What does success look like? This was our guiding question for our first deep dive workshop with industry experts and folks from the non-profit housing sector.

Over an afternoon Shafraaz Kaba, our stellar facilitator, led our group through a series of exercises to answer the question, “what does success look like?”. There were a few themes that people identified as essential to success:

• coming up with realistic ideas,
• incorporating sustainability,
• being inclusive,
• knowing our end-user,
• designing with innovative financial models,
• and thinking about long-term policy implications.

We also spent time discussing what barriers we may face as we go through this journey, this included things such as:

• zoning bylaws,
• availability of land,
• funding,
• community perceptions/buy-in,
• and an equitable approach to involving people with lived experience. 

This workshop was an opportunity for us to learn from each other and build a shared vision of the design journey. Our upcoming workshops will divide the group into two teams: a new build team and a design team. These teams will explore how we can build affordably with a focus on sustainability, inclusiveness, and community. Ultimately, the prototypes will strive to reimagine new housing that can address the needs we have heard from people with lived experience and suitable to the Edmonton context.

Stay tuned for updates from our next workshop and blog posts from our participants!

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