Workplace Workshop: Inclusive Engagement (WIA Vancouver)

In this workshop, Jennifer Fix poses the question: Who is design for?

Low attendance at public events by indigenous peoples, racialized people, and others is often interpreted as a sign of consent or apathy. As such, designs are developed, adopted, and implemented without the participation of many of the people who will be affected by them. We will explore ways in which designers can meaningfully engage more voices and, in the process, vastly improve plans and designs for city building.

Jennifer Fix is an Associate of Urban Planning and Design at DIALOG, an integrated urban design firm with studios in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and San Francisco. She works with communities of all shapes and sizes on plans for Main Streets, transit streets, waterfronts, neighbourhoods, and entire cities and regions. The common thread tying these projects together is inclusive public engagement, and evidence-based design strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create places for people.

Jennifer’s projects are diverse and have taken her from small town main streets in Western Canada to the National Capital Region in Ottawa-Gatineau. She feels privileged to be invited to work with people in shaping the future of their town and cities; she is constantly learning from these communities about how to question her preconceived notions about what constitutes a good plan, and what constitutes a good planning process.

Jennifer is passionate about the intersection of feminism and city-building and frequently presents on this topic. She recently served on the Canadian Institute of Planners’ Social Equity Committee, which was tasked with writing a gender equity policy. Jennifer has co-chaired and serves on the Steering Committee for the Province of BC’s Healthy Built Environment Alliance, which brings together professionals in the health and planning fields to research and educate on the links between well-being and urban environments.

Her projects have been honoured with planning excellence awards from the Canadian Institute of Planners, Planning Institute of BC, Union of BC Municipalities, and the Canadian Brownfield Network.

Schedule:

6:00 – 6:15: check-in

6:30 – 7:30: Workshop presentation

7:30 – 8:00: Social

Please be sure to arrive by 6:15 PM as we will give away any remaining reserved spots at that time. If the event is full at your time of registration you may join the wait-list.