Will the Missing Middle Squeeze Victoria’s Trees?
This article, written by Community Trees Matter Network co-founder Grace Golightly, was recently published in Focus and speaks to what’s at stake with Victoria’s urban trees and livability.... Read more
National Day of Truth and Reconciliation
September 30 is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Take time to: Follow Indigenous knowledge holders and groups, and uplift their voices🧡 Read (and watch) to learn about Canada’s colonial history and legacy🧡 Reflect on your relationship to... Read more
Greater Victoria Island All Candidates Meetings 2022
Municipal elections are fast approaching this October with advanced polls in early October and election day, Saturday, October 15th. Deciding who to vote for is a big decision that affects each individual and community. Creatively United has compiled this list of All... Read morePlanetary Health with Suzanne Simard
This event is coordinated by the Lafayette String Quartet and will be its final health forum before the Quartet formally disbands after 37 years. The forum on Our Planet and Our Health will involve three extremely qualified speakers Katila Lafferty, Canada’s first... Read moreGVAT 2022 Housing Assembly
The purpose of the Housing Assembly is to show mayoral candidates that there is big public support for a human rights approach to housing and get them to lead boldly in preserving and creating non-profit and affordable housing for all. To achieve that, we need lots... Read more
Community safety is about more than police
It is said that it takes a whole village to raise a child, not just the family and the school. Similarly, the most important message in the decades-old global Healthy Communities movement that I helped to create is that it takes efforts at all levels and across all sectors to create a healthier community.
Read moreSeeking Rental Space for Our Tibetan Bon Buddhist Centre in Comox Valley
“Heal yourself Heal the Planet. Finding Peace through the Sacred Tibetan Bon Buddhist Teachings.” Geshe Yongdong Losar
Read more
Community safety is a wicked problem with no simple solutions
While community safety is about more than crime and violence, it is nonetheless where people’s minds often go. They are greatly assisted in that by the attention paid to crime and violence by the media, often amplified by what we might call the “law and order” brigade, for whom the answer is more and better policing.
Read more
Sanctuary Recording Studio
A new family-owned recording studio has recently opened located on beautiful Salt Spring Island, BC. What started mid-pandemic in 2021 as a project between friends to create a beautiful, uplifting and relaxing recording space secluded in the woods has blossomed into... Read more
The October 15th Local Elections
2022 Local Government Elections – Climate Champions Registration Are you a climate champion who is running for council, school board or regional government? We are here to support you, and connect you with a climate group in your municipality. Use this form to... Read more
Local Climate Solutions Papers
On October 15th, candidates from all across BC will be elected to local councils, school districts, and regional districts. The urgency of the climate crisis is such that we need to elect a majority of climate champions on every council, in every regional district,... Read more
Community safety is about more than crime
One issue we are likely to see a focus on in the upcoming municipal elections is community safety, often focusing on crime and violence. But important though that is, community safety is about much more than that. I recall, as a consultant working on the Healthy Cities initiative with the World Health Organization in the 1980s and 1990s…
Read more
Don’t blame Victoria for other governments’ failures
There is a concept in health promotion called victim-blaming — blaming smokers for their habit, for example, when in reality they are the victims of a sophisticated marketing campaign. The same concept applies to the tendency by many to blame the City of Victoria for problems such as homelessness, mental health and addictions problems, park camping and crime and violence.
Read more
Vancouver Island Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage is a communal walk over four days from the Cowichan Valley to Metchosin to consider our place in the biosphere and connect with nature and spirituality. Details of the walk are here- Vancouver Island Anthropocene Pilgrimage. You are welcome to join the... Read more
Decline and collapse unpalatable, but not implausible
One of my professional roles throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s was that of a health futurist. Often that involved working with scenarios of plausible alternative futures. In addition to helping people understand the implications of past, current and future actions, these scenarios are useful in exploring their values…
Read more
The world is not ending, but humanity has a problem
Even the human species is probably not at risk, although we should remember that, over time, pretty much all species become extinct. But we are a highly adaptable and tough species, able to survive and indeed usually thrive in habitats as diverse as the Arctic, equatorial jungles, deserts and high altitudes.
