Deadline: 21-Aug-20
Applications are now open for the Bentway’s Public Space Fellowship program 2020.
The Bentway’s Public Space Fellowship will help build capacity in the next generation of diverse leaders that will steward the future of public space, ensuring resiliency, inclusion and equitable access. Fellows will act across disciplines and engage in unique collaboration with urban space practitioners, creatives, and organizational partners to support new initiatives and ongoing research. They will also help inform The Bentway’s growth plans, commitments, and actions to deliver on its mission and core values.
Goals
Safe in Public Space aims to achieve the following goals:
- To broaden the definition of public safety to address new public health challenges as well as systemic inequities and ensure that there is a shared social contract governing public space access and use.
- To develop a safe space tool kit that captures key references and recommendations, guides public space audits, steers strategies and policy development for public space operators and programmers, and captures key considerations for future public space planners and designers.
- To develop and implement a community-informed safe space commitment and action for The Bentway site, organizational practices, and future under-Gardiner spaces.
Benefits
- Hands-on Experience
- The Public Space fellowship offers unique opportunities for direct engagement in public space and with public space practitioners through site work and over digital platforms. Fellows will benefit from exposure to the day-to-day realities of public space operations and programming. Please note that due to COVID-19 may change the nature of work on site and in the Bentway office leading to a greater reliance on digital communication and coordination.
- Cross-Sector Learning
- Fellows will have the opportunity to work closely with creative partners, peer organizations, community stakeholders and multiple City divisions during the duration of the fellowship. They will gain a firsthand look at how public and private entities and individuals actively work to shape the public realm.
- Capacity-Building
- Fellows will be invited to attend education and engagement opportunities aimed at sharing individual perspectives, building connections, and furthering collective knowledge of the unique health and safety and equity issues faced by a diversity of communities. These opportunities may take the form of round-table discussions, working groups, information sessions, and more.
- Professional Development
- The Public Space Fellowship will lead to new learnings and relationships that will help the fellow further their career objectives. The Bentway will assist fellows in their future endeavors by facilitating new connections, sharing information about professional opportunities and new developments in the field, as well as offering continued mentorship.
- Stipend: $3,000/month
In addition to the Call for Fellows, the Safe in Public Space initiative includes a series of commissioned creative projects promoting safety and equitable access to public space; an audit of the Bentway’s current practices, tools, and amenities; consultation with a core advisory group of organizational and professional partners; the development of a publicly accessible tool kit with key recommendations and best practices for public space operators, programmers, and designers; the development of a community-informed safe space action plan for the Bentway site and future under-Gardiner spaces.
The Bentway will select two (2) emerging professionals to work as part of The Bentway team on the Safe in Public Space initiative for a 3-month period, on a full-time basis. Priority will be given to BIPOC candidates and those representing other underrepresented/suppressed perspectives. Fellows will work collaboratively with staff, partners, and advisors to complete research and public-facing written pieces, creative explorations, support projects, consult with peer advisors, shape the initiative, offer interdisciplinary perspectives, etc.
Reporting directly to the Senior Manager of Programming and the Special Project Lead, tasks will include, but not be limited to the following:
- Evaluation of Metrics for Safety
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- Research and appraise common metrics for tracking of ‘safety’ in public space
- Explore and evaluate how safety is being defined through protocols/mandates
- Work with creative partners to extract key learnings from projects
- Propose and consider new metrics
- Public Health + Public Space Demographic Study
- Undertake archival research / historical record of the influence of public health on policy, planning and design
- Investigate social and economic impacts on public health and access
- Support the Bentway’s Site Audit
- Work with Bentway staff to document and explore current practices, tools, and amenities to evaluate perceived risks and existing barriers to the successful creation of a healthy, inclusive, and accessible environment
- Contributing to the Toolkit and other channels
- Synthesize research and community feedback as well as learnings from the audit and creative interventions
- Compose writing, articles, photo essays and/or public-facing research
Prospective Fellows should have a keen interest in public space (its use, development, programming, and guiding policies) and be able to infuse their own expertise and enthusiasm into the process. Based on their personal experience and perspective, applicants are invited to outline additional and/or alternate lines of inquiry that address stated the Safe in Public Space that they wish to explore during the fellowship.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must reside in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area and have demonstrated experience working in and around public space in areas such as: urban planning and design, architecture, landscape, governmental studies, public art, public health, public policy, anti-black racism, indigenous studies and anti-indigenous racism, unhoused communities, sustainability, and environmental studies.
- They recognize and appreciate a wide range of experiences and expertise, both traditional and applied. Applicants are not required to have professional degrees in the above mentioned categories. They encourage applications from individuals who are undertaking relevant community initiatives to engage in city-building processes of critical importance in maintaining or regaining the strength and resilience of cities.
- The Bentway is committed to fostering a positive and supportive creative environment that promotes equity and diversity and welcomes applications from persons with disabilities, Indigenous and racialized persons, women, and LGBTQ+ people. Priority will be given to BIPOC candidates, and other historically marginalized individuals, who have valuable professional and/or lived experience in inclusive placemaking.
For more information, visit https://www.thebentway.ca/public-space-fellowship-program-at-the-bentway/