Our Work

Research Program

Guided by our indicators and supported by systems thinking, we collect and share cities research from around the world in an effort to more fully understand challenges and opportunities in cities.

Research Repository

Our repository is where we store all of the research we share across our platform. This research has been organized into 20 city making categories to emphasize the importance of systems thinking in meaningfully solving problems.

Outside the Box

Our community of city makers includes many inspiring and creative innovators who challenge the status quo to build a better future. Our webinar aims to learn more about these outside the box thinkers reshaping urban life. Join us!

Year in Review

The Year in Review highlights the best of the best. We pull together the most innovative and unique pieces of research that are solving city problems from our research repository using a defined criteria. To explore this annual collection follow us on Instagram.

Capacity Building Program

We bring together digital content that will not only give you the skills needed to better understand the complexity of your city and community, but also the tools needed to effectively respond to improve life in your neighbourhood.

Solving Public Problems

This is a free online course offered by GovLab, an initiative of New York University, that helps citizens develop the skills they need to create change in their community.

Co-creation

If you're interested in making changes to one of the learning modules we have created or would like to co-create a new module with us, let's connect! For our third-party courses, please contact them directly.

Tactical Urbanism

An approach to solving problems in your community that are short term, low cost, and scalable. Use small investments to prove a concept and use the outcomes from that solution to find the resources needed to create something more permanent.

Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems

Free introductory course offered by Harvard University that helps residents use big data to understand and solve local problems. This course does not require any prior background in economics or statistics.

WikiBlock

An open source design library that provides instructions about how to create a variety of products like a bus stop, bench, ramps, planters, and chairs at low cost with minimal tools. They intend to build better neighbourhoods, one block at a time.

Think About the Future

be radical, a consultancy that supports leaders and their ability to think about the future, has developed 4 free online courses to help you create structured ways to think about the future including disruption mapping and practical futurism.

Community Benefit District

CBD's are public-private partnerships that aim to improve quality of life within neighbourhoods. The municipal government creates a levy within a specific geographic area and the funds raised are provided to the CBD to make local investments.

Community Land Trust

Non-profit organization that works to acquire stewardship of land and other community assets. The land and other assets are held in ownership by residents to be used in ways that will benefit the community.

Anchor Institution Agreement

Anchor organizations are institutions that exist within a community and have sizable procurement needs. For example, a hospital or university. An agreement is made between these institutions and the local community to direct spending locally and create jobs and local wealth.

Community Bond

Used by nonprofits and charities to finance their growth. The organization would issue bonds to the public and provide a rate of return to the investor. As such, the organization would need a revenue model that would allow it to pay back the initial investment plus interest to the owner of the bond.

Community Activation Program

The greatest leaps in human progress have always been the result of our ability to work together in large numbers. Through activation, we provide resources to community organizations to make the incremental steps needed to build great neighborhoods. Whether it's connecting organizations with each other or to post-secondary students, we will find creative ways to provide the support needed to advance local change.

Mentorship Program

We want to connect experienced and knowledgeable community leaders with less experienced leaders in an effort to build a network of support.--Currently in development.

Project Volunteer Partnerships

We partner with post-secondary institutions and community organizations to provide experiential learning opportunities for students to apply their skills to a specific community project.--Currently under Development