Advancing Resilience and Transformative Learning Through Storytelling: A New Drinking Water Narrative in Ontario

Ontario has the most ambitious, comprehensive, inclusive and well-funded source water protection program in Canada (Ecojustice 2011). But it also has some of the longest standing and most frequent drinking water issues, and a staggering and growing water-related infrastructure deficit (FCM, 2007). In the 2015 Water Attitudes Survey, RBC researchers identified a worrisome trend of indifference among Canadians with respect to clean drinking water. This session explores the potential of storytelling as a method of connecting people with water and water infrastructure, community learning, and resilience building.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Gaining knowledge about storytelling as a method of engaging communities in infrastructure-related problem solving.

• Gaining knowledge about public participation tools, such as the poll everywhere app. 

• Understanding the potential for storytelling in planning practice.