A new report, inspiring presentations and what we're following

Dear ,

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe 7 months have passed since we sent our inaugural eNewsletter. In that time, we've hosted a workshop, completed some reports and made connections with like-minded innovators in other provinces. We meet with our partners regularly (by zoom, of course) to share what’s working – and what’s hard – and continually find ourselves inspired.

We’d love to hear more about your own work and interests in this field. Don’t hesitate to reach out. If you’re doing work in this space that you think we should know about, let’s connect.

With best wishes for more safe & affordable housing, personal and collective health and joyful social connections in 2022,



Hey Neighbour Collective

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: A photovoice exploration into social connections at home

Multi-unit residents in Vancouver recently participated in a photo-sharing project to illuminate wishes and worries about the sociability of living in their buildings. Click the button below to read a short blog post about the project by Lainey Martin, and access the full report.

Presentation recordings now available: Mainstreaming socially connected, affordable multi-unit housing across BC

On September 16, Hey Neighbour Collective and Happy City co-hosted an online workshop to explore cultural, financial, and policy-level challenges to building socially connected, affordable multi-unit housing communities. Summaries of workshop activities and some presentations are now available on our website.

What we're following

With The Lonely Century, British writer Noreena Hertz dives into our global epidemic of isolation and what can be done about it

This Globe and Mail interview with economist, professor and best-selling author Noreena Hertz is a great introduction to the book’s major themes. With a clear eye on the structural drivers of these trends - social, technological, economic, spatial and political - Hertz paints a worrisome picture of our time. But she also proposes many solutions, including ones related to housing and urban design that echo some of Hey Neighbours’ own recommendations. And solutions are what we’re all here for, right?!

The Globe & Mail

Socially Connected Communities: Solutions for Social Isolation 

In 2020, Healthy Places By Design partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to co-manage the Social Isolation Learning Network, a diverse group of participants sharing their efforts to reduce social isolation. Out of this process came the report Socially Connected Communities: Solutions for Social Isolation. It lays out five sets of recommendations for creating socially connected communities, starting with public spaces, transportation, and housing.

Though US-focused, many of the recommendations could be relevant for other countries as well. Read the full report at the link below or check out this related challenge to US policymakers co-authored by the Executive Directors of Healthy Places by Design and the Foundation for Social Connection.

Healthy Places by Design

Seniors Empowering Seniors offers DIY tools for developing connected and inclusive multi-unit housing communities

Developed by the ‘NORC Ambassador’ project of OpenLab (a design and innovation hub within University Health Network), this beautifully laid out, resource-rich site offers DIY tools and an inspiring idea bank for anyone interested in transforming high-rise apartment buildings with a significant proportion of senior residents into inclusive and connected communities where systems of mutual support help with ageing in place and efficiencies in service delivery.

NORC Ambassadors

Innovative intergenerational home-sharing program expands to Metro Vancouver in partnership with SFU

NICE - the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly - launched an experimental pilot in 2018 in Toronto, pairing up seniors with extra room in their homes (houses or apartments/condos) with students looking for affordable housing. Fast forward to today, and the promising pilot is now Canada HomeShare, currently active in five communities. Major scaling is planned: they aim to grow from 100 matched-up people to 600 in 2022.

In Metro Vancouver, SFU’s Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (FCAT) is a key partner and the program is open to all domestic SFU students. Have room in your home? Studying at SFU and intrigued? Learn about the experience so far of Siobhan and Michael, SFU’s first home-share match at the link below.

Simon Fraser University

Canada HomeShare

Free February 2 webinar: resident wellbeing in temporary modular supportive housing

Happy City - one of Hey Neighbour Collective’s key partners - spent two years collaborating with Reos Partners on research about the current state of temporary modular housing (TMH) in Vancouver, with funding support from CMHC.

Engaging a broad range of stakeholders involved in ‘TMH’ - builders and architects, policymakers and planners, developers and municipalities, and residents and operators — they sought to understand residents’ wellbeing needs and identify the existing barriers to fostering wellbeing in TMH.

Want to hear more about their learnings and recommendations? Register for the free webinar at the link below.

Happy City

Reos Partners

In development: Hangeh tests an online interface for meaningful and authentic interactions within multi-unit residential communities

Founded by three childhood friends, Vancouver-based property technology company Hangeh aims to make it easier for residents in urban multi-unit housing to have meaningful interactions with their neighbours and experience the best of their local community. 

We were flattered to hear from founders Saif, Zeeshan and Hassaan that Hey Neighbour Collective was one of their inspirations and we wish them all the best with their intriguing venture.

Their platform is currently being trialled in high-rise buildings and will soon be available for master-planned communities.

Hangeh

Connect with Hey Neighbour Collective