We are looking for a Partnerships and Project Specialist in Toronto.
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.
Connect, Support, Influence and Inspire your community parks - Get our newsletter and email updates!
By donating to Park People, you’ll support vibrant parks for everyone.
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.
This case study is part of the 2022 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.
______
The ongoing discoveries of unmarked graves has forced Canada to reckon with its ongoing legacy of residential schools as part of the colonial tactics that strived for Indigenous erasure. Municipalities, street names, secondary and post-secondary institutions have all been under pressure to change names that step away from the colonial figures they were named after.Canada was born the moment settlers began claiming land, creating borders, and dispossessing First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. And while the ongoing effects of colonization can look vastly different across geographies, the prairies in particular trace land theft and displacement of Indigenous livelihood to agricultural opportunities that allowed white settlement to prosper. For Indigenous Peoples, this meant a violent history of land extraction, residential schools, and starvation methods through buffalo extinction and government policy.Inherently, cities remain a site of dispossession, and the land on which city parks exist are no exception. Nahomi Amberer reminds us of the pre-existing relationship with land Indigenous people held prior to contact, and how this relationship was undermined by land dispossession by European settlers, including land used today for parks. “Dividing up land was central to claiming ownership of a land already inhabited by Indigenous Peoples,” she wrote in last year’s Canadian City Parks Report. Indigenous Peoples continue to be reminded of these violent histories often; whether driving through the country or walking through an urban neighbourhood, place-names continue to honour colonial figureheads who played instrumental roles in the genocide against Indigenous populations. However, city spaces can also be a site of mass education. So, how do we create spaces that decentralize the colonial past and instead, promote Indigenous knowledges?
Over the past year, a handful of prairie city parks have taken steps towards decolonizing public spaces, making room for Indigenous histories in a way that hadn’t been done before. This is a particularly important step for prairie cities that reflect some of the highest urban Indigenous populations across the country. Further, city parks moving towards the process of decolonizing space provides urban Indigenous folks access to nature and ceremony without the barrier of having to leave the city.
Take Winnipeg – Canada’s largest urban Indigenous population – and the Indigenous Peoples Garden as a start. Anna Huard, Manager of Education and Programs at Assiniboine Park Conservancy described the Garden as a massive joint effort of community consultation, Matriarchs, Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and an Indigenous architecture firm. “It’s important that the consultation process on a project like this includes a lot of different connections,” she said. “As soon as others were able to help out, it started to feel like a community. We cannot just rely on one Indigenous spokesperson.”Native plant species helped guide the Garden’s development, and to further community inclusion, Indigenous youth also had a hand in planting trees and building boardwalks. The park includes fire and water nodes as well as interpretive signage that includes ancestral languages of Ojibway, Cree, Dakota, Oji-Cree, Michif, Dene and Inuktitut translations.
With last summer being the Garden’s launch, Huard is ready to see the space used more frequently for youth storytelling programs, language learning, and an Indigenous plants program that includes a guided tour and salve-making classes. Most importantly, Huard noted that the space provides urban Indigenous folks the opportunity to strengthen their understanding of land and culture within city limits.
The city of Regina also experienced a big leap forward in decolonizing park spaces recently. Last year, the city finally caved to public pressure to relocate the Sir. John A. MacDonald statue in Victoria Park in downtown Regina. Although grassroots initiatives and petitions for the statue’s removal have been circulating for a few years, the city’s website stated that in March of 2021, city council approved the relocation of the statue to storage, “while Administration proceeds with broader public engagement and working with partners to identify an appropriate future location and contextualization.”Further, the Buffalo Peoples Art Institute (BPAI), a grassroots community organization driven by social justice in Regina, played a significant role in advocating for the name change of an inner-city public park. In spring of last year, the city officially changed Dewdney Park in the North Central neighbourhood to Buffalo Meadows Park due to ongoing pressure from organizations like BPAI and public community support. The city also voted in favor to change Dewdney Pool to Buffalo Meadows Pool. Edgar Dewdney was a colonial figure who administered and oversaw residential school policies and the starvation crisis faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada.Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway, a member of the White Bear First Nation and a resident of Regina, said she started the Institute to help re-educate prairie learners about the significance of the buffalo’s presence before its erasure. She explained that Regina, often referred to as ‘Pile of Bones’ because of its creation literally being built on the bones of buffalo, must acknowledge the original histories of the land. “This was buffalo land before colonization,” she said.Advocating for the name change started a few years ago, and eventually led to public awareness campaigns through community barbeques and petition signing. After enough signatures were collected, the grassroots group and their allies presented the petition to the city council and the civic naming committee. The city vote to rename the park was successful, but the BPAI is still waiting for the approval to change a major street name, Dewdney Avenue to Buffalo Avenue, as well.The park’s name change encourages a reconnection to the land and is crucial for Regina’s north central community where many Indigenous people reside, BigEagle-Kequahtooway explained. “Even in an urban setting, our environment should reflect who we are as a community,” she said. “We need to determine whether the legacies of [colonial figures] are something we want to emulate or preserve for the future, and further question whether those names play a role moving forward in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.”
