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Home My WebLink AboutCSD-19-014 - Wildflowers Neighbourhood Action Plan REPORT TO:Community & Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: May 13, 2019 SUBMITTED BY: Josh Joseph, Supervisor, Neighbourhood Development Office 519 7412200 X 7082 PREPARED BY: Sarah Anderson, Neighbourhood Liaison, 519 7412200 X 5078 WARD (S) INVOLVED: Ward 5 DATE OF REPORT:April 24, 2019 REPORT NO.: CSD-19-014 SUBJECT:WILDFLOWERS NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION PLAN ___________________________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION: FOR INFORMATION ONLY BACKGROUND: In 2015, a project team of resident volunteers and staff was established to guidethe development of the City's first-ever Neighbourhood Strategy now known as #lovemyhood. Recognizing the importance of community engagementand leadership, project team membership included residents, Neighbourhood Association representatives and several community partners to guide the development of the #lovemyhood. o great things in their neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Action Plan puts this vision into practice by allowing resident led planning for neighbourhood-initiated projects. Neighbourhood Action Teams that write the Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) have a substantial stake in the plan, and they are motivated to see their plan and projects to successful completion. Neighbourhood Action Planswould not be possible without the leadership of volunteers, and Kitchener is fortunate to have so many passionate residents providing their time and expertise. Residents take the lead in making their neighbourhoods great, and the City supports them along the way. In February 2017, #lovemyhood was endorsed by City Council. Lovemyhood included 18 specific actions in three main areas: great places, connected people, and working together. The Love My Hood vision encourages residents to take the lead in shaping their neighbourhood, with help from the city. Residents choose the projects that matter most to them and decide how to shape the future of their neighbourhood. After all, the best neighbourhoods are made by the people who live in them *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. IF1 - 1 One of the actions the project team included in lovemyhoodwas related to the creation of a Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) Guide that would help resident groups focus their vision by building on their assets and mapping out measurable actions to make their neighbourhood safer, more accessible, connected, engaged, diverse, and priorities, while laying out a vision and plan for action. But more important than the document itself, is the community building and engagement that happens as neighbours work together through their own unique NAP process. Action #13 of the City's Neighbourhood Strategy reads: Neighbourhood Action Plans (NAP): We'll work with you to shape the future of your neighbourhood through resident-led, City-supported Neighbourhood Action Plans. These plans will help you develop a clear vision for your neighbourhood, identify specific actions to achieve that vision, and have widespread support from the neighbourhood. Starting with a pilot in two to four neighbourhoodsin 2017- 2018, the program will be available city-wide in 2019. To support the creation of NAPs, the Neighbourhood Strategy project team created a comprehensive guide and toolkit for residents to use in the future which was based on extensive research of how similar plans are created in other municipalities. Thefollowing information has been pulled from the NAP guide to provide some basic What is a NAP? A NAP is a written document that identifies the priorities for a stronger neighbourhood that is more safe, accessible, connected, inclusive, diverse and engaged. Residents define their neighbourhood boundaries and create their own plans that represent the many diverse voices of their neighbourhood. The plans are action-oriented, resident-led and supported by City staff. The plans lay out a clear vision for the future of a neighbourhood and identify meaningful and measureable goals and objectives with action itemsthat have widespread neighbourhood support and can reasonably be implemented within a 5 year timeframe. The plans also identify who will be responsible for each action item. Action items may be partially, or fully, funded by the City through programs such as the Neighbourhood Matching Grant and the Placemaking ChallengeGrant. Other funding bodies and sources may also support the actions. Who can create a NAP? Any group of residents. Virtually anyone, in collaboration with their neighbours, can create aNAP. Residents don't need to belong to an existing group, conform to particular geographical boundaries or have expertise in this type of planning. Why create a NAP? Creating a NAP will help residents connect and work together to shape the future of a neighbourhood. Residents who contribute to the creation of a plan can benefit by: IF1 - 2 increasing their knowledge of the neighbourhood, growing the opportunities to connect and get to know their neighbours, developing a sense of belonging, including a sense of neighbourhood