What can we learn from Good examples?
Edmonton has seen a string of great consultations in the last few years. The TogetherWise approach has learned much from these stories.
Success has largely followed those projects where a strong and honest consultation process took place; one that built and kept a community’s trust. Some of those successes took over a year. Others took only a few months, but in each case, the approach to consultation mattered greatly.
The best examples…
- Made time and space for personal connections
- Honestly answered community questions
- Incorporated ideas and feedback from the community.
- Kept their promises
- Communicated well
- Built toward a shared understanding of the project.
- Created lasting relationships
Here are the stories of two great Edmonton examples:
Finding home in Bonnie Doon: Iris Court’s Consultation Story
The [Schizophrenia] Society worked hard to be transparent with their plans and movements. The society invited neighbours to two community conversations hosted in the dining room at Iris Court. They asked people to submit questions ahead of time, then invited experts and those with lived experience to attend to ensure those questions were answered in detail. A psychiatrist spoke to the services new residents would need. They also had one of the clients speak about his journey and challenge of living with Schizophrenia.
Full writeup at: https://wp.me/p20ewB-OD
Westmount Presbyterian Church and Right at Home
On May 8, 2018, CRIHI hosted an event called Learning from Good Consultation, where we heard from community members, the local developer and an elder with the church about the process they developed to host the conversation in their neighbourhood.
Here is the Keynote address from that event:
Andrew Gregory has also written up his experience of how that conversation went, and the work they did to create a healthy process. You can find it below. It’s a very good read!
For a writeup of the North Glenora development, please see the following link: https://wp.me/p20ewB-NL