BPAI plans to continue to bring awareness to the buffalo’s history on the plains through public art installations, courses on preparing buffalo hides, and hosting an annual buffalo festival all in the newly named park.
The city of Edmonton also had a big year for centering Indigenous knowledges in parks as construction on the kihciy askiy park (Cree for Sacred Land) started in Whitemud Park last year.
The park has been 15 years in the making after the city received a proposal from the Indigenous Elders Cultural Resource Society outlining an urban cultural site where Indigenous people could practice cultural ceremony and learning opportunities. Although long overdue, the city’s website acknowledges that “long before becoming farmland, the kihciy askiy site was used for many centuries by the Indigenous people foraging for medicines for healing purposes.”After forming a Counsel of Elders in 2015 to work alongside a city project team, the city followed cultural leadership throughout the park’s entire design process. Alongside consultation from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, the city has also called upon the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the MMIWG Calls for Justice, and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to help guide the work.“Consistent with Indigenous culture of respecting the land, the project is designed to be completely synchronized within its location in the Edmonton River Valley,” Chelsea Burden, City of Edmonton’s Project Manager shared. With this in mind, the city also conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment to ensure the construction of the site results in minimal destruction to native plant and tree species along the River Valley.
The park’s development plans include spaces for ceremony and sweats, the opportunity to grow medicinal native species plants, and the infrastructure to host culture camps and talking circles. The park plans to officially open in early 2023.
As more graves continue to be uncovered, the urgency to recognize Indigenous history and presence must be prioritized. Acknowledging that colonialism continues to have a devastating impact while actively making changes led by the Indigenous community with ancestral ties to the land are two processes that can and should happen in tandem.
For example, in January of 2022, Vancouver’s Park Board chair Stuart McKinnon presented a motion that calls for the co-management of city parks that fall under the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. “I think it’s important as we recognize reconciliation in this country, that the land Vancouver sits on was occupied land,” McKinnon shared in a CBC article.
There is still plenty of work left to undo the colonial violence of the past, and governments at the municipal, provincial and federal level should actively engage in meaningful Indigenous consultation to lead the creation of cultural learning spaces in city parks as a starting point. In order to achieve successful consultation, engagement strategies must build authentic relationships with multiple Indigenous community members and respectfully make space for varying Indigenous worldviews. Further, municipalities must acknowledge that empowering Indigenous community members to lead educational programming, park signage, language camps, and plant/medicine gardens also empowers the community as a whole. Doing so promotes a way forward that allows urban Indigenous presence to access aspects of ceremony and tradition, and in turn, allows non-Indigenous people to learn more about the original stewards of the lands they occupy.
And perhaps above all, working alongside one another in mutual respect is one way to honour the spirit in which Treaty relationships were built upon.
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:
This case study is part of the 2020 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.
________
With climate change and biodiversity loss increasing stress on ecosystems, engaging residents in urban conservation is more important now than ever.
The question becomes how to reach people in their busy lives, respect traditional knowledge, and bring more people into the conversation about conservation.
In order to reach people, we need to articulate biodiversity in a way that is meaningful for them, said Jennifer Pierce, a biodiversity researcher at the University of British Columbia.
