Are you a young person living in Surrey? Do you wish that public spaces were more accessible? Do you pass by parks, laneways, and plazas wishing that British Columbians had public spaces that were accessible year-round, even during the rainy months? (which, let’s be honest, is usually all of them.) Want to create meaningful and fun connections with other youth? Apply for the Surrey Shapers: Public Space cohort today!
Surrey Shapers: Public Space is a 3-month-long workshop run in partnership with UMOJA Operations Compassion Society, Youth Leadership Millennium from the non-profit S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and the City of Surrey. During this program, you will learn how cities work and the foundations of public space. You’ll get to connect with grassroots organizations, city staff, and community members to discuss new and innovative ways to use public space. Finally, you will create a project focusing on designing and implementing a parklet to reflect you and your community!
Get ready to join Surrey Shapers: Public Space!
Surrey Shapers: Public Space is 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 encourages collaboration, creativity, and innovation. It prioritizes 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, a 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, you will leave the program with new tools to help shape your environment. By the end of the program, you (yes, YOU!) will have developed a community impact project: redesigning and activating a parklet so that Surrey better reflects your voices, perspectives, and needs.
Through this program, you will:
LEARN:
You will learn how local government operates, including jurisdiction, decision-making, and levers for change; Develop 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).
You will learn about public space from a wide range of community members, like city staff, community organizations, other youth, and grassroots organizations. Some of the themes we will be exploring seek to answer questions such as: 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 will work collaboratively in teams (you’ll have a chance to sort yourselves into project teams during the cohort) to investigate an aspect of public space and create a project to activate a mobile parklet. You will get to practice key skills like project management, conducting site visits, and creating asset maps. You will also get to practice 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, 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, you will work on projects with support from facilitators and community organizations. We are here to support your ideas! (While keeping the scope and scale in line with deadlines!) 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.
SESSION DATES
Introductions & Welcome:
Session 1: Thursday, September 28, 2023: Introductions + Icebreakers
Information and Engage Module: Session 2: Thursday, October 5, 2023: What is Public Space+ Complications
Session 3: Thursday, October 12, 2023: Project Management + Group Formation
Session 4: Thursday, October 19, 2023: Storytelling + Communications Strategy
Action Module:
Session 5: Thursday, October 26, 2023: Design Studio Ideation
Session 6: Thursday, November 2, 2023: Free work session
Session 7: Thursday, November 9, 2023: Feedback Session
Session 8: Thursday, November 16, 2023: Presenting to Council + Accessing Municipal Funding
Community Presentation & Final Celebration:
Activation 1: Thursday, November 23 – Sunday, November 26, 2023
Activation 2: Thursday, November 30 – Sunday, December 3, 2023
Activation 3 + Program Wrap-Up + final event celebration: Thursday December 7, 2023 – Sunday December 10, 2023
Program Overview:
Over 3 months, participants will attend 8 sessions, 1 (or 3) Activations, and 1 community event to celebrate all their hard work!
The program consists of three learning modules:
Module 1: Learning & Foundations
Week 1-4
Guiding Questions:
- What is public space?
- What are the complications around public space?
- Municipalities 101
- Decolonization 101
- What does “Placemaking” mean?
Module 2 : Ideation & Project Development
Weeks 5-8
Practicing Skills:
- Project Management
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Creating projects to scope and scale
- Develop relationships with other groups and stakeholders
Module 3: Action
Weeks 9-11
Applying Knowledge & Skills to:
- A public space transformation project
- Working to bring plans and dreams to life
- Celebration event with community
Testimonials from Surrey Shapers 2022
“Highly recommend this program! It was an amazing experience with lots of friendly easy going people. If you’re at all interested in public spaces or doing something in your community, this is the program for you!”
“Surrey Shapers was an amazing time!! I was able to meet other youth who wanted to shake things up, and implement community minded interventions in Surrey Spaces. We were able to lead, ideate, and plan a project, then actually bring it to life, which is super cool! The support of facilitators and community organizations and the City of Surrey was helpful for our learning and doing.”
“Cityhive is an organization that cares. This organization genuinely cares and educates participants to help them implement their vision into reality.”
“Surrey Shapers improved my understanding of the city and its needs, but, more importantly, how I can help.”
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the program start and how long is it?
The program starts on September 28, 2023, and runs weekly, primarily on Thursday evenings until December 10, 2023.
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How long does the program run each week?
Each week we will meet for 2.5 hours between 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
(Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for participants to eat – yes, we will provide food and beverages!
Weekend sessions will be from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
In addition to program time, you should anticipate spending 2-5 hours working on project-related tasks when you get into modules 2 & 3.
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How do I apply?
You can apply using the link at the top of this page. You will have the opportunity to complete a written application using the link above. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any issues with a written application; we will assist you.
Applications are open until September 14, 2023.
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How much does it cost to join?
Our programs are free to you! There is ZERO cost to join Surrey Shapers: Public Space. We do offer additional honorariums and financial support. Please contact us for more information.
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I haven’t been a part of a program like this before – is that okay?
Surrey Shapers is meant to be an entry point into learning about public space. In fact, we encourage youth who have never been a part of this type of program to apply! We work with a great team of facilitators and knowledge holders to ensure content is accessible and inclusive to all participants – regardless of the level of knowledge coming into this program.
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I don’t live in Surrey, is that okay?
While we are prioritizing residents of Surrey for this program, if you have strong roots and connections to Surrey, please expand upon this in your application form.
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Who will I meet?
We bring together a diverse group of 25-30 youths with various backgrounds. You will meet other youth participants who are just as eager as you to make their voices heard in public space. You will also meet local government officials, decision-makers, thought leaders, and subject matter experts and have chances to meet community members, past program participants, and our amazing team of facilitators.
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What do we do during the program sessions?
GREAT question! Our program sessions are pretty jam-packed. Our sessions are hands-on and interactive – and encourage active participation. We like to say that you’ll get out what you put in. We make sure to utilize body breaks throughout the sessions.
We blend content delivery and workshops with dialogue, group discussions, breakout sessions, and peer-to-peer learning. You can expect that we will deliver a presentation and invite you into conversation with your peers as we learn together.
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What’s the goal of this program?
This program is designed to do 3 things: (1) build youth’s knowledge, skills, and capacity to activate public space (2) create tangible pathways for youth to shape their city so that it reflects their wants and desires and (3) enhance relationships between youth, their civic institutions, and organizations across Metro Vancouver.
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What’s the program like - how much time will I spend working on these projects?
The program is designed for you to get what you put into it. This is a project-based program where you are expected to work collaboratively with your peers to activate a public space. This will require community engagement, outreach, and some investigative research to understand the problems of public space better. As we move into modules 2 and 3 of the program, you can expect to spend between 2-5 hours each week, in addition to program session time, working with your group.
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THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
This program wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of:
