CivicLabTO Summit

Join us on November 23-24 for an Academic Summit on Toronto's post-pandemic rec presenters through 13 sessions plus student-led arts and cultural programming. These sessions will highlight how collaboration between academics and city government can ultimately lead to stronger public policy in the ever-changing urban environment with a focus on greater equity and inclusion. Academic speakers will be coming from Toronto's colleges and universities - Centennial College, George Brown College, Humber College, OCAD University, Ryerson University, Seneca College, University of Toronto, and York University. After Humber College hosted theDiscussion Seriesfrom June to October, York University will now host the Summit.

Register HERE

See schedule of activities HERE

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About

CivicLabTO Academic Summit: Collaborating on Renewal and Resilience is a two-day virtual event that provides partner faculty, staff and students, City staff and government representatives the opportunity to join a series of free panel discussions featuring thought leaders from across academia and our municipality. Watch as they address the challenges we collectively face in Toronto, evaluate possible outcomes, and present creative solutions. These sessions will highlight how research collaborations generate grounded theory framework that ultimately leads to stronger public policy development in our ever-changing urban environment.​

Building Back Better: An Equity Lens

A focus on equity will be essential to Toronto's approach to recovery and its ability to build resilience. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Toronto, while working with its partners, had developed and implemented various strategies and commitments to ensure Toronto is a

leader in fairness and equity. COVID-19 has highlighted existing inequities through the disproportionately negative social, economic, and health impacts on vulnerable communities, potentially setting back the progress that was being made through the implementation of Toronto's varied actions. As we enter into the recovery phase, unless we design for equity and inclusion, the very people who were disproportionately affected by stresses before the pandemic will become more vulnerable.As a connecting thread, interwoven throughout the summit, the panel discussions will speak to the equity-related work and opportunities within these thematic areas and address important questions such as:

How is an equity perspective central to and/or considered in the work you are speaking to today?What are examples of tools or approaches you are using to integrate a population focus, neighbourhood focus, and other equity-related considerations to this work?Are there any data gaps present in this space, particularly if we are going to make an impact on Toronto residents, given the inequities we know exist?Whose voice is and needs to be at the table to ensure full perspectives?

ThemesThe following thematic areas form the pillars of the City's coordinated recovery and rebuilding efforts, while also serving asthe focal point for the Academic Summit sessions:

Public HealthPlanning and Adapting Public SpaceStronger, Safer, More Just CommunitiesArts, Culture, and RecoveryHousing and HealthTransit and TransportationTechnology, Innovation, and EquityClimate Change and Green RecoveryEconomic Resiliency

Register HERE
See schedule of activities HERE
Website