She recommended starting from questions such as “how does biodiversity relate to their lives. To what they value?” This may mean dropping the solely environmentally focused arguments and connecting biodiversity to other top-of-mind issues for people.
As we noted in our story on neighbourhood-scale urban biodiversity projects, one of the benefits of local initiatives is how they can make biodiversity tangible and relevant. Recent research has also shown how people’s exposure to local nature can positively impact their involvement in wider environmental issues.
By leveraging people’s attachment to their own home or neighbourhood—and by showing them how native plant gardens and rain gardens could, for example, save them money like Guelph’s rebate program does—more people can be brought into the conversation.
Another way to reach people is by working with youth. Schools are a great cross-section of society, Ryerson University Associate Professor Nina-Marie Lister said. Students can bring back messages of the importance of biodiversity to their parents, the same way that they did with recycling in the 1980s. “It was kids that pressured their parents to recycle,” Lister said. “They led by example.”
Joce Two Crows Tremblay is an Earth Worker with the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle in Toronto who works directly with street-involved youth and urban Indigenous populations planting and tending Indigenous species in local parks and public spaces.
These gardens are an important way of connecting with the land, traditions and ceremony—ties which have been severed through the colonization process.
“For the 50% of Indigenous populations that are now living in urban settings, parks are often our only place to connect with the land,” explained Tremblay. “A lot of healing happens by just getting your hand in the ground.”
Tremblay’s work extends to compiling research and educating about less-invasive management practices with a keen awareness of how colonial thinking is often re-enacted in how we manage species and landscapes.
Introducing new ways of thinking needs constant effort, and reinforcement of intentions through all layers of staff, as Tremblay learned when one of their Three Sisters gardens was accidentally mowed down. It is as important for the staff cutting the grass as it is for management to understand efforts to increase biodiversity and reconciliation work in parks.
How little we embed Indigenous knowledge and land management practices into our biodiversity work “is an enormous gap, and it’s also an irresponsible gap,” Lister argued.
She pointed out that while city staff have good intentions with biodiversity strategies and are aware of the need for more Indigenous involvement, they also recognize that many Indigenous organizations and communities are often stretched to capacity.
“It’s long been recognized that patterns of colonization and colonial history are repeated and entrenched through the way we build our landscape,” Lister said. “And we know that there needs to be, in Lorraine Johnson’s words, an unsettling of the garden.”
While not looking specifically at city parks, the importance of Indigenous land stewardship practices was highlighted by a 2019 University of British Columbia study which found biodiversity was highest on Indigenous-managed lands—finding a 40% greater number of unique species.
Getting to a place of collective care can be challenging. Some people may “love a place to death” while others may be ignorant of sensitive ecosystems, dumping trash or allowing their dog to run around.
However, as research by Mount Royal University’s Don Carruthers Den Hoed has found, how a place is framed—the name we give it and the narrative we embed in it—can impact people’s understanding of its importance. Humans are constantly looking for cues that suggest how we should act or what a place is for.
Carruthers Den Hoed pointed to one study where by telling people they were going to a park, people perceived it as a restorative place before they even got there. Even by naming something a “park” or a “sensitive landscape” we frame it in such a way that it affects how people relate to it.
Another research study set up by Carruthers Den Hoed included a “blind taste test” of nature. He brought participants to the same place through different ways: one group saw a park sign, one saw no sign, and another connected with Indigenous elders who talked about the place’s spiritual significance.
Carruthers Den Hoed found that people’s perception of the space—the importance and the level of care needed—was affected by the narrative of the place they were presented with, whether through signage or story. As a result, he noted it’s important to think about what the amenities, signage, and management of a park says about its significance and purpose.
Here are some of the creative practices that cities and communities are using to involve people in the preservation and enhancement of urban biodiversity.
LEVERAGE THE POWER OF ART.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE QUIRKY.
TURN NATURE INTO A LEARNING LABORATORY.
DEMYSTIFY WILDLIFE.
MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE.
Take a walk in a park. It’s something many of us intuitively do when we’re feeling anxious, which, as COVID-19 courses through our lives, is a growing collective emotional state. Nature is even something doctors have begun prescribing. But are all parks created equal in their benefits to our psychological well-being?
