Healthy Streets, Healthy Kids, Healthy Community: Using Community Art to Demonstrate the Benefits of an Urban Greenway ( poster )

Abstract

Background In 2015, the City of Winnipeg approved the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies, which provide a long-range policy framework for active modes of transportation for the next 20 years. One of the priority projects identified in the Strategies was the development of a Neighbourhood Greenway that prioritizes walking and cycling along Ruby and Banning Streets in Winnipeg’s West End. As part of a strategy to support children’s mobility, the City has made the development of School Travel Plans (STP) an integral part of this project. Description of Intervention This study will develop a functional design for the Neighbourhood Greenway, and bring several schools together as part of parallel STP processes. To engage the school communities and broader community stakeholders in identifying issues and developing concepts, we are hosting a Healthy Streets community art event. Local schools will be assigned one block of the corridor nearest their school, where they will decorate the street scape using many creative materials with the support of local artists. The students will also be displaying some of their photovoice project art. Schools will visually display to the community why it is important for them to be able to walk of bike to school. The culmination of the day will be a parade over the length of the corridor. The second day will be a broader community event, where we will invite the community at large to come out and view the children’s street art, as well as the provide input on the potential improvement options. We will use tactical urbanism to showcase treatments such as chicanes, medians, traffic circles, temporary crosswalks, and narrowed lanes. Outcomes This session will focus specifically on the Community Art Event, and will share lessons learned as to how this was successful in building broad community support, engaging multiple stakeholders and building partnerships, and informing the design of the corridor. Implications The Healthy Streets Community Art Event is a critical part of the public engagement process for this study. The results of the event will be used to refine and finalize design options for implementation by the City next year.