Master of Adult Education — St. Francis Xavier University

On Appreciating the Land Which Surrounds Us …

The Importance of Place: Exploring Informal Learning for Community Leadership through Auto-Ethnography — 2020

My Hometown Sucks, Place, and Shared Sameness

Vacant

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?

17 Grand Ave — 2015–⁠2019⁠

“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

Rochester, New York

Parking (Ottawa, Ontario)

What About Our Stories?

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

This Once Was

1. stop complaining about what is wrong with London; 2. less mincing, more prancing; 3. better define what the term transportation means; 4. promote the spirit of adventure in every citizen; 5. educate kids: Civics 101; 6. actually use Wonderland Gardens for something useful; 7. stop caring whether to use #LDN, #LDNONT or #YXU, it does not matter; 8. bike lanes, bike lanes, bike lanes; 9. fire Anne Marie; 10. listen to the youth of the city, they are the future; 11. plant more trees of the non-metal variety; 12. build an Ikea. screw revitalizing downtown; Ikea is the ticket; 13. start living up to the name“The Forest City”; 14. hug a stranger each and every day, two if you feel like it; 15. embrace change, it isnʼt something that should be feared; 16. welcome students into the community with open arms; 17. kick urban sprawl to the curb, because thatʼs where it belongs; 18. get rid of all cars, invest in hover-boards ala. Back to the Future 2; 19. ask questions each and every day; 20. question the competency of our “leadership”; 21. be willing to fail before you can succeed; 22. write your city councilor, provincial MP, federal MP and mother. say hi!; 23. plow Piccadilly St. so people can get to work easier and be more productive; 24. move in the left direction instead of the right, because we need new direction; 25. build a glass dome over Dundas Street (oh dear god); 26. start giving City initiatives sexy names like ________; 27. stop pretending we donʼt see each other when walking down the street; 28. actually stay committed to something when we say we will; 29. hire a magician to play every city function; everyone loves magic; 30. make government transparent like the pants of UWO students (stretchy too); 31. create co-working spaces because people should interact; 32. get out of the house and talk to your neighbours for once; 33. stop comparing London to Toronto; 34. elect someone to municipal council who was born in the past 40 years; 35. start building pedestrian bridges so people can get around easier; 36. start comparing London to Windsor (sorry Windsor); 37. never ever build another Jet dʼEau 38. donʼt take NO for an answer; 39. start discussions, someone will act on them; 40. donʼt build bridges just because some people donʼt know how to cross the railroad; 41. stop eliminating green spaces in the name of growth; 42. start to understand what sustainable development actually means; 43. let nature take itʼs course, it has never ever let us down before; 44. Stop yelling at bicycles on the road; its where they belong; 45. tear down existing silos and donʼt build more; collaboration is key; 46. throw out the status quo, never be satisfied with “just good enough”; 47. stop surfing the net, go meet real people, say hi,make a differenc; 48. stop bitching, stand up and do something for once; 49. stop assuming that the given answer is the best answer to any problem; 50. start enforcing London Street Bylaw 2.12; 51. get rid of in-boulevard bicycle paths, they arenʼt helping anything; 52. start enforcing Highway Traffic Act 148(4); 53. understand that without students the city would be dead; 54. build a new fresh industry, manufacturing is dead, stop trying to save it; 55. build community capacity; 56. fewer oyster parties more meetups, greater things will get accomplished; 57. ask people what they think and use their input instead of throwing it in the garbage; 58. vote; 59. invest time, talent, effort, and resources, the money will follow; 60. cherish heritage buildings, they are our best links to past lives; 61. encourage people outside your comfort zone to contribute; 62. move out of London if you donʼt believe in the cityʼs potential; 63. keep your mouth shut unless you are prepared to take some type of action; 64. be more like Roy; 65. shovel your sidewalk; 66. bring Balloon Fest back; 67. where did all the free downtown concerts go?; 68. build a moat or an expressway, whichever seems more appropriate; 69. make downtown parking free; 70. have a garbage schedule which makes sense; 71. paint police cars the colours of the rainbow; 72. promote the city with sexy ads; 73. make more jobs appear (perhaps out of thin air); 74. let citizens take turns playing “mayor”; 75. have a vision which reflects todayʼs residents, not those of 30 years ago; 76. stop functioning like the 1980ʼs, this is 2010; 77. add “none of the above” to municipal voting ballots; 78. update London.ca so people can actually find information on it; 79. dismantle silos within the municipal government; 80. create an office/officer focused on preventing further “brain drain”; 81. close Dundas St and make it a pedestrian street; 82. make it mandatory for those who run the LTC to take the bus; 83. update CityMap to bring it into the 21st century; 84. make councilor positions a mandatory full-time job; 85. understand that culture is the future of the city; 86. smile; 87. do, or do not. There is no try; 88. encourage and plant boulevard gardens; 89. provide free and open wifi at all municipal operated locations; 90. understand that process is more important than outcome; 91. donʼt enter municipal awards competitions; 92. pay municipal employees in smarties; it will make them smile; 93. dance uncontrollably in the streets, others will join in; 94. build a performing arts centre to showcase LOCAL artists; 95. tear down Springbank Damn, it does more harm than good 96. stop building ugly, square, grey apartment buildings; 97. bring back the mini-golf in Masonville Mall; 98. stop calling it SOHO; come up with something original; 99. insert your profound statement here ->__________; 100. think of London like your mom; treat it with love, respect and compassion — 100 Ways

Paris, France