Pioneering research from the 1990s showed how exposure to nature—even getting a glimpse of it out of a window—could reduce stress, improve concentration, and help us heal faster. However, this research often painted nature with a broad brush: green space was green space whether it was a wild space or a treed lawn.
Recent research has been going deeper by exploring people’s response to different natural environments. Studies have looked at the length of time spent in biodiverse areas (the longer time the greater the positive effect), the types of vegetation present (bright flowers were stimulating, green plantings were soothing), and whether the presence of park furniture like benches reduced the well-being impacts of natural areas (it didn’t).
Overall, the research has found that people report a greater sense of well-being in areas that they perceive to be more biodiverse—a finding that has deep implications for how we plan and engage people in urban biodiversity.
The importance of access to nature and biodiversity for our mental health becomes even more urgent in light of COVID-19. As the pandemic increased stress and severed personal support networks for many, half of Canadians reported worsening mental health and the Canadian Mental Health Association warned of a potential “echo pandemic” of mental illness.
People were left trying to balance government direction to “stay home” with a desire to get some fresh air and clear their heads. A global survey of 2,000 people found mental and physical health were key drivers of public space use during the pandemic. The same survey found that people took refuge in places close to home, highlighting the pressing need to ensure natural areas are equitably distributed throughout our cities.
The benefits of biodiversity are often couched in environmental impacts and ecosystem services—the work that natural areas do to help clean the air, provide food, mitigate flooding, control extreme temperatures, and more. Viewing nature as green infrastructure is critical, but it misses how these same spaces are also psychological infrastructure.
“The intersection of the richness of life on earth with human well-being is now well established in science and is fast becoming an imperative in design and planning practice,” said Nina-Marie Lister, Associate Professor and Director of the Ecological Design Lab at Ryerson University, who added that the area is a “new frontier.”
“Never before have our parks and public green spaces been more important to city dwellers, especially in terms of the mental health and wellness benefits of urban nature,” she said. “From birdsong to sunshine, wildflowers and shady walks, we now know that the ability to safely access the outdoors is a critical necessity—and a vital prescription for wellness.”
“The sooner we recognize that we take psychological solace being in nature, the better we are able to protect nature for our own well-being,” she added.
Don Carruthers Den Hoed, a researcher at Mount Royal University who also manages the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership, has conducted his own studies on the connection between biodiversity and well-being. He argued that the well-being narrative can be a “doorway” through which to get more people involved in conversations about parks and biodiversity, noting the Canadian Index of Well-being as a model for how to talk about the multiple benefits of parks.
Understanding how parks contribute to Index areas like leisure and environment are a “no-brainer,” Carruthers Den Hoed said. But what about democratic engagement and community vitality? Through the Index, cities can make the case that volunteer stewardship programs aren’t just about natural restoration work, he said, but also about strengthening community vitality and well-being.
The impacts of well-being and biodiversity often depend as much on people’s perceptions as on actual levels of biodiversity present in a natural area.
For example, one 2012 study found people reported high levels of well-being in areas they perceived to be more natural, even if their perception did not align with actual levels of biodiversity.
This leads to an opportunity, the researchers pointed out. Closing the gap between perception and reality through natural education and stewardship initiatives could “unlock win-win scenarios” that “can maximize both biodiversity conservation and human well-being.”
In other words, the more we improve the biodiversity of our city and provide people ways to learn and steward these areas, the more people are able to appreciate natural spaces and the better they will feel as a result.
Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote of this reciprocal relationship between land stewardship and human well-being in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which weaves together Indigenous knowledge and natural science.
“Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise,” she wrote. “It is relationship that will endure and relationship that will sustain the restored land. Therefore, reconnecting people and the landscape is as essential as reestablishing proper hydrology or cleaning up contaminants. It is medicine for the earth.”
Lister views the public health and well-being impacts of biodiversity as a “missed opportunity” in Canada. “For a country rich in biodiversity, we are behind on protection strategies that can improve human well-being. I think it’s an urgent necessity to put biodiversity and health together in our public policies.”
Carruthers Den Hoed pointed out that park managers often speak about the spiritual benefits of nature and yet “that’s not mentioned in any management plans. It’s one of the really important values people come to nature for and yet it’s just kind of shuffled to the side of the table.”
