Hello Community Navigators!

I’d like to thank you for participating in the most recent Civics Toolbox session with my colleagues Wendy and Guilherme. We greatly appreciate your thoughtful contributions to thinking through how to connect the Toolbox with the Navigator Program.

I’ve since met with Wendy and Gui to identify initial takeaways and next steps.

Takeaways:

• Build community’s knowledge and capacity: the City often asks community to participate without first enhancing members’ knowledge and capacity to navigator (eg. how public policy is made, who makes decisions, what jurisdictional authority it has). What can be done to help community navigate and strategize their involvement? What are the formal and informal pathways to their involvement? “Political engagement requires political savvy”
• Witness and honour participation: too often, communities are engaged without being able to follow how their input contributes to planning or policy efforts, leading to mistrust of government. Instead, staff must find ways to work in relationship, commit to updating community on their efforts. Without this,
• Make it relatable: toolbox should help community explore issues they care about through real world examples. Starting at a scale of an individual, using participatory learning exercises may be a good entry point in order to get into the discussion. Parts of the Toolbox can then help illuminate how things work from an overview perspective.
• Make it accessible: consider aspects like using simple plain (non-technical) language, providing translated materials, focusing on “real world” examples, and addressing gaps in digital literacy. Focus on engaging people who don’t normally participate by explaining why people should get involved, why it matters, and why people should care. One reason is because of the multitude of ways that local government affects people’s daily lives. Address the lack of trust in government by continuing to work closely with community partners.

Next steps:

• Jason will reintroduce you individually to Wendy and Gui, so you may have a direct line of contact if you are looking for more resources or information on activities.

Hello Navigators! I've been asked for more details about what Navigators are expected to report back on from their engagement sessions. This template is a resource for you to help structure your input and analysis back to the City. It aims to capture some details of the engagement, as well as key findings, comments, stories that you hear in your engagement. You won’t be required to use it – you’re welcome to customize the template or provide community input in another format that works better for you. I also welcome any feedback or suggestions you have for how to improve this template for other Navigators.

To see the draft reporting template, please click the link here: https://shapeyourcity.ca/vanplan-navigators/forum_topics/3465efb25c96

Tuesday marked our first session with Vancouver Plan Policy Working Group (PWG) staff.

Policy planner Aaron Lao provided a brief presentation that covered two main questions: "what is policy?" and "how do we (the City) develop policy?". The goal was to provide Navigators a little more context on the Vancouver Plan policy process and to share some high-level considerations for what staff think make for 'good policy'. Watch the presentation here.

This was followed by a series of breakout discussions, which provided staff and Navigators an opportunity to discuss how Vancouver Plan themes relate to their respective communities. Breakout sessions were facilitated by PWG staff from respective working groups working on four applied policy themes of the Vancouver Plan: An Affordable and Livable City, Complete and Connected Neighbourhoods, A City of Economic Health, and A Sustainable and Ecological City. Notes to be posted soon.

Did you participate in the session? We're interested to know how useful it was for you, so we may improve for next time. Please complete our quick survey.

As part of "Your City Hall" initiative, my colleague Wendy Mendes is developing a Civics Toolkit, which can help support your engagement with community. We'd like to hear from you on which topics you're most interested in.

Review the choices here and make your pick here. I'll work with Wendy to dive into more detail on the top two topics selected. Thanks!

In May, the City released a reference guide with background information on a number of key issues facing Vancouver communities. Take a detailed look at the city today, covering key topics such as culture, climate, the environment, housing, transportation, the economy and utilities. In addition to providing topic-specific data, the Reference Guide also draws on what we heard during Phase 1 of Planning Vancouver Together, aligning ‘what we heard’ with ‘what we know’ from available data.

This can be useful for Navigators as you think about how to engage your community: What narratives are shared here? Whose stories are missing? How can the Navigator work help to centre these important discussions on the lived experience and contribute to shaping a more equitable future?

Have a read! Download the document here.

Now that the orientation sessions are over, you might be wondering, what's next? Here is a list of things to get you going this week.

1. Explore this collaboration space

• Take time to explore the site. I’ve put a couple Navigator activities to help get you started, including one building on tailoring engagement questions for your community. We can chat about what you like and suggestions for the site during our check-in.
• You will need the link to access this page: https://shapeyourcity.ca/vanplan-navigators - I recommend bookmarking this URL to make life easier.

2. Attend two upcoming workshops

• Vancouver Plan Policy Workshop on November 24, 2:30 – 5:00PM: City staff will be introducing their work and process, followed by discussion on thematic areas to help inform your engagement with community. Download the calendar invitation.
• Civics Toolkit Workshop on November 30, 1:00-3:00PM: We’ll be learning about a civic literacy toolkit being developed by City staff, which can be a valuable resource for navigators. Download the calendar invitation.

3. Book time for a team check-in with me

• I'd like for each Neighbourhood House team to find time in the coming weeks to connect briefly. To book a 30 minute block of time, please click here: https://calendly.com/jason-hsieh/30min
• Based on the Doodle poll, I've set my Office Hours for Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1:00 – 3:30PM. Should you ever need to book a full hour, book two slots. If you need to meet outside of these hours, just email me and we’ll arrange a time.

4. Contact me for a Conversation Kit to be delivered

• Thank you to those who provided me Conversation Kit delivery instructions. I’m hoping to make deliveries this Friday.
• If you want a kit but haven’t provided instructions, reply to this email with your address/instructions.

5. Join the Navigator Peer Support Group.

• If you are interested in getting together with other navigators to discuss ideas on engagement and/or challenges that may arise during your engagement work, reach out to Sarah Kim at Collingwood Neighbourhood House: sskim@cnh.bc.ca - Sarah and Crecien will work to bring those interested together in the upcoming weeks.