You’re Not Alone: Joining a Community of Practice
What's a Community of Practice? Have you ever felt that you’re the only person in the world facing particular challenges? That no one else is dealing with the same issues you’re dealing with every day? That you’d better come up with a solution since no one else has...
The Two Loops Model for Thinking About and Supporting Systems Change
We recently helped to facilitate the Climate Caucus Summit 2023 held in Richmond, BC. One of the presenters, Andrea Reimer, former Vancouver City Councilor and founder of Tawâw Strategies, introduced us to the ‘Two Loops’ theory of change. The model, depicted below...
Telling Better Stories Through Evaluation
Once upon a time there was a small, but mighty organization whose skilled and dedicated staff worked tirelessly. They provided exceptional programs, services, and/or community benefit. The end. As unsatisfying as this story is, this is the sort of tale told when...
Chat GPT Perspective on the 15-Minute City
In the wake of the recent 15-minute city conspiracy theories, which you can read about here and here, I thought I would consult an expert on the topic – ChatGPT. Here’s what AI thinks about the 15-minute city. Request to Chat GPT: “Please write a 300 word blog in a...
Climate Caucus – Summit 2023
This annual Climate Caucus Summit brings together municipal leaders from urban and rural communities across Canada to workshop practical, local, climate solutions. Following recent local elections in BC, Manitoba, Ontario, PEI, New Brunswick, the Northwest...
Gentle Density – What, Why and How?
WCS Engagement + Planning has been working with Small Housing over the past year on an initiative to accelerate the adoption of “gentle density” infill housing throughout BC communities. We co-hosted a Summit, attended by 50 local government planners, earlier this month to discuss learn about leading practices and success stories from other communities and to peer crowd-source solutions. We will continue to support Small Housing with the creation of a Community of Practice.
Reflections on COP27
Image from Euronews copyright REUTERS/Sayed Sheasha COP27, the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, took place last month in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. From November 6-18, more than 45,000 participants from nearly 200 nations gathered to share ideas and build...
Funding and support for home improvement programs in Canada
With winter quickly advancing across western Canada in the shadow of COP27, I’m reminded of how improving climate comfort at home benefits our earth’s climate. In Nelson, BC, over 1,500 residents know this firsthand after participating in the City’s home improvement...
Strategic Planning? Now’s the time and we can help.
With municipal elections in the rear view mirror it is time to look ahead at where your team should be headed. We have tons of strategic planning expertise to help you plan your route and charge ahead.
Beyond the SWOT – Adding more rigour to your strategic planning process
With BC municipal elections just around the corner, you’re no doubt thinking about getting your new staff/council team up to speed and rowing in the same direction as soon as possible by developing a strategic plan. And if you’ve developed one before, you’ve probably...
Circular economy – exploring ways to live lighter and better
What is circular economy? Circular economy (CE) is a model of production and consumption that strives to use materials wisely and eliminate waste. In contrast with a linear economic model of “take-make-waste,” in which society extracts raw resources, uses them to...
A tale of 3 bike shares and insights for small communities
It is no surprise that cities with successful bike share systems have noted a marked increase in both shared and private bicycle use after bike share systems launched. Apparently, the high visibility of the shared bikes creates new “norms” and increases the bike...