City of Kingston
Project: Leveraging Informal Community Leaders for Neighbourhood Activation: A Comparative Study of Municipal Strategies
Neighbourhoods play a vital role in the overall health and well-being of communities. However, traditional approaches to neighbourhood activation often overlook the critical role of informal community leaders鈥攊ndividuals who hold influence within their communities but may not hold formal positions of authority. These leaders are essential in fostering connections, driving community engagement, building social infrastructure and ensuring that neighbourhood initiatives resonate with the residents they aim to serve. Despite their importance, there is a gap in understanding how municipalities can effectively leverage these informal leaders to enhance neighbourhood activation, communication, and connection.
This project proposes a focused study on how municipalities can better engage and utilize informal community leaders to activate neighbourhoods. Drawing on best practices from examples like the City of Sudbury's Community Action Networks and the City of Kitchener's Love My Hood Strategy, the project will explore the roles these leaders play, the challenges they face, and the strategies that can be employed to support and amplify their efforts. It also aims to fill the existing gap in municipal strategies by providing insights and practical recommendations on leveraging informal community leaders for neighbourhood activation.
Project Objectives:
- To analyze the role of informal community leaders in neighbourhood activations across different municipalities.
- To identify challenges and opportunities in leveraging these leaders for effective community engagement and social development.
- To develop a set of recommendations for municipalities on how to better integrate informal leaders into neighbourhood planning and activation processes.
A comprehensive project description available here (pdf)
KFL&A Public Health
Project: Program Evaluation of Efforts to Prevent Invasive Meningococcal Disease in Kingston
Support KFL&A in a program evaluation of public health communications to prevent invasive meningococcal disease. The target population is post-secondary students living in residences at Queens, RMC, and St. Lawrence College. The PhD-Community Initiative team would help Public Health to develop a survey recruitment plan, implement recruitment, and analyze the survey responses, and provide a report.
Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO)
KEDCo is proposing two possible projects:
- Sister Cities Initiative: The purpose of sister cities is to support the development and maintenance of economic and cultural exchange between cities nationally and globally. Help KEDCo by investigating best practices in creating meaningful relationships between Kingston and its sister cities, such as Scottsdale, Arizona and others.
- Senior-preneurs: Senior-preneurs are those senior members of our community choosing to work beyond the traditional age of retirement in pursuit of their entrepreneurial goals and seeking to start a business. Help KEDCo investigate ways to encourage and support these individuals in realizing their entrepreneurial visions.
Community Foundation for Kingston and Area (CFKA)
Project: Kingston & Area Together: Strengthening Connections for Community Resilience
This project aims to address the critical challenges of systems navigation and siloed services in Kingston, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Through a comprehensive environmental scan, this project will identify service providers and community groups who are working on resilience across the lifespan. This consolidation of critical information into a comprehensive, accessible repository for community organizations and service providers will provide the essential foundation required for developing preventative and integrated resilience strategies within the community. Enhanced collaboration, streamlined systems navigation, and improved cross-sector communication will ultimately fortify community-wide resilience in Kingston.
A comprehensive project proposal is included in this PDF document.