March 29, 2018
For Immediate Release
Vancouver − CityStudio Vancouver announced today that its model for city-university collaboration has expanded to Brantford, Ontario with the launch of CityStudio Brantford.
A collaboration between the City of Brantford and Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford is the fifth Canadian city and seventh worldwide to join the growing network of CityStudios. Early-adopters include Victoria, BC; Corner Brook, NL; Waterloo, ON; Abbotsford, BC; Logan, Australia; and Bendigo, Australia.
“We have a vision for a national network of cities and their post-secondary schools working in deep collaboration to advance social and environmental action, equality and inclusion, innovation and education,” explains Duane Elverum, Director and Co-Founder of CityStudio Vancouver.
Using the model created by Vancouver co-founders Duane Elverum and Dr. Janet Moore, CityStudio Brantford will bring together City of Brantford staff and post-secondary students from Wilfrid Laurier University to co-create experimental projects that support municipal goals and strategies. This model for innovation helps advance sustainability, increase engagement and make cities more liveable while providing students with experiential learning and skills development opportunities.
“We created CityStudio to accelerate social and environmental sustainability in cities and higher education by providing students with direct opportunities to work with city staff on problems facing Vancouver,” comments Dr. Janet Moore, Co-Founder and SFU Professor of Professional Practice. “Our mission is to experiment and innovate with the ways cities are co-created, while teaching students employable skills through projects that improve neighbourhoods.”
CityStudio was first launched in Vancouver six years ago with the support of the City of Vancouver and Simon Fraser University as well as University of British Columbia, Langara College, British Columbia Institute of Technology and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
This May 22-25, CityStudio Vancouver is hosting its third Art of Cities conference to teach civic and academic leaders about the model and how to adapt it for their city. Interested cities can visit artofcities.com for more information.
