Please join us for a two-day series of engaging presentations and dialogues about tackling loneliness and social isolation in our homes and urban communities. This symposium is co-hosted by Hey Neighbour Collective, Happy Cities, SFU Urban Studies and SFU Public Square.

CONTEXT

Well before COVID-19, loneliness and social isolation were on the rise locally and globally, deeply impacting personal and collective health and well-being. Unlike the United States, which has declared a loneliness epidemic, or the U.K. and Japan, which have appointed Ministers of Loneliness, Canada has yet to meaningfully identify loneliness as a public health crisis, though trends here are similar.

Many socio-economic factors create higher vulnerability to loneliness and social isolation, including where and how we live. Some studies have shown that residents of multi-unit housing are less likely to know their neighbours or do small favours for them than residents of less dense housing types, and that they report higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of trust in neighbours.

In the Metro Vancouver region, most of our communities are growing up, making multi-unit housing the norm, particularly for low- and middle-income residents. This should compel us to creatively interrogate how we design, redesign and program housing and surrounding neighbourhoods.

The good news is that, although Canada does not have a unified or adequately funded strategy to help us tackle loneliness and social isolation, much is happening locally and across Canada.

Living Together is a space for concerned professionals and advocates to exchange ideas about efforts happening now and develop a stronger collective voice. You’ll be in good company: we are expecting a diverse gathering of housing professionals, municipal planners, public health professionals, architects, non-profits, funders, emergency management professionals, academics and students.
 

SPEAKERS INCLUDE (in alphabetical order):

• Laurie Bates-Frymel, Senior Planner (Environment), Metro Vancouver
• Michael Eliason, Founder, Larch Lab
• Michael Epp, Director of Planning, City of North Vancouver
• Ashley Flanagan, Research Fellow, National Institute on Ageing
• Bruce Haden, Co-Founder, Human Studio
• Sadhu Johnston, Former City Manager, City of Vancouver
• Iris Lok, University of British Columbia, Department of Psychology
• Madyson McKay, Project Manager, City of Calgary
• Kent Patenaude, Development Manager, Lu’ma Development
• Erin Rennie, Senior Regional Planner, Metro Vancouver
• Joan Ramon Riera Alemany, Councillor, City of Barcelona
• Sarah Silva, CEO, Hiy̓ám̓ ta Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Housing Society
• John Wall, Public Architecture, Vienna House project

PIBC CPL eligibility:

June 7 

Session 9am - 11am: 2 units

Session 11.30am - 12.30pm: 1 unit

Session 1.45pm - 3.15pm: 1.50 units

Session 3.20pm - 4.20pm: 1 unit

June 8

Session 10am - 12pm: 2 units

Session 1pm - 4pm: 3 units