Walkabouts - Calgary’s First Step to Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods

March 20, 2013 (CALGARY) – The City of Calgary formally launched its new Innovation Pilot Project called “Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods” on March 20 at 10:30 am at the Bankview Community Association.

Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods is a community-led initiative that empowers residents to identify opportunities and make recommendations to The City about municipal programs and services that directly affect their community. Twelve neighbourhoods have been identified to participate in the pilot that was approved in November 2012 and will be completed in June of this year.

 

Alderman John Mar and Bill Bruce, Project Lead were on hand to formally kick-off Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods. “This project is about coordinating existing resources and services as prioritized by residents to better support their neighbourhoods as opposed to offering new programs or services,” explained Alderman John Mar.

 

He continued, “the initial focus will be on bringing together the services provided by the Community Services & Protective Services Department including employees from Animal & Bylaw Services, Community & Neighbourhood Services, the Calgary Fire Department, Parks and Recreation. Additional programs and services may be added in the future and we are also looking at bringing in some external partners and organizations.”

 

Bankview resident Terry MacKenzie shared his perspective. "Today a number of my neighbours and I had the opportunity to participate in a community-led walkabout which simply is to walk around Bankview and explain to The City representatives here about what we value about our neighbourhood and how we can build upon what's good. I have lived in this community for 31 years and this is the first time I've have been part of something like this. This approach shows promise for strengthening the community."

 

Long-time City employee Bill Bruce who is the project lead for Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods explained, “the findings from the walkabout will be shared with the newly struck Neighbourhood Action Teams (cross-functional teams) comprised of employees from the Community Services & Protective Services department. Members of these teams will work collaboratively with community organizations and the residents to build on what is already working well and how best to address needs and opportunities identified during these walkabouts.”

 

In total, there are 12 pilot communities and a walkabout will be conducted in each of the following 12 neighbourhoods in March and April of this year:

Note: *These four communities have been identified as a regional cluster.

 

Bill Bruce defined some of the results these walkabouts may provide. “Examples of needs identified that may surface include green space, community infrastructure, or connecting residents in ways so they can work together to make their neighbourhood a safer place to live.”

For more information regarding Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods please visit www.calgary.ca/cns.

 

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Where we live matters to most of us. Our neighbourhoods are diverse and the people who live in them make Calgary a great city. The City of Calgary values strong neighbourhoods and believes we have a critical role in building neighbourhoods where people want to live, work and play. The Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods pilot program supports the Strong Neighbourhoods initiative housed in Community & Neighbourhood Services. It will help to achieve the City’s vision of ensuring every neighbourhood is a strong neighbourhood by building community capacity and strengthening neighbourhoods because when neighbourhoods thrive – we know the people who live there also thrive.

 

One-time funding for Inspiring Strong Neighbourhoods was provided from the Mayor’s Innovations Fund, which includes $50,000 of seed money for some of the initial neighbourhood projects.

 

The pilot application was approved in November 2012, implementation then began in January of this year and the pilot phase will wrap up this June. A report to Council will follow in July 2013 outlining progress to date, lessons learned and a suggested go forward strategy. If the pilot is successful, The City may expand this approach to other Calgary neighbourhoods with support from other departments across The City of Calgary.