Centre For Local Research into Public Space (CELOS)
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Show search optionsCELOS has received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation:
and the Metcalf Foundation:
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making the cob courtyard
Dufferin Grove Park
Neighbourhoods
We have learned over the years that things are often not what they appear. Deeper reality offers insight, lessons, even intrigue. There is no better way to learn about public space than involvement in neighbourhoods, and CELOS has in its background relations with many communities.
An example of community dynamics is in the neighbourhood of Dufferin Grove Park. Fortunately much of the tapestry of the park has been chronicled in a monthly newsletter. This newsletter has been published in an almost unbroken stream for 11 years, in hundreds of editions, and thousands of pages of stories.
The Dufferin Grove Park newsletter is now in its 12th year. Every month there are seven pages of events and editorials about a fourteen-acre downtown park and its immediate neighbourhood. The latest newsletter can be seen on the dufferinpark.ca main Newsletter Page, and the meandering tale of urban public space is can be found in the newsletter archives back to the year 2000.
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See also: 2009 CELOS Speaker Series |
Experimenting with ways of using public space
Experimenting with ways of using public space has been and continues to be a main activity for CELOS researchers. Insights and lessons learned provide input for research and analysis. CELOS supports activities initially launched by the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park, but with a broader, growing scope.
These include
Food, campfires, and ovens: CELOS and its predecessors have introduced food into the park, and contributed to the food support infrastructure at Dufferin Grove Park for years, including healthful locally made snacks, Friday Night suppers, pizza days, outdoor cooking, and more. This has recently broadened out to Bell Manor campfires, Susan Tibaldi Parkette, MacGregor Park, and others.
Arts activities: CELOS facilitates the use of public space for arts activities when asked for help by local groups or individual artists.
Rink activities: CELOS directly contributes to the operation of Christie, Campbell, Wallace and Dufferin rinks, and helps with special events at other city rinks when asked
Ecological activities: A wide range of ecological activities have been supported by CELOS: cob courtyard and biotoilet at Dufferin Grove Park, community gardens, farmers' markets (Withrow, Trinity, Green Barns, Foodshare, Stonegate), tree watering and care.
More supported activities...
Youth activities: Campbell shinny tournaments, student placements, mentoring, court placements, speaking at schools when invited
Independent festivals and events: Womens' shinny tournaments, non-violence festival, jazz improve festival, Portuguese film festivals, Jane Jacobs walk, Macgregor winter solstice celebration, and others
These activities are supported in such a way as to be open to all segments of the complex urban social landscape.
Parks citywide
What's the on-the-ground effect of government "stimulus funds" on parks? Some of that money is going toward making repairs and changes in park field houses. One of the is MacGregor Park field house, solidly built in 1935, orphaned for a decade, and recently back in use. Read more.
In the Neighbourhood
How do people get around in the city? Bikes and trains are three issues that have had lively discussion on neighbourhood e-mail lists, archived here.
Content last modified on August 22, 2010, at 09:19 PM EST