Planning Pool

This afternoon’s session, entitled “Old Age Ain’t for Sissies and What that Means for Planners” was a full house. The enthusiasm shown for this topic indicates that planners are very aware of impending demographic changes that will require accommodating aging communities to become a planning priority. The moderator, Don May, opened the presentation with a mind-boggling time-lapse series of Canadian population pyramids from the late 19th century. (You can see a similar series of pyramids online here.) Canada expects an 86% increase in its senior population over the next 20 years; by 2041, one in four Canadians will be over 65.

As community planners can attest, typical community engagement tactics like ye olde open house are not always the most effective in sparking meaningful dialogue, especially for youth. If only there were some relevant discipline that could inspire planners about effectively and equitably engaging young people!

Today’s blog post comes to you (more or less) live from a lecture at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Sandra Weber, an Education researcher, is speaking about her work engaging and empowering teenaged mothers and mothers-to-be in Montreal as part of Project M.O.M. (Mirrors of Motherhood).

Creative Commons photo (not from Project M.O.M.) from the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland.

The participants were young … Continue Reading