Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Community Development Institute outlines findings from Rupert Recharge engagement

The CDI has put together its final
report on a recent community development
engagement session held in the city
After a number of public gatherings around the city through the latter part of the year a Final report on the work from the year by the Community Development Institute is now available for review by Prince Rupert residents.

The initiatives delivered through Redesign Rupert will look to identify and build upon economic assets and opportunities, engage organizations and individuals to pursue opportunities to build community capacity and enhance the quality of life of the community.

As well as to create a strong foundation which adaptable in order to allow Prince Rupert to anticipate and adjust to changing issues and opportunities.

The information that was collected during the Redesign Rupert Recharge of October 22nd featured a look at some of the findings over the year on the five distinct themes of study.

Children, Youth and Families 
Community Culture and Heritage
Economy and Livelihoods
Housing
Public Spaces

The 150 participants at the Recharge event provided feedback through three, thirty minute sessions that had been set up for discussion. Providing the CDI group with some indication as to which concepts were resonating best with the community.

The five themes featured a range of potential areas for future development or exploration, a few of the snapshots of those findings include:

Children, Youth and Families

The need to eliminate barriers to participation in child and youth programs and activities.

Increase after-school programming options and hang out spaces for young teens (11-15 years) and older youth (178-20) that focus on empowerment and skills development.

Build capacity within local service/volunteer organizations to provide and maintain child and youth programming.

Establish and outdoor public space, including a covered area, that is safe, easily accessible and suitable for child and youth bases activities.


Community and Culture Heritage

Develop greater awareness and appreciation within the local community about the diverse array of arts and cultural assets in Prince Rupert.

Strengthen efforts to showcase local arts and culture to tourists and visitors.

Expand the number of spaces available for arts and culture groups and activities.

Extend efforts to publicize and coordinate local arts and cultural events/opportunities.


Economy and Livelihoods

Develop a local economic diversification strategy

Strengthen efforts to attract, support and retain retail business in Prince Rupert

Revitalized Third Avenue and other key economic hub zones

Expand training and apprenticeship programs in fields that are relevant to the local economy.


Housing

Expand the supply of quality, affordable rental housing

Explore options to lower the costs of residential development

Expand housing options that are physically accessible for seniors to enable the growing elderly population to remain in Prince Rupert as they age

Increase the supply of supported housing

Establish a standard of care for landlords to ensure that rental accommodations are safe and of acceptable quality.


Public Spaces

Foster community involvement in the use and maintenance of public spaces.

Revitalize, enhance and promote the use of existing public spaces.

Create new public spaces, including covered spaces


The full report features a breakdown for each of the themes listed above with more background on what the CDI discovered from their engagement sessions, it can be reviewed here.

The next stage of the Redesign Rupert planning will be to establish community action groups consisting of local residents,  the main focus of their work will be to develop a visions, goals, current assessment strategies and action plans to determine priorities.

Those action groups will be established and start meeting this month.

You can find out more about what the Community Development Institute has been up to in Prince Rupert from their Facebook page or website.

More notes on their work can also be reviewed from our archive page here.

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