Loneliness, leadership, and how buildings can make us happier
A list of articles and resources on issues like social connectedness, public health, and community design.
Author: Hey Neighbour Collective
Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) is a systems change project that brings together housing providers, researchers, local and regional governments, housing associations and health authorities to experiment with and learn about ways of effectively building community, social connectedness and resilience in BC’s fast-growing vertical communities.
Living Together: Connecting housing, social well-being and resilience
Living Together is a two-day series of engaging presentations and dialogues about tackling loneliness and social isolation in our homes and urban communities.
Getting to know Ghazaleh Akbarnejad
We recently sat down with Ghazaleh over Zoom to chat about her work with the Collective and her experiences with liminal spaces and architecture.
Getting to know Lainey Martin
A Hey Neighbour Collective research assistant tells us about the joy and importance of getting to know your neighbours.
Mainstreaming socially connected, affordable multi-unit housing across British Columbia
On September 16, Hey Neighbour Collective and Happy Cities co-hosted an online workshop to explore cultural, financial, and policy-level challenges to building socially connected, affordable multi-unit housing communities. We were joined…
Webinar: Building community into the bottom line
Join us for a free webinar on Tuesday, June 22nd to explore ways that landlords and property managers can work with their residents to build community, social connections and capacity for neighbourly mutual aid.
Who is in your emergency kit?
Neighbours who already knew each other and their respective lifestyles and needs have been able to support each other relatively easily and effectively – whereas neighbours who weren’t already connected have scrambled to figure out how to build relationships.
Building better with feedback loops
“Good sound insulation between suites is a key design feature for building community among residents,” says Maura Chestnutt, Catalyst Community Development Society’s ex-VP of Strategic Initiatives and now consultant. It…
Fostering preparedness and community in multi-unit buildings
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods’ Stacy Barter discusses the Connect &
Prepare program and how property managers can best support and benefit from social connectedness and emergency preparedness among tenants.
Building community into the bottom line
For property managers, it can be challenging to move a greater sense of community off the “nice to have” list and into an actual budget line item.
Developing Truly Complete Communities, Discussion Paper
The Hey Neighbour Collective has prepared this input for the review of Metro 2040’s goal area 4.2: Develop healthy and complete communities with access to a range of services and amenities.
Happy Cities releases Together, Apart toolkit
We worked with Happy Cities to develop a guidebook of engagement ideas to help people stay connected during times of physical distancing.
Partner snapshot: Concert Properties
As part of a comprehensive company-wide approach to social sustainability, building on their experience in the City of Vancouver’s original Hey Neighbour Pilot Project, Concert has hired a dedicated Social Sustainability Coordinator.
Partner snapshot: West End Seniors’ Network
The West End Seniors’ Network focuses on supporting older adults living in multi-unit residential buildings through their Close to Home initiative.
Partner snapshot: Building Resilient Neighbourhoods
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods’s Connect & Prepare program builds emergency preparedness and community resilience between immediate neighbours by strengthening social connections.