The Green Committee comprises four members: Julie, Shameel, Issac and Mishika. As a mix of Regent Park residents and UofT students, we're excited to combine our knowledge and expertise to create a project over the coming weeks.
Within our first few weeks of working in our group, we all realized the importance of green space. Access to public usable green space can affect one's quality of life in many ways, including diet, community and mental wellbeing. That is why our group, the Green Committee, focused on the need for more access to green spaces as our civic engagement topic.
In our sessions, we spoke about how the Regent Park residents have seen the green space landscape transform over the revitalization. There were discussions about how the previous community gardens were large plots of the area used for multiple buildings in the area compared to now when the condo building gardens are small and are only used for those who live in the complex. This brought thoughts about how that can cause a lack of talk and discussion with members from different buildings and areas. We also spent a bit of time discussing what the benefits of green spaces are. We discussed points, including the ability to plant fruits and vegetables. It would also be a place for community members to exchange produce that they grew with other families, creating connections within the community. We also discussed the intergenerational aspect that community gardens can provide. Witnessing a parent or a grandparent talk about their garden and being able to contribute can build and foster generational stories or practices. We also looked at maps created by Issac, which showed various forms of green space in Regent Park. We could see which green spaces were available to all residents within the community, which were limited to a specific condo and which were present but unusable due to construction.
One of our group members, Julie, was able to attend a Black History Month celebration event by the organization Fred Victors. The event had a seed swap portion. During this seed swap event, residents were allowed to exchange seeds, get free seeds, and learn about planting. While not all of the members were able to attend, we were able to see pictures from the community event. Our initial ideas surrounded hosting a community event as a part of our media project, as it would be a way to support cohesion in the community directly.
The urban studies and lived experiences of all our members will inspire and inform this project over the upcoming weeks. We're excited to see the form our project takes and how we can contribute to the discussion of green space in Regent Park.
The Green Committee members are Julie, Shameel, Issac, and Mishika