In my first three months as the executive director of the Edmonton Community Development Company, I estimate I have had over 100 meetings, most of them being one to one conversations or small group discussions about the communities in which people live and/or work. We talked about community aspirations, community pain, and the plethora of
Strong Towns is an American movement that a colleague turned me on to the other day, and it is not only a provocative movement, it offers an array of new thinking about the rules that cities and towns have when it comes to development, whether housing and business development or the inclusion of city services.
Elsewhere on our website, you will find this definition: Community development is… local action that creates economic opportunities and enhances the social and environmental conditions in communities. It understands that sustainable development requires an integrated approach to complex community problems. Strategic priorities include structural economic change, local ownership of resources, social development, environmental stewardship, labour market…
When Mayor Don Iveson formed the Mayor’s Task Force to Eliminate Poverty a few years ago, I had two reactions. First, I knew the Mayor would be admonished for thinking poverty could be eliminated (which he was). Second, I wanted to get a seat at that table (and I was blessed to receive an invitation…
Given the mandate of the ECDC, authentic community engagement is not only desirable; it is a necessity. “Authentic community engagement is the intentional process of co-‐creating solutions to inequities in partnership with people who know through their own experiences the barriers to opportunity best. Authentic community engagement is grounded in building relationships based on mutual…
Our purpose, vision of the future and the principles that guide our work
Learn about the various projects and initiatives currently underway at the ECDC.
This growing section provides links and information relevant to neighbourhood development.