Pandemonium: Being Kind: How Much Sociability Matters

BEING KIND: HOW MUCH SOCIABILITY MATTERS
Date: Wednesday, October 21
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: via Zoom

When Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry implored British Columbians to “be kind” at the onset of the pandemic, the message seemed disconnected from the urgent matter of our health. As the pandemic has worn on, driving new wedges of inequality, exclusion and vulnerability in between many of us, and deepening pre-existing conditions of social isolation and loneliness, the wisdom of kindness has become apparent. Looking at the successes and failures of other cities in the face of the pandemic, too, we can see the impact of kindness and its absence as part of the equation. Does being kind represent a lasting lesson for how to improve our cities in the long-term, in multiple and diverse directions? This panel discussion addresses the social as well as physical qualities of our homes and intimate communities as a big part of the story of coming through a pandemic intact. We address the connections between social cohesion and public health and ask what it will take to insert principles and practices of kindness and sociability in urban policy, moving forward from the pandemic.  

Speakers:

Helen Pineo, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, University College London
Michelle Hoar, Director, Hey Neighbour Collective
Kate Mulligan, Director of Policy and Communications, Alliance for Healthy Communities, Ontario and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at University of Toronto
JoAn Wandolo and Anthonia Ogundele, Ethos Lab
Jennifer Johnstone, Executive Director, Central City Foundation 
Moderator: Meg Holden, Professor and Director, SFU Urban Studies