Living City Report Card

Using the proprietary Megamap© process and foresight methods we supported TRCA in prioritizing and visualizing its complex data for the updated Living City Report Card. We also synthesized all major components in an 8’ x 4’ Megamap©.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

  • Establish foresight-based criteria for prioritizing and selecting information for the Living City Report Card (LCRC)
  • Facilitating internal negotiations about priorities and messages among stakeholders
  • Identifying and profiling key target audiences for the LCRC communication
  • Facilitating articulation of cross-departmental strategic messages
  • Reviewing and processing selected data pre-visualization
  • Development of key visual concepts for LCRC
  • Deliver 15 one-page Infographics for the individual indicators of LCRC
  • Synthesize all Infographics in one Megamap©

FRAMING QUESTION

How might TRCA prioritize, select, and synthesize key information from the wealth of data they have to optimize the effectiveness of its updated LCRC?

A Joint team from TRCA and OCAD’s Resilience Design Lab implemented the Living City Report Card project. We introduced TRCA team members to concepts of strategic foresight and co-designed a workshop for TRCA key staff, in which a foresight exercise was used to form a common vision of the possible futures. This common vision was then used as a basis to resolve differences in prioritizing data.

We led our colleagues at TRCA through the Megamap© process that helped them to identify and profile the intended target audience of LCRC, and negotiate the 50+ different messages of the various departments to a group of less than 10 priority messages supported by all groups.

Building on this strong collective understanding and objectives we reviewed and screened data submitted to support the common messages, proposed visual concepts to span all visualizations and developed 15 one-page inforgraphics for the indicators presented in the LCRC.  

Finally we synthesized all indicator visualizations into one 8’ x 4’ Megamap©

Visit the Living City Report Card website for more information.

 

Creator: 
Living City Report Card Mega Map
Living City Report Card Agriculture
Living City Report Card Fish
Living City Report Card Flood Risk
Living City Report Card Green Buildings
Living City Report Card Greenspace
Living City Report Card Natural Cover
Living City Report Card Stormwater Management
Living City Report Card Urban Forest
Living City Report Card Terrestrial Biodiversity
Living City Report Card Water Quality
Megamap Unveiling for Living City Report Card
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - 12:30pm
http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2663/

AVERY KUA AND FLAP WIN COLOURS FOR CONSERVATION COMPETITION

Avery Kua's poster for the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP). The poster includes the text "buildings kill birds."
Posters up in the store
Patagonia store manager Andrea Reeks with OCAD U President Sara Diamond.

First-year design student Avery Kua, and the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) are the winners of the Patagonia poster competition, Colours for Conservation. FLAP receives a $1000 grant, and Kua takes home a new winter coat from Patagonia.

As part of the competition, 70 first-year students from OCAD U Design instructor Linda Montgomery’s Colours in Context course chose a community environmental organization to feature and created a colourful poster for it. After launching with an exhibition opening on December 5, the posters were on display at the Patagonia Toronto store on King Street West throughout the busy holiday shopping season. Exhibition attendees and customers voted on their favourite posters, and Kua’s poster was selected on December 31 as the people’s choice.

The poster competition was developed by Montgomery together with Andrea Reekes, store manager, and Blaine Van Bruggen, media relations, at Patagonia Toronto as a partnership project. Reekes and Van Bruggen got in touch with Montgomery after talking to contacts at Stop the Mega Quarry, who worked with Montgomery on a design competition last year. The Patagonia team wanted to draw attention to the local environmental causes it supports and suggested organizations the students could work with. Montgomery developed the Colours for Conservation concept, which other Patagonia stores are now talking about incorporating into their community environmental activities.

The overall goal of the competition was to inspire young designers and illustrators to use their talents to communicate urgent environmental issues. “The students have been fantastic,” says Reekes. “We got to go into their classes and talk to them about the organizations and they were so interested in community conservation and sustainability.”

Of course a significant part of the competition was applying the colour theory the students were learning into practice. “Ecological colour research played a key role in this project,” says Montgomery. “It was a natural extension of what the students were learning in class, and at the same time it was an excellent way to connect them to organizations in the community as ecological ambassadors.” Montgomery, who brings more than 20 years of experience as an illustrator to her role, also walked the students through the process of contacting an organization, learning about it and working on a design concept step-by-step.

In addition to FLAP, the student work represented a wide range of groups, including Friends of the Rouge Watershed, Not Far From the Tree, The Waterfront Regeneration Trust, Project Canoe, Fresh City Farms, and Lake Ontario Waterkeepers.

The posters will be on view again at the Green Living Show in April, as well as the Brickworks in May.

Unplugged Hour

Thursday, October 10, 2013 - 4:00pm

Health and Wellness

Please Join Health and Wellness on October 10th for Unplugged Hour from 12pm-1pm. Unplug from all electronics for one whole hour and come to the Great Hall!

This event is being celebrated in partnership with the University of Toronto (St. George Campus, UofT MIssisauga, UofT Scarborough), Ryerson University and York University.

Visit UnpluggedHour.com or join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/UnpluggedHour

 

www.unpluggedhour.com

 

Venue & Address: 
Great Hall 100 McCaul St. Toronto, Ontario