identity/pride, increasing opportunities for residents to be involved and engaged, cultivating the ability to effect positive change by addressing neighbourhood issues, and, developing strong leadership within the neighbourhood How do residents create a NAP? The creation of a NAP is not a step-by-step process, and it does not require a one- size- fits-all approach. The process currently being piloted by the City has been designed to be as flexible as possible, and is determined in part by the interests, expertise and capacity found in the neighbourhood where the plan is being developed. Throughout the creation of a NAP, continuous engagement of residents is required to provide input, review, revise, monitor, and adjust the plan. Throughout each step of the process, residents are encouraged to: Reach out to as many members of their neighbourhood as possible. Involve everyone by making meetings and events accessible and inclusive Communicate clearly with the broader neighbourhood, using a variety of methods, to reach diverse neighbourhood members. Recruit new members for the Neighbourhood Action Team to make the team representative of the neighbourhood In 2018,Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association created the firstNAP, demonstrating the effectiveness of the guide and toolkit. With this second NAP, Wildflowers residents in Southwest Kitchener have demonstrated that the NAP process can be used in a newly developed neighbourhood to support initial community building and help shape neighbourhood identity. REPORT: Wildflowersis a new neighbourhoodbounded by Fischer Hallman Road, Huron Road, Williamsburg Cemetery, and Amand Drive (see Appendix B).Residency began in 2014, with many people coming to theneighbourhood from the Greater Toronto Area, and others from Kitchener and the surrounding area. The Wildflowers Action Group(WAG) from Southwest Kitcheneris the second resident- led group to create a NAP, and the first to create a NAP as an emerging groupin a neighbourhood still under development.WAG formed as a direct result of the NAP process. Wildflowers residents started WAG so that they could focus on community building and have a forum to address neighbourhood concerns. The group has five core members, with a variety of other residents and local business owners contributing to specific projects, events or meetings as able. The following outlines the processWAGundertook to create their plan: IF1 - 3 1.Hosted three Wildflowers neighbourhood gatherings interest in community building, with overwhelmingly positive feedback and 200 people attending. 2. connect neighbours, and promote activitiesand civic involvement. Hosted meetings which became a forum for social connection, neighbourhood discussion, and coordination of WAG activities. Organized by a core group of five WAG organizing members and attended by more than 20 different neighbours over 15 meetings. 3.Conducted neighbourhood surveys to identify assets within the neighbourhood, with a specific focus on people and places Wildflowers People Strengths Culturallydiverse Engaged children and youth 30peoplevolunteeredto translateevent Children and youth were leaders at the info into10 languages, includingUrdu, first neighbourhood Earth Day clean-up. Gujarati,Hindi. Adults said their neighbourhood cultural diversity is important. Willing to take actionCare about connecting Wildflowers neighbours identified manyfriendly neighboursand neighbourhoodassetsthey cared so neighbourhood eventsamong the most much about that they would be willing to important parts of theirneighbourhood. work with their neighbours to take action,Children and youth including: children, safety, cleanliness as and community.things about their neighbourhood that make them most happy. Skilled Neighbours named 46 skills they are willing to share with neighbours, including sports, cooking, photography, carpentry, taxes, slime making, and gaming. Wildflowers Place Strengths Hewitt parkJanet Metcalfe School 44 children & youth and 46 adults named More adults chose the new school as a favouriteor important to them than any other importantplaceneighbourhood place or characteristic. Nature & TrailsVirtual neighbourhood Adults said the neighbourhood trails and The neighbourhood Facebook groups are the Williamsburg Cemetery trails were important ways for people to connect and very important to themshare information. IF1 - 4 4.Initiated a Wildflowers Virtual Reality (VR) documentary project. WAG is collaborating with a 360° filmmaker to produce a short series of immersive neighbourhood stories that will be viewed on a smartphone, a PC or with the use of Virtual Reality headsets.The VR project will be used to promote the WAG NAP vision and engage new volunteers. Council will have the opportunity to experience a sample of the Wildflowers VR projectat the Community and Infrastructures Services Committee meeting on May 13, 2019. 5.Informed, consulted and collaborated with their neighbours throughout the development of the action plan through: a.Social media b.Face-to-face conversations c.Open meetings d.Adult survey (50 completed) e.Children and youth survey (48 completed) f.Door to door eventflyer delivery g.Winter neighbourhood gathering, Earth Day Clean-Up, Back-to-School Ice Cream Social h.Discussed WAG and NAP with Councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock, Janet Metcalfe School Principal, Janet Metcalfe School Council and other stakeholders i.Organized Wildflowers traffic calming lawn sign design contest 6.Crafted a vision statement for their neighbourhood that reflects neighbourhood inclusive and caring neighbourhood that learns and celebrates together 7. a three year NAP workplan to support implementation Refer to Appendix A or full details of the Wildflower Neighbourhood Action Plan. ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OFKITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Strategic Priority:Safe & ThrivingNeighbourhoods Strategy:3.1Give citizens the tools and opportunities to play an active leadership role in creating great neighbourhoods and fostering astronger sense of communitybelonging. Strategic Action:#NB1 NeighbourhoodStrategy FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Funding for the creation of Neighbourhood Action Plans, is included the Neighbourhood Development reserve created by City Council in early 2017.Thisparticularplancost approximately$3,000tofund WAG NAP activities such as filming for Virtual Reality project, traffic calming lawn signs, and event refreshments & supplies. IF1 - 5 Should this neighbourhood wish to proceed with actions identified in their Action Plan, There are opportunities to apply for funding Neighbourhood Matching Grant and Placemaking ChallengeGrant. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM From September 2017 to February 2018 staff shared information about the Neighbourhood Action Plan with community members at various informal gatherings and several exploratory neighbourhood meetings. CONSULT Wildflowers community members hosted their first neighbourhood gathering in February 2018 to invite neighbours to join in a NAP group and process. Wildflowers Action Group (WAG) formed in March 2018 and committed to completing a NAP. Extensive consultation with the neighbourhood was conducted by WAG through the following activities: Youth- Led Earth Day Clean-Up; Summer Ice Cream Social; Door to Door Canvassing; Surveys for Adults and Children; Online Engagement; Traffic Calming Contest. COLLABORATE As a new group, WAG worked closely with staff, seeking guidance and support along the way. One unique collaboration between WAG and staff involved the creation of a Virtual Reality documentary that features neighbourhood stories. ENTRUST Entrust the WAG NAP team to take the lead on NAP activities and decision-making, with continued City-staff support for navigating processes and access to resources (toolkits, grants, implementation process). PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER: CSD-17-008 NeighbourhoodStrategy and Implementation Plan approved byCity Council on February 13,2017. CONCLUSION: The process of creating a NAP is a positive and fruitful one. Key learnings about the application of a resident-led NAP in a developing neighbourhoodinclude: Can act as a catalyst for the formation of a new neighbourhood group Supports capacity building in an emergent group Captures the assets of the neighbourhood Invites neighbours to be proactive in testing a vision for their neighbourhood Encourages intentional, ongoing community engagement Flexible process allows neighbourhoods to create an action plan that reflects their unique characteristics, priorities, and strengths IF1 - 6 Emerging groups benefit from close collaboration with staff for NAP completion so as not to overstretch new community leaders These learningswill be applied by City staff to support future NAPs in similar neighbourhoods. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Michael May,Deputy Chief Administrative Officer IF1 - 7 Wildflowers Neighbourhood Action Plan Our vision: Wildflowers strives to be a diverse, inclusive and caring community that learns and celebrates together Wildflowers Action Group beginnings It started at the park In August 2018, Community Centre staff Sarah Anderson and Jennifer Sullivan visited Hewitt Park one summer evening. They were hoping to get to know the new Wildflowers neighbourhood. The park was busy and vibrant, with four generations (children, youth, adults and seniors) at the park swinging, climbing, sitting, socializing, and playing pick-up sports. Sarah and Jen chatted with approximately 20 people and heard from several people who were interested in park improvements such as improved seating and a cricket pitch. A few people that Sarah and Jen met invited their neighbours to come to a meeting in the park the following week for the purpose of exploring next steps. 