CommunityStreets at DesignTO 2025 is a panel discussion/open mic bringing together civic leaders, Youth community activists, and design and economic thinkers at OCAD University to explore a Youth lens on affordability, access, equity, and the future of housing.

Toronto has 623k Youth (Toronto Youth Council, 2023) who will inherit housing that is in a state of crisis. It will continue to be so if a determined society does not address supply, affordability, scale, sustainability, and more. Responding to these challenges, Community Streets engages in the task of asking Youth ages 17–29 what they need, want, and aspire to in housing solutions and the placemaking to support it. How might this Youth-based line of inquiry lead to shifts in urban housing form, and characteristics of communities, streets and neighbourhoods required to drive and sustain it. Design and creative practice are also evocative tools for permeating all aspects of social, economic, and political life, and offer the power to shift the way our cities operate, and function. Let us listen to learn and collectively imagine the future of housing with the next generation of city dwellers.

CommunityStreets at DesignTO is a panel discussion/open mic bringing together civic leaders, community activists, and design and economic thinkers at OCAD University to explore a Youth lens on affordability, access, equity, and the future of housing.

Date: Saturday February 1, 2025, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Venue: 49 McCaul Street, Open Gallery space, OCAD University. Audio/Video (live stream) & Photography will occur. Accessible venue with ASL interpreters.

Panel Discussion: 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm (doors open 3:30 pm) Open Mic: 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm RSVP (optional): cgiraudy@ocadu.ca

Co-Hosts:

• Cheryl Giraudy Architect & Associate Professor, OCAD U, Toronto
• Saskia van Kampen Arts Practitioner & Associate Professor, San Francisco State University, California
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DesignTO 2025 Event: https://designto.org/event/communitystreets/

Rexdale Youth Mentorship Program (RXYM) ia a community organization that creates safe spaces for Black and Racialized youth to gain tangible personal and professional tools to support their development into adulthood. This event was online due to the Covid-19 pandemic shut down. The conversation was aligned to how to make a sustainable community organization serving Youth. Sharing stories of making community spaces, youth initiatives, and leadership in the Queen’s Plate Neighbourhood, North West Toronto lead to a greater understanding of how trust and community members are key factors in sustainable organizations. The outcomes from this event were transferred into a participant/research team co-created book. 

https://www.blurb.com/b/11539420-what-does-community-placemaking-look-like
linktr.ee/rexdaleyouthmentorship

Change, small or grand, temporary or permanent, local or more broadly, can be made by everyone at any time and is manifested in many unexpected ways. This workshop allowed youth and placemaking experts come together to contribute valuable insights and experiences in terms of how we shape our communities for greater access, inclusion, justice, and equity—to find ways of articulating  creative ideas for envisioning equitable places in Toronto 2020 and beyond. This workshop was started off with an informative activity-based presentation by Bryan C. Lee Jr. of Colloqate design in New Orleans USA. Colloqate is a design justice practice that designs spaces of racial, social and cultural justice. Ontario's first Poet Laureate Randell Adjei made a special guest appearance to demonstrated Creative Practice as Protest through spoken word. The afternoon session had Youth working with experts on their own ideations for creative practice as protest. These outcomes were transferred into a participant/research team co-created book. 

https://www.blurb.com/b/11539457-organizing-advocating-and-creating-for-racial-soc

Invited experts to this event included:

Sean Lee is the Director of Programming for Tangled Art + Disability. He is an artist working in performance art and performance for the camera. His creative practice has evolved to fit the realities of navigating performance using the body as a medium, and the inevitable conclusions drawn surrounding his identity as a queer, Asian, and disabled artist.

Jay Wall is the Principal & Creative Director of Rally Rally: Jay is a designer dedicated to social change and city-building. As principal and creative director, he fosters relationships with Rally Rally’s clients and collaborators while providing strategic leadership to the team on all design projects. He often speaks and leads workshops on the role of design and communications to promote public participation in building equitable cities. 

Jaicyea Smith is born and raised in Toronto, has a Honours BAA in media studies and communication and a Masters Degree in Inclusive Design. She has an eclectic list of hobbies. Her passions include music, bellydancing, skateboarding and creating DIY art that fosters community engagement. She has a lot of projects on the go and on the rise and is happy to share her story of growing up downtown Toronto with you.

Some interesting thoughts and outcomes from this discussion:

1. You are not disabled – the world is disabling.

2. Institutionalization=ableism=oppression.

3. When things do change ask if it was enforced by AODA standards or was it done in genuine empathy with people using the space.

4. The saying "Give them a VOICE". The word voice is problematic. You cannot give someone a voice if they are not heard.

Students and young staff members were invited to share experiences of being  Youth in Toronto. What barriers did they experience and how to make change happen. This discussion was emotional and Youth expressed their frustration with the gatekeeping of public spaces and the lack of access for Youth to use these spaces. 

The East Scarborough Storefront is a hub and catalyst for change in East Scarborough, Ontario. DMTO collaborated with this community for our first community workshop. Community members were invited to join the workshop where ideas, questions,  and concerns were expressed such as "what opportunities are available for seniors and youth to work together?" and  "support for newcomers needs to be more accessible." 

https://www.thestorefront.org/

The kick-off event for Design ManifesTO was a panel discussion at OCAD U.  The Moderator was Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam from Ward 13 City Centre. Panel Members included: David Meslin Toronto-based artist and activist; Sabina Ali, Chair and a founding member of Thorncliffe Park Women's Committee; Sara Ratzlaff, writer for Spacing Magazine and public art critic; Ajeev Bhatia, Manager of Policy and Community Connections at Centre for Connected Communities. Panelists shared stories of their personal placemaking achievements. The Q & A session followed where complex questions such as  "what do you feel would be the most productive first steps towards more action being taken by both politicians and the public in terms of change-making?" and  "What do you see is the biggest barrier for people to make the changes that they feel necessary for advancing/enhancing their community, and do you have any suggestions in terms of how to overcome the barriers, or better yet, to remove them? The data collected from this event was analyzed and included in the activities at the community workshops that followed.