Read more
Rebuttal: Urgent news for Victoria tree lovers – missing middle housing
I’m a bit concerned about the recent missing middle article posted on Creatively United. It frames the proposed missing middle policy as an attack on trees and there are several reasons this is factually untrue. The missing middle policy has a max 40% site... Read more
Sticker Challenges Helps Organizations Stick Out
This summer, Capital Bike makes exploring by bike more rewarding than ever. Now in its third year running, the Sticker Challenge has over 60 organizations participating. The guiding principal: the more places you visit by bike, the more prizes you can win. Capital... Read more
Cattle Point Needs Urgent Help!
Please find below a draft design for a system of boardwalks at Cattle Point prepared by well-known landscape architect Paul de Greef and commissioned by the Greater Victoria NatureHood. The design was donated to the District of Oak Bay as a contribution towards... Read more
Reflecting Together on the Past & Future of Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek
Please consider filling out this survey below (use a computer rather than a phone to be certain to save your answers). Aysha Emmerson is a brave young student at Harvard doing ambitious undergraduate research. Her invitation: Hello! My name is Aysha Emmerson. I am... Read more
Preserving Privacy
Should we be paying more attention to the cumulative loss of privacy resulting from widespread CCTV surveillance? Privacy is a civil liberties issue. Are we vigilant enough about surveillance-creep, and its threat to privacy rights?
Read moreA Small Media Victory + Ancient Forest Futures
I was just complaining yesterday that no media had taken up my press release regarding the mural. I had really hoped that the concept would be shared more widely in the mainstream press: “The characters are from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, says... Read more
Social-housing crisis stems from 1993 federal cuts
This week, I will begin to explore our “Five Big Ideas” in more detail, from the perspective of human wellbeing and its achievement within the Earth’s ecological boundaries. These ideas are intended to provide a balanced and holistic perspective and be implemented together. We want to create a city-region that…
Read more
Public health plays key role in urban planning
In November 2021, the City of Ottawa completed the process of revising its official plan. My attention was drawn to Ottawa’s plan through a recent news posting by the Canadian Public Health Association, which focused on the role of public health in the development of the new plan.
Read more
Let’s stop calling people ‘bums’ or ‘undesirables’
I have had it with letters to the editor that seem to be trying harder and harder to be nastier and nastier about people who are, for whatever reason, down on their luck and living on the street. Too often, recently, I have seen references to such people as “bums,” or worse, “undesirables.”
Read moreOne Planet Celebration Event
For those that missed the One Planet Celebration Event, please check out the recording! We profiled some of the amazing work that you are all doing, featured and awarded the winners of our One Planet Student Challenge, and heard congratulatory remarks from the... Read more
The Transformational Moment: Summer Solstice Dispatch
I wish to offer that two great societal forces seem to be cancelling each other out in terms of moving society forward during this critical moment. The first of these forces are those of hope and gratitude and promise for a better future; and the second those... Read more
Call for Mural Artists and Selection Committee for Saanich’s Mural Project
The 2022 Community Canvas Mural Project aims to add vibrancy to Saanich this summer with three mural opportunities in public parks. Find more information on the project website: 2022 Community Canvas Mural Project | District of Saanich Information on the Call to... Read more
The Scope of Hope
Question: Is there room for hope in the modern world? I’m a Delta, BC resident who writes poetry as a way to explore and understand myself and the wider world. My love of trees, the environment, poetry and the written word continue to inspire me.
Read moreWe are looking for the next Artist in Residence for the City of Victoria!
