Community Hubs & Climate Change A Feasibility Assessment December 2018 Acknowledgements Principal Authors This project is a collaboration between Enviromentum, Emmay Mah the Toronto Community Benefits Network and the Dusha Sritharan Toronto Environmental Alliance. Shannon Holness The community hubs that play a vital role in our Co-Authors neighbourhoods are the inspiration for this work. We Vince Schutt would like to thank the staff and residents from the Winnie Lin following hubs and organizations for taking time to Arunemathi Shanmugam share their insights, ideas and hopes: Bathurst-Finch Unison Hub, Bathurst-Finch Social Action Group, Report Design & Layout Dorset Park Community Hub, East Scarborough Rekha Sadasivan Storefront, Jane-Finch Hub, Malvern Family Resource Patrick Roycroft Centre, Mid-Scarborough Hub, North Etobicoke Resident Council, PARC, Rexdale Community Hub, and the Victoria Community Hub Graphic Park Hub. Alexander Miranda We would like to thank The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) for making this project possible. TAF invests in urban solutions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution. We share their vision for a climate-smart urban region that functions within its environmental means and is a leader among climate-friendly urban centres around the world. We would specifically like to thank Mary Pickering, Ian Klesmer, and Diana Yoon for their ongoing support and advice as part of this project. This feasibility assessment was funded by The Atmospheric Fund. Finally, we would like to thank our key advisors, Paul Antze and Rosemarie Powell, for sharing their expertise and knowledge to inform the scope of this project. We hope the stories of these hubs will inspire you as much as they have inspired us! 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 1. Project Context 7 2. Methods 8 3. Key Findings 10 3.1 What is the role of community hubs? 10 3.2 What are community hubs doing now? 12 3.3.What would community hubs like to do in the future? 22 3.4 What resources do community hubs need? 26 4. Recommendations 30 5. Annexes 32 Annex A: Core Consultation Questions 32 Annex B: Climate Initiatives Menu of Options 33 Annex C: Endnotes 34 6. About Us 35 3 Executive Summary Project Context “Hubs can serve as a centralized area that community members can come to when they’re In early 2018, Enviromentum, a project of Tides looking for help with starting initiatives to Canada, the Toronto Community Benefits Network, mitigate and adapt to climate change.” and the Toronto Environmental Alliance launched a - Participant, Inter-Hub Climate Forum, feasibility assessment to explore the role of July 2018 community hubs in addressing climate change. This exploration was based on the core assumption that community hubs can play a significant role in building the foundation of complete, low-carbon Key Findings communities. The project team was interested in the hub ‘one-stop’ service model, and the unique What is the role of community hubs? opportunity for amplifying the impact of The feasibility assessment explored the core climate-friendly practices and projects by engaging question: how can hubs serve as launch points the staff and residents who deliver programs and for wider community engagement in developing services at the hub and in the community. low-carbon communities? Overall, the response from hub stakeholders was overwhelming positive. This feasibility assessment was designed to inform Hubs are viewed as convening spaces for involving the implementation of the City of Toronto’s residents in civic issues, which can be TransformTO climate plan. TransformTO outlines immediately leveraged for building greater long-term goals and strategies for significantly climate-focused engagement. The hub environment reducing Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions, and is perceived as fertile ground for stimulating ideas achieving other positive benefits such as improving and sharing knowledge through both capacity- social equity, health and prosperity, while building a building programs and modelling good practices. low-carbon society. The plan contains an Hub stakeholders felt that community hubs offer acceleration campaign, Mobilizing Low-Carbon resources such as supportive staff, engaged Neighbourhoods, which focuses on catalyzing residents and physical space, which can be resident engagement and seeding solutions at the developed and leveraged to support climate neighbourhood level. This exploration was initiatives. specifically planned to generate insights on how the work of community hubs can contribute to What are community hubs are doing now? community and neighbourhood-level engagement Hubs are engaged in a wide range of initiatives that in climate solutions. generate positive outcomes for climate change and related co-benefit areas. Methods Several hubs use their building infrastructure and grounds to model climate-friendly practices and Seven established community hubs and two host low-carbon projects. Examples include hub emerging hubs participated in the feasibility buildings that have been designed or retrofitted to assessment. From March to September 2018, be energy efficient, water conservation systems, the project team engaged hub staff and residents and onsite green space. Residents have been through a variety of consultation methods engaged in the planning and implementation of including: meetings, focus group discussions, an these initiatives, which are designed to build local online survey, and an Inter-Hub Climate Forum. capacity and create opportunities to experience sustainability concepts. 4 All hubs deliver programs and services in climate change training for resident leaders). Hub co-benefit areas such as food security, waste stakeholders articulated a clear future vision for diversion, green space and transportation. Food, the role of community hubs in advancing climate in particular, was perceived as a promising entry initiatives at the hub and in the community. point for engaging community members on climate change. Community gardens are at the heart of this What resources do community hubs need? programming, many of which are initially seeded Hub stakeholders identified the ways in which and supported by the hubs, but are led by highly current hub resources, such as human capital and active residents. These gardens serve as key physical spaces, can be enhanced and supported to platforms for launching initiatives with broader enable hubs to become more engaged in social equity aims. climate solutions. Staff and residents were clear that deepening these efforts is conditional on Resident engagement is a core focus for all hubs, accessing additional resources, such as funding as and is largely delivered through the United Way well as training and capacity-building for residents. Greater Toronto’s Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) program. ANC focuses on nurturing resident Recommendations leadership, building civic engagement, and planning and implementing neighbourhood projects. Several Based on feedback from hub stakeholders, of the hubs have already integrated climate change recommendations have been generated on how into their resident engagement initiatives (e.g. hubs can be better supported and resourced to preparing residents for extreme weather and seed, grow and deepen climate initiatives: educating residents about climate impacts and solutions). • Leverage the engagement capacity of community hubs; What would community hubs like to do in the • Catalyze inter-hub collaboration on climate future? action; The majority of new climate projects that hub • Amplify the reach and impact of inspiring stakeholders would like to start are already being practices; done by other hubs. They identified the value in • Prioritize localized entry points and co-benefits; facilitating cross-pollination and knowledge • Invest through flexible and sustained funding. transfer across hubs. This can be complemented with targeted external support in some key areas to plan, kick-start or implement new projects (e.g. renewable energy projects or customized climate Photo Credit: Jennifer Reilly 53 Community members participate in a safety audit. | Photo Credit: East Scarborough Storefront 6 1. Project Context What does a low-carbon community look Community hubs, one of the principal elements of like? Who is leading the way and how do United Way Greater Toronto’s Building Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy, are physical centres we get there? which bring essential community supports and vital community space to underserved As Toronto works to prevent and adapt to the neighbourhoods in Toronto’s inner suburbs.3 growing impacts of climate change, activating both Community hubs provide a central access point for city-wide and local strategies will be essential. a range of health and social services, along with Neighbourhood-level initiatives will play a key role cultural, recreational, and green spaces to in reducing our emissions and building community nourish community life.4 Through this work, hubs resilience to extreme weather and other are uniquely positioned to bring new voices into climate-related challenges. These initiatives will Toronto’s climate discourse and develop also be integral to creating prosperity, improving climate-related projects that have a strong social equity, and generating other benefits on the emphasis on creating co-benefits. way to becoming a low-carbon city. In early 2018, three local organizations - In July of 2017, Toronto City Council passed the Enviromentum, the