WE’RE HIRING!
Position: Researcher + Data Analyst Intern
Organization: Common Space Coalition
Locaiton: Toronto, remote
Eligibility: 30 years old or younger
Role: PT (2.5 days a week), 14 weeks pending further funding
About Common Space Coalition:
We are a newly established non-profit organization whose goal is to combat systemic racism in landscape architectural professional practice through activism, lobbying, and research activities. We seek to engage in a professional, positive, and transparent relationship with community groups and our professional bodies.
The primary focus of our activities is to facilitate opportunities for placemaking, awareness, and practice surrounding anti-racism and the built environment. We aim to forge cross-disciplinary relationships using principles of design activism, to support the creation of equitable, accessible, decolonized, and inclusive public space.
The Coalition was created after a letter demanding action on racial injustice in landscape architecture was sent to the CSLA and OALA, in the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in early June. The letter was distributed as an editable document that received feedback from landscape architects across Canada, and gained 120+ signatures.
The project you’ll be working on:
As a small, independent research and design incubator, we have received funding to hire a Research / Data Analyst Intern to support our latest project, the Common Space Directory. The goal of the Directory is to develop a free, public, interactive, map-based catalog of community organizations, activists, social movements, and proposed developments to bridge the divide between professional design practice, policy-makers, developers, and communities on the ground.
Providing community groups with access to an online interactive engagement platform will support the amplification of their voices and document their work, ideas, and concerns in real time, serving as a means to engage with landscape architects and our fellow ‘city-builders’. Once we have established a database of community organizations, needs, and initiatives, we will promote this project to landscape architects and allied professionals to advocate for increased engagement with the local communities in which their projects take place.
*Please note that due to the requirements of funding from the Government of Canada, we are only able to hire Canadian citizens aged 30 and under. Mentorship and regular check-ins will be provided as part of our responsibility to you. The role is classified as remote as per pandemic restrictions.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Researching instances of community groups, activism, development proposals, etc. based in Toronto and, ultimately, Ontario, and accurately translating / compiling the information into a user-friendly map software (Social Pinpoint platform)
Monitoring community activity on the Social Pinpoint boards and maps, supporting community activity, and generating engagement by reaching out to groups and promoting the interactive map tools
Submitting weekly progress summaries (via zoom meetings with us) on your research + cataloguing work, and of the community activity on the interactive maps
Researching potential neighbourhoods, towns, and cities for future cataloguing activities
Infrequent social media posts on CSC’s Instagram and LinkedIn as pertaining to your research, with support from a social media mentor
Attend sub-committee meetings with partner community organizations (might be outside of regular working hours)
The successful candidate will possess the following qualities:
Hard skills
Academic background in urban planning, landscape architecture, urban design, community planning, and/or participatory planning
Have their own computer (and internet)
Ability to manage their own time, well-organized, and goal-oriented with check-ins at minimum twice a week
Tech savvy and able to learn the ins and outs of Social Pinpoint, a user-friendly online mapping software, quickly and easily
Strong research skills and experience is a must. This can include academic or professional research roles
Strong writing, reading comprehension, and communication skills
Soft skills
Familiar with principles of social, racial, climate, and environmental justice
Acquainted with community engagement, participatory planning + design, activism and how to navigate these circles
Interested in research that can help build community engagement over time
The ability to effectively engage and communicate with people of all backgrounds over the phone, Zoom, or GoogleMeet
Bonus qualities:
Social media savviness is a plus (Instagram)
Experience in fundraising or drumming up press is a plus, but not necessary
Experience with ArcGIS, GISPro
What we’ll provide:
Mentorship opportunities and a supportive work environment
Being part of a research project that can change the way landscape architects, architects, and urban designers practice professionally
$18 an hour
Please send your resume to commonspacecoalition@gmail.com and a very brief cover letter telling us why you are interested in the role, and how you think both parties - candidate and hiring organization - can support each other’s goals.
SOMETHING’S IN THE DOUGH: IN CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST SAMEER FAROOQ AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT VICTORIA TAYLOR
At CSC, our research and design intentions are rooted in the belief that cross-disciplinary relationships are vital to the creation of decolonized, multi-diverse, and culturally rich opportunities in public space. Here we spoke with landscape architect and activist, Victoria Taylor, and artist Sameer Farooq about the power and potential of public art, an anthropological lens for landscape architecture, and how through sharing culture traditions we foster learning, placemaking, and resiliency.
CSC RECEIVES FUNDING FROM LACF
CSC has received $6000 of funding from The Landscape Architecture Canadian Foundation for the proposed Common Space Directory that will be an online resource for landscape architects to connect with grassroots activists and community leaders where our professions intersect. Our goal is to leverage our expanding network of landscape architects and allied professionals to research, catalogue, and curate a freely accessible web platform highlighting ongoing community, non-profit, and volunteer initiatives operating adjacent to the professional scope of landscape architects.
The Directory will help landscape architects capitalize on the grassroots work that is already being done in the communities they serve, and incorporate it into the design process for highly resilient, multi-generational, sensitive, and enduring Canadian landscape architecture that responds directly to its social, cultural, and historical context. The Common Space Directory will push landscape architecture towards a hybridized discipline that considers social justice, sustainability, and human dignity above all.
SAFE IN PUBLIC SPACE
Co-founder of Common Space Coalition, Rayna Syed, shares her thoughts with the Safe in Public Space Project on how design activism can be a tool for positive change at the community level.
The story also features @u.r.b.a.n.i.s.t.a Cara Chellew, founder of @defensive_to .
Thank you to the #safeinpublicspace initiative, c/o the @thebentway , for the feature.
CSC SOCIAL JUSTICE x EQUITY VIRTUAL EVENT CALENDER
Check out the CSC event calendar for a curated list of webinars, events, and lectures.
We now have a curated calendar of Diversity/Design/Anti-Racism events from across North America. This calendar is updated monthly so always come back and take a peek to explore the events! Members of professional associations can use many of these events towards their Continuing Education credits.
CSLA DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION SUVEY
We achieved our first demand! Click to learn more about the diversity survey.
On June 8th, 2020, the Common Space Coalition sent a letter to the CSLA and OALA after hearing about the disturbing events that took George Floyd’s life.
In this letter, we developed a non-exhaustive list of demands that we require in order for change to occur as the professional bodies and CSLA progress towards a more progressive, equitable, and just professional environment and practice.
Our first demand was the creation of a diversity survey. The OALA and CSLA conduct an annual formal diversity survey that includes a racial and gender breakdown for our membership so we can better understand our current membership base, how to engage a more racially-diverse member base, and to publish the results in an Annual Diversity and/or Annual Reconciliation Report.
On October 9th, 2020, the CSLA partnering with OALA, BCSLA, AALA, AND MALA, distributed a national diversity survey.