30 people showed up on a late August Monday evening. There was a great conversation but the community decided, for various reasons, not to pursue park improvements at that time. Abi Khalid was one of the 30 people at the Monday evening meeting. He reached out to Sarah after the meeting because he wanted to work on neighbourhood visioning and community building. Abi and Sarah worked together to plan an October neighbourhood meeting. The purpose of the meeting would be to get to know other Wildflowers neighbours and learn more about LoveMyHood resources including the Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP). Initial Wildflowers Meetings at the first three neighbourhood meetings from October 2017 to January 2018. with our We want to strengths solve problems and support We moved here diverse neighbourhood, neighbourhood because we always and we want to projects wanted to have celebrate that! that neighbourhood feeling How can we get plan a more people neighbourhood involved in these event, soon! conversations? We decided to organize a neighbourhood gathering . The gathering would help us find out if there was enough interest from neighbours to start a neighbourhood group and do a Wildflowers NAP. IF1 - 8 Wildflowers Action Group NAP highlights Formed Wildflowers Action Group In April 2018, we formed as the Wildflowers Action Group (WAG)! Nine Wildflowers neighbours came out to the meeting, with four new people. We were excited to get started with building community together. Hosted Three Neighbourhood Events 1. Wildflowers Meet & Greet In February 2018, WAG hosted our first ever resident-led neighbourhood gathering. 50 people came out including neighbours, friends from the Huron Community Association, and Councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock. There was an enthusiastic response to the idea of building community in our neighbourhood and doing a NAP. We learned that our neighbourhood cares about connecting. 2. Earth Day Clean-Up In April 2018, WAG hosted an Earth Day Clean-Up. Neighbourhood kids helped to plan and host the event. Our keynote speaker was a 10 year old whose birthday is on Earth Day. 70 people came out, including a huge number of children and youth. We learned that neighbourhood kids and youth are leaders and contributors. 3. Wildflowers Back-to-School Blast-Off In August 2018, WAG Movie night to host a Back-To-School Ice Cream Social. WAG conducted a survey of kids & youth, and adults, with almost 100 surveys completed. We learned about our neighbourhood strengths and priorities. IF1 - 9 Tested Traffic Calming Options and Safe Routes to Schools From June 2018 to September 2018 Wildflowers experienced speeding and close calls between pedestrians and local car and truck traffic. WAG began to explore possible traffic calming options. We learned that traffic calming is a priority for our neighbourhood. 1)Hosted a neighbourhood traffic calming lawn sign design contest 2)Printed 30 Wildflowers lawn signs to be distributed for free in Spring 2019 3)Advocated for a crossing guard at the Seabrook / Fischer Hallman roundabout success! 4)Advocated for speed data collection at Seabrook and Ludolph by City of Kitchener Transportation Services success! 5)Monitored Seabrook speeds and raised awareness through use of a speed radar sign 6)Met with Janet Metcalfe School Council to explore ways to collaborate on traffic calming Congratulations to Qian Wang of Amoona Studio on her winning design! Started Wildflowers Virtual Reality doc project In January 2019 we began working with 360° filmmaker Tom Vogel to create Virtual Reality glimpses We plan to use the Virtual Reality project to engage new volunteers and promote the NAP vision. We learned that our neighbourhood is creative. IF1 - 10 Established Stakeholder Connections Our community has many homegrown businesses with owners residing in our neighbourhood or providing employment for Wildflowers residents. The symbiotic relationship between the community and these businesses is growing. We are grateful for local business sponsorship of WAG events! We also established stakeholder connections with community resources such as Janet Hale, Principal of Janet Metcalfe Public School, Fire Station 7 (Firefighters), Waterloo Region Police Services, Kelly Galloway-Sealock (Ward 5 city Councillor), Michelle Hernandez (President Huron Commmunity Association), Andre Fuentes (political candidate), and Doon South Community leaders. We learned that our neighbourhood is connected and supported. What else we learned We reached out to Wildflowers neighbours in many ways including events, survey, online discussions & polls, park signs and flyers, meetings and conversations. Below is a summary of our key findings: IF1 - 11 at least two event 2 ups using Wildflowers FB WAG hosts - fe School 2021 - event 1 WAG hosts Evaluate and adapt Wildflowers program time at Janet Metcal Year 3 WAG will organize and host neighbourhood events based neighbourhood meet - take lead on organizing their own street gatherings event 2 WAG hosts Neighbours neighbours to create interest generational learning - program possibilities MultiNeighbours learning from neighbours (Backyard sessions) 2020 - -- event 1 WAG hosts WAG tests WAG supports Secure and establish Wildflowers program time at Janet Metcalfe School Year 2 WAG will organize and host at least two neighbourhood events topics Improve party possible WAG hosts Wildflowers and Virtual Reality WAG explores collaborations: WCC, WCA, HCA in Wildflowers program - Learn Earth Up & - s youth with 2019 - WAG ontributions Hale and c elebrate Day Clean c WAG hosts connects Principal Janet School Council Year 1 Wildflowers Action Group (WAG) will organize and host at least two neighbourhood events. Events will incorporate Events should follow