With our community partners, we hosted a series of talks about building equitable cities. These talks explored topics related to how equity, inclusion and access help us understand the establishment, growth and development of cities.
On this page:
About the Speaker Series
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing socioeconomic inequities. Nowhere has this been more clear than in our cities. Throughout 2022, we, along with our community partners, will host quarterly talks related to addressing inequities and disrupting systemic bias in the establishment and development of cities, including how we can build back differently as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This series will:
- explore topics focused on how the use of inclusive interdisciplinary and equity best practices, and a focus on social determinants, not only highlights issues of disparity within cities, but is essential for removing barriers, increasing access and creating more equitable and sustainable spaces
- promote the integration of equity-related considerations into research, design, policy development and the practices that influence how individuals and communities interact, impact and are impacted by city spaces
- look at research, policy, practice and participation on, around and in city spaces through a multidisciplinary, equity, inclusion, accessibility and anti-racism/anti-oppression lens
Our goal with this series is to offer attendees the opportunity to:
- engage with community members, advocacy groups, researchers and equity practitioners to explore and discuss equity, accessibility and sustainability related topics relevant to the planning, growth and development of city spaces
- become better equipped to find and address issues of inequity in their areas of practice related to cities and placemaking
- learn about research focused on access and systemic bias in cities and placemaking
- explore frameworks to address inequities and disrupt systemic bias in the establishment and development of cities
This series is a part of our ongoing work to share diverse perspectives on issues of equity, inclusion and development. This is also an opportunity for imagining new social possibilities and new ways of thinking through the old challenges of access, sustainability and social justice.
Partners
We presented the Building Equitable Cities Speaker Series in partnership with:
Register for a session
This series will include four talks:
- session one: How Cities Fail Women: Towards Safety and Inclusion in a Feminist City (happened on January 31)
- session two: The Value of a Human Right to Housing Framework for Local Governments (happened on April 26)
- session three: Equitable Community Engagement: Moving Beyond Community Buy-In and Top-Down Consultation (happened on August 10)
- session four: The Path to Water and Services Equity (March 23 from noon to 1 p.m.)
Continue the conversations on Engage Kitchener
The Path to Water and Services Equity
- date: Thursday, March 23
- time: noon to 1 p.m.
- format: online on Zoom, American Sign Language interpretation will be available
- cost: free
Meet Cathy Bailey, the first woman and African American woman to lead the Greater Cincinnati Water Works, and a trailblazer in bringing an equity and community focus to water service delivery.
Access to water and sanitation are recognized by the United Nations as fundamental human rights. This means every individual should be entitled to have physically accessible, sufficient, safe, and affordable access to water and sanitation. Governments play an important role in achieving this through the utility services that they provide. This one-hour talk will explore the role of government utilities to provide access to water and sanitation services and how this can be achieved through an equity lens.
Join the conversation
During each session, you will be able to ask the speaker questions using the chat in Zoom. If you have further questions or want to continue the conversation, we’ll have a discussion section available on our Engage Kitchener page. We hope to see you there!
Visit our Engage Kitchener page
If you want to stay informed and get updates on the speaker series, subscribe to our Engage Kitchener page by clicking the “subscribe” button at the top of the page.