Our review of Canadian biodiversity strategies found that while they mention the human well-being benefits of biodiversity, they do so often only in general terms rather than in policy or recommended actions.
However, that doesn’t mean cities aren’t thinking about the connection between biodiversity and public health. Recognizing the scientific link between mental health and biodiversity, Vanessa Carney, Calgary’s Landscape Analysis Supervisor, said that one of the goals of the city’s work mapping ecological networks “is to help find ways to expand Calgarians’ access to park spaces to include more easily accessible nature experiences.”
The well-being benefits of experiencing biodiversity and nature raise important questions about equitable access to these spaces—especially given rising mental health pressures due to COVID-19.
As health researcher Nadha Hassen found, racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to quality green spaces can be a determinant of mental health outcomes. “In urban settings, neighbourhoods with low-income, newcomer, and racialized populations tend to have lower access to available, good quality green spaces compared to other groups that are higher income or white,” she wrote.
Equity is a “massive piece of work,” Carruthers Den Hoed noted. Indeed, equity is a missing lens from many biodiversity strategies. He argued that equity should not just be about access (do people have nearby nature to enjoy?), but about inclusion (how involved are people in shaping those natural spaces?).
“Where’s the equity focusing on the decision-making, the employment, the economic benefits of the things that are happening in that park?” Carruthers Den Hoed said. “That’s where I think the most interesting work will go.”
In the lead-up to the Park People Conference, taking place virtually September 21-23, 2022, Park People met with Lewis Cardinal, a communicator and educator, who has dedicated his life’s work to creating and maintaining connections and relationships that cross cultural divides. Lewis is Woodland Cree from the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation in northern Alberta, Canada. His consulting company, Cardinal Strategic Communications, specializes in Indigenous education, communications, and project development. Currently, Lewis is Project Manager for “kihciy askiy–Sacred Land” in the City of Edmonton, Canada’s first urban Indigenous ceremony grounds.
Lewis Cardinal: Listen, building relationships takes time. Nobody’s done a project like this before so there’s no blueprint. The City of Edmonton didn’t have policies and processes to do something like this. We had to make these things up as we went along and, naturally, that slowed things down.
I mean, the city’s not in the habit of giving land back to Indigenous people.
It took a lot of community consultation to make kihciy askiy happen– with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The elders made it very clear, that we have to move forward in a good way, and take the time to build the relationships that need to be built.
We said, let’s just keep moving forward with this and try to be as patient as we can because the process is the product. If we want this to be a sacred site that is built on love, trust, respect, and understanding, that’s what we need to embody in the process.
LC: The city and community had to approach learning from each other with an open heart and an open mind. We start with ceremony, respecting our relationship with the city, and respecting the individuals we are working with because, at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings trying to do something to benefit people in our community.
We had to bring the City into how we do things and we had the opportunity to work with the City to learn how they do things too.
To do that you each need to have a clear vision of what you’re trying to build together. From there you share that vision with colleagues, friends, and partners. Then they each start to see themselves in that vision, that story. It is not just our vision, as Indigenous people. It’s a shared vision.
Working in a good way is also about being respectful, even during disagreements. Our Indigenous tradition teaches us that it’s all about relationships, and these relationships are critical to moving anything forward.
I mean, we’re all human beings, right? We lose patience. But when things start going sideways and you’re starting to feel the tension, you have to slip back into the ceremony to bring yourself back into a sense of balance so you can continue to move forward in a good way.
One thing I’ve learned from this process is that you really can’t drag anybody along to where you want to take them. They have to come willingly. And that’s why the vision needs to be shared so everyone involved sees themselves in that story.
LC: Yes, that’s right. We could have pulled all kinds of political cards and tried to force the City to do what we wanted to. But, kihciy askiy would have taken longer than 16 years or it may not have happened at all.
We continuously remind each other that we are in a good relationship, and it becomes almost like a mantra to continually remind us why we’re doing this.
Picture a young man standing with his mom and his little sister at a bus stop in Edmonton with a towel underneath his arm. Somebody asks that young man: “Where are you going swimming?” He responds: “I’m not going swimming. I’m going to a sweat lodge. I want my mom and my sister to see it too.”
