As Dave Harvey retires from his co-leadership position at Park People, he reflects on the incredible journey since founding the organization in 2011.
Park People’s Executive Director, Erika Nikolai, has been honoured with the Distinguished Individual Award from World Urban Parks—an international recognition that celebrates her leadership and the growing national movement Park People has helped build here in Canada.
The programs offers community members from equity-deserving neighbourhoods training and coaching to help them enhance or transform vacant or underused spaces into public green areas.
Pumpkin parades are a creative way to celebrate local creativity and give carved jack-o’-lanterns a second life. Here’s a step-by-step guide to make your pumpkin parade a smashing success.
Learn more about the impact of Canada’s large urban parks’ stewardship initiatives—from healthier ecosystems and stronger community well-being to essential support for city services.
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Park People believes that governance models should be created specifically for your organization, community and park. With the growing complexity of today’s cities, it’s critical to explore new ideas for parks and public spaces, including responsible governance models. Park People works with diverse clients to create governance strategies and lead partnership and opportunity studies. Our approach involves surfacing and sorting through partners’ strengths for better synergy and cooperation.
This work informs new models rooted deeply in community involvement and ensures partnerships are adding to—not replacing—the role of government.
Client: Metro Vancouver Regional Parks2021
Metro Vancouver Regional Parks hired Park People to review their partnership work to guide the development of an enhanced Community Relationships Approach.
Through individual interviews and collaborative workshops, we examine existing practices within Metro Vancouver teams whose work intersects with community engagement, relationship building, and partnerships.
We analyzed current practices and incorporated insights from best practices and emerging trends in park partnerships across North America. We put forward three strategic directions and 11 recommendations highlighting the need to be more consistent across the system, growing the Park Partner Network and growing internal capacity. We also developed a comprehensive Community Involvement Framework and a detailed implementation plan.
Client: Downtown Vaughan Metropolitan Centre2021
Park People was hired to create a decision-making framework to guide discussions on park partnerships and alternative governance models. This framework aimed to support the development and operation of parks and open spaces planned for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre area, including the Urban and Neighborhood Parks, Public Squares and Environmental Open Spaces.
Park People created a comprehensive decision-making framework for the staff to use to evaluate potential partnership models and help guide decision-making throughout the park planning process. The framework provides valuable information, including governance model typologies and funding mechanisms, a decision-making matrix, and partnership model case studies.
Client: Financial District BIA2018
The Financial District BIA hired Park People to explore partnership models for Cloud Gardens to bring special attention to this key downtown public space—the only public park in Toronto’s Financial District.
After evaluating current park partnership models in Toronto and Canada and interviewing key stakeholders, Park People recommended a new one with a two-phase approach (pre and post-construction. We outlined vital success factors and suggested critical next steps, including partner discussions and broader community engagement tactics to ensure people feel welcomed and involved in the partnership.
Client: Waterfront Toronto2016
The Bentway created a new linear public space beneath an elevated highway. Waterfront Toronto hired Park People and HR&A Advisors to devise a governance model overseeing programming, maintenance, and operations to ensure this unique space lived up to its potential.
Park People explored best practices from across the city and the unique needs of The Bentway site in terms of arts and culture programming. We developed a funding strategy leveraging the project’s value proposition to unlock revenue and a management and governance structure to lead the ongoing, high-quality implementation of the vision and funding strategy.
We recommended the creation of a new non-profit entity—the first conservancy in Toronto— to oversee The Bentway, passing unanimously at Toronto City Council.