the Inclusion Checklist Plan and strategize a droptime at Janet Metcalfe School the Wildflowers Action Group met to review our findings from the NAP process. We created a vision and chose three goals and several objectives: December 2018 Wildflowers Goals and Objectives for 2019 - 2021 In Goal ConnectLearn IF1 - 12 2021 - education led responses to community issues - Year 3 organizes WAG campaign including prevention tips, and core message that safety is a community effort neighbourhood 2020 WAG connects neighbours with community safety partners like police, firefighters, City staff and neighbouring communities - WAG supports implementation of traffic calming solutions and for various actions WAG encourages and supports Year 2 of - staff to survey to coordinates and to safety meetings WAG working group visitproblem areas with Kitchener consult on residentled solutions ming WAG organizes define what community safety means to Wildflowersidentify safety priorities led traffic calming working - way of - a as response to porch thefts and - ins in winter 2019 - ve gi 2018 came 2019 - Lead residentgroup and campaign Continue momentum ofthat car break 1)2) WAG hosts working group meeting with key stakeholders to identify main traffic challenges WAG hosts Wildflowers Traffic CalLawn Signs created during NAP process in Year 1 Goal Improve IF1 - 13 Inclusion Checklist WAG created a checklist to help us plan inclusive neighbourhood events and programs: Recruit WAG volunteer to follow-up Direct events and activities at with 20 people who volunteered to various ages, stages, and interests translate WAG event and posters into (not just families with kids) and use neighbourhood languages the 2018 community demographics to sculpt our events and activities Share City, School, and Wellbeing Engage known individuals in Waterloo Region initiatives in our FB community who are part of a group regarding annual educational specific group (same sex couples and campaigns such as bullying living in our hood, families who awareness and prevention, family have children or adults with literacy day, end violence against disabilities, etc.) to help in Event women, etc. Planning process or to provide ideas for the events. WAG events should be free to attend Ensure activities/events planned and if we wish to raise funds, it would consider known group or religious be optional activity or separate. i.e. faux pas. Ex. If we have food, then raffle. ensure it is a variety that doesn't exclude a group or those of a certain religion from enjoying. Who is Wildflowers Action Group? Wildflowers Action Group is open to all who live or work in Wildflowers. Watch for information about upcoming meetings on the Mattamy Wildflowers Facebook Group and Wildflowers Action Group Facebook Group. Contact us at wagkitchener@gmail.com WAG Core Group: Roy Chen (Chair), Violet Budhu (Communications), Abi Khalid (Treasurer), Kim Koronya (Past-Chair), Tony Zmigrodzki (Special Projects) You can join WAG too! Come to WAG meetings to connect with Wildflowers neighbours, to bring your ideas, or to volunteer. No commitment is necessary Where is Wildflowers? Wildflowers is a new neighbourhood in Southwest Kitchener, located west of Fischer Hallman Road, below Williamsburg Cemetery, and across Huron Road from RBJ Schlegel Park. People began moving into the Wildflowers neighbourhood in 2014. Many people have moved to the neighbourhood from the Greater Toronto Area, and others from Kitchener and the surrounding area. Please see the demographics profile and map on the last two pages of this NAP for more details. IF1 - 14 Special Thanks Wildflowers Action Group thanks our many volunteers, contributors and sponsors! Wildflowers Action Group thanks the City of Kitchener for support of the Wildflowers Neighbourhood Action Plan through LoveMyHood. More information about Neighbourhood Action Plans available at www.lovemyhood.ca/en/tools-money/neighbourhood-action-plan.aspx Special thanks to our 2018 sponsors: Tim Hortons (Huron/Fischer-Hallman) -Hallman) Huron Dental and Eyecare Roti Junction Colton Davidson - Remax Lalita Premsukh (Aaxel Insurance Brokers Ltd formerly BrokersNet) Desjardin Insurance (formerly Statefarm Khalid and Afshan Malik Liz Peacock office) Amoona Studio Inc. Pooja Devgan Remax Tom Vogel Vogel Creative Our deepest gratitude goes to Sarah Anderson for her commitment, guidance, and assistance throughout the entire process. Sarah has always made herself available to us to answer our questions and came out to all our events to support us. We could not have achieved what we have today without her support. We would also like to thank Councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock for attending and supporting our events as well as for her support on our main communication forum, our Facebook Group page. She is always quick to answer questions directed to her and guide the community. Tom Vogel for helping us tell our Wildflowers story through VR Khayla Phagu for being our first youth group leader at our 2018 Earth Day event. Kimberley Koronya for being our first WAG group chair and doing an outstanding job. Roy Chen for opening up his home and family event for our very first Virtual Reality video. IF1 - 15 IF1 - 16 IF1 - 17