ABOUT

    Funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connection Grant, the Building Inclusive Cities project aims to bring together multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral partners and audiences to demonstrate the values of community narratives and the importance of centering marginalized people and histories in the sectors of city planning, civic engagement, heritage and museums through its arts and community-based participatory research dissemination and co-creation activities. Overall, this project explores how the Toronto Ward Museum’s arts, equity, and community-based participatory engagement methodology via the Block by Block program can inform how planning, heritage, and museum practices can collaborate with communities more equitably.

    The project has four specific objectives:

    1.

    Bridge dialogue between local community organizers and city planners and museum/heritage professionals around the Block by Block methods and exhibition.

    2.

    Assess the impact of oral histories and community-based research for local communities and professional practice.

    3.

    Assess the power dynamics within the engagement process between community members/advocates and professionals.

    4.

    Understand the opportunities, challenges, and implications of using oral histories as a form of knowledge sharing for professional practice and the policymaking process.