Kevin Van Lierop
Kevin Van Lierop is a city loving, strategic leader living in London, Canada.
He is curious about the place where learning, leadership, and civic-life intersect.
During the global pandemic, Kevin is taking time to relax and recharge; these days he is mostly reading.
Email | LinkedIn
Good City Co.
Selected Works
“The journey around Lake Fanshawe can be completed in as little as 3-hours if an individual is in a hurry. I lean towards taking the circular path at a more leisurely pace. Clearing my mind. Inhaling the fresh air. Getting away from the city without ever leaving it. Enjoying a slower pace of life. And, sometimes, even parkating in the proverbial “smelling of the roses” along the way. For the record, and not to mislead—I ave never seen, therefore smelled, any roses along the way. For some, Lake Fanshawe is just a pool of water that is too slow at the evaporation game, for others it is downstream from places where life moves at a slower pace (hi, St. Marys!). And for some, those occupying the surrounding day-use conservation area at any given moment, it can be a place for their children and dogs to pee while other people swim and fish. For me, well, Lake Fanshawe may just be my temple in the woods.” — Circumnavigating Lake Fanshawe
Master of Adult Education — St. Francis Xavier University
On Appreciating the Land Which Surrounds Us …
Discovering a renewed appreciation for all things local.
My Hometown Sucks, Place, and Shared Sameness
Read a treatise on communities of identity, faith, and place.
“Like time, place may simply be a social construct—not needing to be connected to geographic space, physical location, or physicality whatsoever. Existing more in the abstract, through our relations with one another, place may only be connected to tangible environments when we choose to collectively assign the label of place to the spaces we share.” — What Is Place but a Social Construct?
“When we talk about place we need to first concern ourselves with people and consider their diverse cultures. Recognizing the depth of relationships and experiences individuals and groups have with one another, and the meaning they collectively generate as a result, it is essential to understand how they identify with the spaces they occupy before before breaking ground on the next great public works project and labeling it as a place before it is even completed. Perhaps this is where the root of the problem begins; that place is far too often confused to be the same thing as space, and that the former without any genuine meaning attached to it is simply the later.” — Place as a Verb
“What if, as tourists & visitors, we made more of an attempt to seek out authentic experiences? What if we made the choice to take the ‘path less travelled’ and step outside the comfort of what has been created for us by the tourism industry?” — Authentic Experiences
What About Our Stories?
Thoughts about leaving a local narrative from an era in history that’s worth reading—one that reflects a greater reality beyond what is written & read in the ‘daily rag’.
When was the last time you got together with your neighbours simply to party?
Now is the time.
Big City Lights — London, Canada
Unofficial signs take first steps — Anna Bowness Spacing Magazine, Fall 2012
Worry.
[this city] is
corrupt.
old & white.
not enough.
unrepairable.
unemployable.
conservative.
fucked.
devastated.
a lost cause.
poor.
broken.
stagnant.
backwards.
immature.
…
Don’t Worry.
[This City] is Awesome.
Find out why.
Hamilton Road — London, Canada
