The Revitalization Agenda - Bill Humber

1. The Revitalization Agenda
Revitalization is the “sweet spot of sustainability”.
It restores the quality of built places, reconnects natural pathways,
and re-invigorates local economies. It is not a greening strategy
which despite its merit often simply slows the rate of environmental
decline. It is an economic growth strategy enhancing an area’s
fundamental character, by providing cleaner air and water, adding to
the stock of resilient eco system services, and re-building the quality
and functionality of the built heritage. It is a job creation strategy
based on permanent sustainability because it is embedded in local
realities, and provides investors with confidence by demonstrating
that a Municipality is going in the right direction.

2. • "However difficult it is to pull an economy
out of recession, that is nothing compared
to the impossibility of lowering sea levels,
preventing hurricanes and eliminating
huge deserts once irreversible climate
change has taken place"
The Daily Telegraph, 19-25 March 2009,
p. 23

14. Revitalization Institute (RI) at Seneca College
Global Secretariat for Revitalization Institute (RI) - an academic
network for aggregating the best restorative development practices,
providing lessons for the next generation of policy makers and
applied workers, and undertaking analytical appraisal of successes
and failures.
While based at Seneca College in Toronto, its network of post-
secondary institutions and non-academic partners is an alliance of
equals which contribute to and share collected expertise.
Storm Cunningham is a distinguished resident visiting professor at
Seneca and through his company Resolution Fund provides training
and direction for investment.

15. GTA restorative development
leadership

19. • 1. Build a Renewal Culture by instituting a local renewal engine in
participating GTA municipalities.
• 2. Provide education and training for policy makers and application workers.
• 3. Develop alternate visioning strategies incorporating EbD, Digital
storytelling, Urban branding, Psycho-geography
• 4. Institute a site characterization and investigation process to determine the
environmental site conditions and possibilities, financial requirements and
investment potential, and regulatory challenges.
• 5. Attend to a trusted advisor role as facilitator of public meetings,
communicating with property owners, and public officials.
• 6. Monitor re-development as a tool for engagement, project management,
project design and implementation consistent with revitalization.

20. King Campus of Seneca College as a 700
acre global centre for revitalization
• Applied research
• Technology application and transfer
• Education and training
• Jobs development
• Ideas generation

24. The Mayor’s Tower Renewal Project: an
ongoing lived experience of revitalization
unfolding

27. • Active student engagement from Seneca based programs and RI social media
network
• Recording (digitally, archiving, written) best restorative practices and lessons
• Restorative development awareness/publicity through integration with RI and
Resolution Fund
• Psycho-geography and related community engagement tools – Urban Pre-
Planning, Enquiry by Design (EbD), Digital Storytelling, Walkscore
• Urban agriculture training/implementation - planning, maintenance, ethnic
diversity, market
• Soil rebuilding techniques for contaminated, compacted and problematic soil
• Building energy analysis/monitoring - energy profile, renewable energy use
• RI network resources – best practices such as Elephant and Castle District in UK
• Structural concrete maintenance and cladding support from engineering
technology students and faculty
• Integration with system-wide applied college education and training programs
including green business/productivity, early childhood education and social work,
environmental landscape management, Environmental Site Remediation
• Resident engagement replicating SHSC work.

28. • International Unveiling of Revitalization at
Kingston University, London, United
Kingdom, 14-15 May 2009

30. C-SCAIPE's mission is to enrich the delivery of our professional
education at Kingston University by
• Embedding sustainability principles within our curricula
• Supporting project-based innovation within teaching and learning
practice on our accredited courses
• Enhancing connections with and between cross-discipline
professional practice and academia
• Expanding our sustainability research for the benefit of both the
market and our students' education.
• C-SCAIPE rewards excellence and enables staff to develop further
teaching expertise, increasing the effectiveness of student learning.
• A cross-disciplinary ethos and C-SCAIPE's ability to integrate staff
and students throughout the University is central to our vision.

31. • The River Restoration Centre (RRC) provides a focal point for the
exchange of information and expertise relating to river restoration
and enhancement in the UK. Its primary role is to disseminate
information on river restoration and enhancement projects and to
provide advice on site-specific technical issues through a network of
experienced river restoration practitioners.
• RRC is a non-profit making organisation. It is not a project design or
management consultancy but aims to offer impartial advice to
enable practitioners and clients, to gain maximum benefit from
current experiences in a variety of easily accessible ways.
• RRC runs themed workshops, training workshops and an annual
Network Conference. In addition it pubishes reports, a 'Manual of
River restoration Techniques' and a newsletter.

33. • Absolute solutions?
if only – these are ideas in progress towards answers – we are
engaging our students in a process of Socratic combativeness
“If the physical environment is the earth, the world of ideas corresponds
to the heavens. We sleep under the light of stars that have long
since ceased to exist, and we pattern our behaviour by ideas which
have no reality as soon as we cease to credit them.”
- Lewis Mumford
Advancing an idea, a practice, and a possibility – one not entwined in
the political/careerist motivations of our existential reality but in the
challenge!