Surrey Shapers: Public Space was a cohort program for young people living in Surrey who wanted public spaces that reflect them and their community. Together, they created meaningful and fun public space interventions and made deep connections with other local youth
During this 3 month-long program, youth will learned how cities work and the foundations of public space. They were connected with grassroots organizations, city staff, and community members to discuss new and innovative ways to use public space. Finally, they created a projects that activated a public space to better reflect and serve their community.
Program Overview
Surrey Shapers: Public Space was a program for youth aged 18-30 who are excited to build up their knowledge and skills to reimagine their public spaces so that their cities better reflect them.
This program focused on collaboration, creativity, and innovation. It prioritized storytelling and bringing youth voices to the table so that they can co-create a space that reflects their wants, needs, and desires. Whether you're an artist, storyteller, mechanic, designer, communicator, climate activist, tech whiz, public space enthusiast, musician, carpenter, sound designer, student, or person, you have the power to influence your public spaces.
Through a knowledge-to-action program, participants left the program with new tools to help shape their environment. By the end of the program, they had developed a community impact project: redesigning and activating a public space so that Surrey better reflects their voices, perspectives, and needs.
Participants got to:
LEARN: How local government operates, including jurisdiction, decision-making, and levers for change; Developed a basic understanding of democratic theory and key urban issues relating to Public Space in Surrey (including but not limited to gentrification, urbanization, hostile architecture, housing & homelessness). Explored public space from a wide range of community members, like city staff, community organizations, other youth, and grassroots organizations. Some of the themes included: What is public space? What are some of the complications around public space? What does it mean to have public space on unceded lands? What do people mean when they say they are "placemakers," and how can we bring a more inclusive vision to urban planning and public space activations?
INVESTIGATE AND IDEATE: Youth worked collaboratively in teams of 4-5 to investigate an aspect of public space and create a project to activate a space. Youth got to practice key skills like project management, conducting site visits, and creating asset maps. Youth also practiced giving and receiving feedback from each other and community members. Through Community Building, this program brings youth together to create connections across educational, professional and/or cultural silos through creative and experiential project development and learning together. We develop a cross-cultural understanding of varied lived experiences and how they relate to individual and collective experiences of public space
APPLY AND TAKE ACTION: With a focus on storytelling and engagement, this program seeks to create opportunities for youth in the program to tell their own stories and express their own identities through their action projects and within the program, as well as the stories associated with the land and place on which the program takes places (both recent/documented histories and oral/ancestral narratives). Working in teams, youth worked on projects with support from facilitators and community organizations. Our goal is for the youth participating in this program to become a part of a diverse group of youth who are excited about their city and all the potential for Surrey's public spaces.
Our hope is that youth who participate in this program become a part of a diverse network of youth who are eager to take action across Metro Vancouver.
