Activating Community Leadership in Regent Park

 

TCCLD Community Leadership and Civic Education

In partnership with University of Toronto

Fall 2023

Class: Tuesdays, 6-8pm

Location: Toronto Community Centre of Learning and Development

540 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 2B3

 

Course Description: 

Students will learn “how” the city of Toronto works, from levers of power in government to community organizing strategies. This course will cover Toronto municipal governance, community development and housing policy and relevant applied skills, such as writing grants or communications strategies. Moreover, this course will address important community concerns such as food sovereignty, the impacts of COVID-19 and neighborhood safety.  Students will hear from guest speakers –University of Toronto faculty and leaders in local non-profit organizations – in small, engaging seminars. Throughout the nine weeks, students will work on an individual project based on the skills workshops (i.e. writing a grant, practicing public speaking, creating a social media campaign). The last session will be dedicated to sharing final projects relating to community leadership. Ultimately, this course is designed for students to explore the dynamic and complex issues facing Toronto today.

 

Learning Objectives

In this course, students will:

• Gain a sophisticated understanding of who (from city official to organizations to residents) holds political power in the City of Toronto 
• Learn how neighborhood policy, plans, and programs are designed and implemented in Toronto
• Develop applied leadership and community organizing skills such as effective communication, conflict resolution and harm reduction, fundraising/grant-writing, editorial journalism, digital storytelling, strategic deployment of social media, etc.
• Design and implement a neighborhood improvement intervention using one or more of the aforementioned skills

 

Weekly Topics

**All sessions will be recorded**

 

Week 1: September 12

Introduction and welcome 

Speakers: Professor Aditi Mehta, University of Toronto & Kaela Sanborn-Hum

Course instructors welcome everyone; discuss the purpose of the course; survey students about what they want to learn.  

Key questions: What is the right to research? 

 

Week 2: September 19

Governance and grants; Toronto municipal governance

Speaker: Professor David Roberts, University of Toronto 

Key questions/learning objectives: How does city government work? Structure of city government and levers of power.

Applied skills: Follow the money! How to apply for a grant

-    The purpose of grants; different sources of funding/grants (non-profits, arts councils, government); how to write a grant.

 

Week 3: September 26

Public Health and Indigenous-led approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic

Speaker: Professor Magdalena Ugarte, Toronto Metropolitan University

Key questions/learning objectives: How did COVID-19 impact inequality in Toronto? Across housing, low-wage work, food insecurity? 

How did Indigenous communities respond to COVID-19?   

Break from applied skills workshop

 

Week 4: October 3

Rent, Housing Justice, and Community Development Struggles

Speaker: Chiyi Tam, Executive Director of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust

Key questions/learning objectives: Learn to be an effective and persuasive writer; know important media sources in the city; where do you get your news from?

Learn about urban-growth machines, pro-development policies, the contradiction of development and public welfare; the challenges of the Toronto housing market and why rents are so inflated

Applied skills: Writing an Op-Ed or letter to your representative

-    Learn to tell your story through written communication strategies

 

Week 5:October 10

Urban agriculture, food sovereignty, and storytelling

Speaker: Jade Guthrie, Community Learning and Engagement Manager, Foodshare

Key questions/learning objectives:

Urban food systems in Toronto: where does our food come from, how does social stratification/class/racism intersect with food access? What is a food desert? 

Applied skills: Learning to tell a story on social media

-    Identify social media platforms for different purposes; understanding what makes social media effective

 

Week 6: October 16-20

Project Workshop

We will work on our personal projects.

 

Week 7: October 24

Migration, gender and waged work; Institutional racism

Speaker: Laura Lam, PhD student, University of Toronto

Key questions/learning objectives:Institutional vs. interpersonal racism; migration, gender, race and low-wage work

Applied skills: Be loud and proud! Verbal communication strategies

-    Learn rhetorical tools and polemical strategies to make a strong argument; build confidence speaking in front of an audience

 

Week 8: October 31

Community Safety and Wellness

Speaker: Professor Leah Montange, University of Toronto

Key questions/learning objectives: Avoiding contact with police in order to reduce violence, incarceration & harm; what are existing alternatives instead of calling the police? What does community care look like? 

Applied skills: Conflict resolution, harm reduction, and stress management

-    Effectively facilitate meetings or conflict; learn harm-reduction strategies for short-term or long-term conflict

  

Week 9: November 7

Labor History and Organizing Strategies; History of social movements

Speaker: Tzazná Miranda Leal, OPSEU

Key questions/learning objectives: What is the difference between organized vs. unorganized labor?; the challenges with informal, contract work & winning a union; the importance of rank & file organizing within a union

 

Applied skills: Community organizing strategies

-    Principles of successful organizing; learn to share a "Story of Self"; learn to have 1:1 organizing conversations

 

Week 10: November 14

Final presentations and workshop

Speakers: Professor Aditi Mehta, University of Toronto & Kaela Sanborn-Hum

Course instructors conclude the course; students present final projects