The Artist in Residence program gives a professional artist the opportunity to work collaboratively with the community, City staff, and the Art in Public Places Committee to identify and develop an art plan over a two-year term. The program is open to mid-career... Read moreVoices in Nature Event: June 1 – 18
Pacific Opera, in collaboration with Creatively United and the Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund, are presenting a series of free outdoor performances in a variety of Greater Victoria parks during the month of June. Experience nature and live... Read more
We’re All In This Together… Now What? – Season 4 Finale
We’re All in This Together… Now What?, the final webinar of Creatively United’s Climate and Artists fourth season, explores how we can collectively reduce our carbon footprint by 40% by 2030 and transformatively shift to healthier…
Read moreMy Heart is Hopelessly in Love with Everything
There comes a day in Spring, when there is dancing, in the hearts of everything…
Read more
Polarization: Enemy of Peace and Prosperity
How to deal with Freedom of Speech and Liars I am a dual citizen, born and raised in New England, the son of French Canadian grandparents and, since 1980, I am a Canadian citizen living on beautiful Vancouver Island. I love my dual heritage, warts and all. I am... Read moreThe Loss of the Middle Class – Interview with Thomas Homer-Dixon
Are we moving to a wholly elitist society, where the poverty line will expand out to absorb those who were considered the “middle class?”
Read more
MP National Day of Action to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies
MPs from across most of the political parties have come together to organize a National Day of Action to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies on Tuesday, May 3rd. For context, MP Laurel Collins introduced a study on fossil fuel subsidies at the Environment Committee and wants to... Read more
Stewardship Award
All of us can contribute to a healthy environment in our communities. CENiC—the Citizens’ Environment Network in Colwood—is celebrating the efforts of some of the community leaders who are showing the way. Colwood residents Abby and Roger St. Pierre were recently... Read moreTransformational Possibilities
Do you feel paralyzed when you can’t see a solution or a way forward with the seemingly endless bad news? Creatively United’s founder and webinar host, Frances Litman, is dedicated to showcasing and sharing positive solutions that offer transformational... Read more
Amplifying Youth Voices in the Fight Against Climate Change
The 10 year anniversary of Creatively United for the Planet’s first Earth Day event was celebrated with an incredible panel of youth voices that featured five young Canadian changemakers working in creative ways to help amplify youth voices…
Read more
Calling all Volunteers for the Esquimalt Farmers Market
We are seeking more volunteers, especially for our Monday markets at Gorge Park! Volunteering is a great way to get involved to help develop a more sustainable food system and help create a vibrant farmers market and community gathering space. We could always use... Read more
Celebrating 10 Years – A Look Back to 2012
Thank you to everyone who has lent their support, time, and talent to Creatively United over the years! It takes a village! Photos by: Matthew Davies, Mo Parker, Melawend Photography, Daniel Etiene, and Frances... Read more
Are our governments dangerous radicals or merely mad?
Right now, globally, we have experienced global warming of about 1.1 C, and we saw last summer here in B.C. what that can mean. Two recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paint a grim picture.
Read more
Speeding development of non-profit housing is good for health
Housing is fundamental to health. That should not be a surprise, especially in a country with Canada’s climate. The health impacts of being homeless or living in poor-quality housing are well understood, and must be obvious to anyone. But it is not just homelessness that is a concern — there is a much larger problem of affordability. Lack of affordable housing can markedly affect people’s physical, mental and social wellbeing.
Read moreWorth More Standing Anthology Launch Event
Join Christine Lowther, Tofino’s Poet Laureate for the launch of Worth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Trees Anthology. About this event The launch of Worth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Trees will open at 12:30 p.m. and the... Read moreHousing That Heals The Future – Creative Solutions for a New World
Housing That Heals the Future features nine inspiring interviews on a wide range of projects that are charting the future towards healthier, happier communities. This information rich webinar also includes the incredible new six-minute film, The Animal Forest Campaign... Read more
A progressive tax on all forms of wealth would reduce inequality
A few weeks ago, before Russia invaded Ukraine and began committing war crimes that have shocked the world (in a way that should have but, to our shame, did not shock the world when Russia did the same thing in Chechnya and Syria), I was writing about inequality and health in the context of creating a wellbeing society.
Read moreSeed the City Youth Program
Seed the City is a program for high school students where they can gain work experience in gardening and farming, earn credits towards graduation, and become part of the local food movement in their city. During this 8-week summer program, students build community and... Read more
CRD Parks Survey is Misleading
The CRD’s Regional Parks Strategic Planning process is underway and the need to ensure biodiversity is the primary objective in our parks can not be understated. The CRD’s current public survey (due April 4th) is open to interpretation and written in a... Read more