When you share that kind of vision, it shakes loose some of the rigidity we may have built up. It cuts through the titles that we have as individuals, and it puts it into the heart of the human being that you’re working with. And I think that’s what works because it’s consistent, it’s like ceremony.
Consensus is a ceremony of communication. Consensus is the sacred process of honouring each person’s vision so that they can connect themselves to an idea in their own way.
When communication fails it creates shadows. Those shadows create doubt and confusion. Then, the process becomes a playground for individuals who might want to take advantage of that communication breakdown. So being consistent in speaking together and building a shared vision is very important.
LC: We always begin with ceremony, prayer, and mindfulness, because they take us back to the essence of what it is that we’re trying to do. Creating consensus can be unnerving at the beginning because people aren’t used to working with it, and they may stumble and fall. But once you get used to it, things move really quickly. Suddenly, everybody’s agreeing to the same vision.
We always make sure to celebrate and honor our partners. Whenever I get a chance to talk to the media or groups of people, I always say what a wonderful relationship we have with the city and how honoured we are to work with the City of Edmonton. This is an act of reconciliation.
By honouring your partners you’re reinforcing the relationship and strengthening it.
Every relationship has its dark side. That is our flaw as human beings –we always tend to muddle things up more than they need to be. We can become controlling and destructive. But the opposite is also true. We can become very creative and very loving and very open and we can make positive changes for a lot of people. So working within this context of consensus and relationship building is foundational.
LC: Over the last 18 years we’ve had the Edmonton Urban Aboriginal Accord, the Edmonton Declaration and the new Indigenous framework. This has helped the city rethink how it works with other communities, beyond Indigenous communities. It’s created a freshness of possibility.
In Cree tradition, we have the word tatawâw, which means you are welcome. It expresses openness to embracing all the people and communities who make Edmonton their home. It says “there is room for you here.”
Here are some resources to help you learn more about Lewis Cardinal and his work:
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
This past Fall, as golden leaves lined Toronto’s winding trails, communities across the city gathered once again to celebrate Ravine Days, a city-wide celebration honouring the natural beauty and importance of Toronto’s ravine system. In partnership with the City of Toronto, Park People’s InTO the Ravines program continues to support local leaders and grassroots groups who are finding creative ways to connect people to nature, community, and care for these vital green spaces.
This year, the stories emerging from the ravines remind us that connection can take many forms, whether through the quiet wonder of a starry sky, the joyful presence of our pets, or the rhythmic heartbeat of a drum.
On a crisp September evening, a group of curious Torontonians gathered at Morningside Park’s Highland Creek Ravine for something extraordinary: a chance to look up.
Hosted by The Scarborough Sky, a 2025 InTO the Ravines Alumni Microgrant recipient, the event invited participants to explore the relationship between urban light, nature, and the night sky. Using the ravine’s natural landscape to shield some of the city’s glow, guests were able to see Saturn and its iconic rings, trace constellations, and even catch a glimpse of a drone show lighting up the horizon.
For many, it was their first time peering through a telescope, testing out the provided equipment, learning the basics of astronomy, and rediscovering a sense of awe that can be hard to find in the city. The event was more than a stargazing night; it was a reminder that the ravines are not only spaces for animal habitat and stewardship and restoration, but also for wonder, learning, and connection to the vastness beyond us.
Over in High Park, another 2025 InTO the Ravines Microgrant recipient, Paws for Parks, brought together a different kind of community: people and their pups!
In partnership with the High Park Nature Centre, this volunteer-led group hosted a fun and educational event where 25 dog owners and their four-legged friends joined a guided walk through the park. Along the way, they learned practical tips for keeping parks safe and healthy for all creatures, human and otherwise.
The group’s message was simple yet powerful: small actions make a big difference. By picking up after our pets, keeping dogs leashed (except in designated areas), staying on trails, and being mindful of wildlife, we can all play a role in protecting the green spaces we love. The day ended with a shared meal, laughter, and new friendships, a beautiful example of how care for nature and community go hand-in-hand or in this case: paw-in-paw.
