle of “nothing about us without us”, and the idea that no single voice speaks for the entire disability community. The committee members also highlighted the importance of implementation.
One of the ways Waterfront Toronto addressed this was to create a permanent accessibility committee that reviews all future public realm projects and will advise on future updates to the guidelines. This follow-on committee, known as the Accessibility Advisory Committee, is made up of individuals with professional expertise, advocates and caregivers, most of whom identify as a person with a disability, who receive an honorarium for their time. When composing the committee, Waterfront Toronto sought people with a range of disabilities and experiences to try and represent the diversity of accessibility needs.
For any new parks or public space projects, the Accessibility Advisory Committee is engaged at least twice in the process. The committee provides feedback within the early stages of the design phase to flag any accessibility concerns and again once the construction is complete, with additional opportunities for input as needed. This “roll through” of complete projects identifies any potential areas for improvement. This feedback will be implemented as amendments to the guidelines and applied to future projects, but Waterfront Toronto has also committed to accommodating the feedback at the site when a retrofit or repair is needed.
The guidelines set out a new standard for inclusively designed public spaces by filling gaps and going above and beyond current requirements, and proactively seeking out those with lived experience to guide projects on a long-term basis.
Enhancing accessibility to blue spaces ensures that everyone has access to the restorative power of nature. And while the implementation of the new guidelines ensures that people with disabilities can participate in these public spaces, accessibly designed spaces are good for everyone.
“We know that to create a vibrant waterfront that belongs to everyone, we must have a strong commitment to accessibility in everything we make and do. With the support of the Accessibility Advisory Committee we are making accessibility another area of true design excellence.”
Pina Mallozzi, Senior Vice President, Design at Waterfront Toronto
Further Reading