“The ravine is a really great way to exercise and relax and people can learn to be in harmony with nature as city people are so accustomed to manicured landscapes that they sometimes forget how to be part of nature but once you explain the benefits people are more inclined to come back on their own as well.”
Event Attendee
On a sunny afternoon, community members gathered near the St. Clair West Station with Teresa to take part in a guided walk and ceremony celebrating the rich natural and cultural history of the Cedarvale Ravine. The event opened with a land acknowledgement and a brief discussion about the ravine’s wetlands—an essential ecosystem that supports local wildlife, improves urban biodiversity, and provides meaningful opportunities for nature connection in the heart of the city. Participants were then honoured to join an Indigenous ceremony led by Anishinaabe grandmother Vivian Recollet, who shared teachings while offering water and strawberries, grounding the group in gratitude and respect for the land.
Volunteers were equipped with gloves and garbage bags to help clean the trail as they explored the ravine’s winding paths. Along the way, organizers highlighted wetland features and pointed out wildlife spotted throughout the route, deepening participants’ appreciation of the ravine’s ecological importance. Midway through, the group paused at a picnic area to enjoy snacks and juice while taking part in a hands-on craft activity: creating ribbon-braid bracelets in blue, green, and yellow to represent the sky, trees, and sun. The event created a meaningful blend of environmental stewardship, cultural learning, and joyful community connection.
“I learned a lot of interesting things about the ravine. I especially liked learning about how the landscape was formed by water and how much of the area used to be underwater.”
Event attendee
Community members gathered at Cedar Ridge Park and Gardens with Vera, overlooking the beautiful Highland Creek ravine, for a meaningful afternoon of cultural learning and nature connection. The event opened with a Land Acknowledgement, followed by an Indigenous smudging and drumming ceremony that grounded participants in gratitude and respect for the land. These opening moments set a reflective tone, honouring the deep relationships Indigenous peoples hold with the ravines and inviting participants to approach the day with openness and intention.
From there, attendees began a guided hike into the ravine, accompanied by Indigenous Elders who offered teachings on place, stewardship, and the importance of slowing down to build personal relationships with nature. Along the trail, participants took part in an “En Plein Air” outdoor art experience, choosing either open-air sketching and painting or quiet journaling as a way to deepen their connection to the landscape. This creative practice encouraged participants not only to observe the ravine but to truly sit with it, reflect on it, and express their experiences. The activity also served as an invitation for people to return on their own in the future to continue sketching, writing, and connecting with Cedar Ridge’s unique natural spaces. The event blended learning, creativity, and community in a way that strengthened participants’ sense of belonging and stewardship for the ravine.
Each of these events, though unique, reflects a shared vision: empowering local leaders to bring their communities together in the ravines through creativity, stewardship, and connection.
From astronomy nights under the stars to mindful walks with our pets, and drum-led healing circles, the 2025 InTO the Ravines program continues to highlight how community-driven events can spark curiosity, responsibility, and care for these essential green spaces.
As Ravine Days and the Into the Ravines Program wrap up for another year, the echoes of laughter and sometimes barking, music, and discovery linger among the trees and through the rumbling of the ravine, reminding us that when we connect with our ravines, we connect with each other, with nature, and with the city we call home.
“I truly appreciate the care and compassion Park People have for our ravines. I thought I already had a deep appreciation for them, but it has grown even more since the program”
InTO the Ravines Champion
Join the Canadian City Parks Report’s authors, Jake Tobin Garrett, Adri Stark & Naomi Amberber, and Park People Board Chair Zahra Ebrahim, for a webinar to launch the 2021 Report. This Canadian City Parks Report launch webinar features:
The third annual report tracking the trends, challenges, and leading practices in 32 Canadian cities. This year’s report highlights new city park insights on how parks can foster more resilient, equitable cities—not only as we recover from COVID-19, but as we address another looming crisis: climate change.
The webinar is held in English; French subtitles are available.
Adri Stark is specialized in research and policy at Park People, and co-author of the annual Canadian City Parks Report.…
Zahra is a public interest designer and strategist focused on shifting power to people who are typically underrepresented in institutions…
Jake Tobin Garrett (he/him) is a writer, illustrator and public space policy and research consultant. He was previously Park People’s…