Building a More Relational Way of Life: A Life Update
“Our greatest challenges are not scientific or technological; they are deeper than that — they are spiritual and cultural.” — Sacred Civics
“…if we can design societies for keeping people apart, we can design them for bringing people together.” — Tessy Britton, Founder, Participatory City
When I look back at my most recent blog post (not that 20 months ago is all that recent — but more on that later!), I find it eerie how its words ring truer to me than ever before. Since then, the climate crisis has (literally) turned up the heat across the globe; war has ravaged the lives of millions, and each new wave or variant of COVID-19 makes it feel like we’re playing some giant, twisted game of Whac-A-Mole.
It all feels like a bit much, doesn’t it?
And yet, I cling on to hope. Because I maintain a belief — as the authors of Sacred Civics suggest above, social psychologist Mark Leary argues in his piece Most Problems are People Problems, and Weave: The Social Fabric Project declares in its Relationalist Manifesto — that the complex web of crises we face are in fact tied together by our abject neglect of a deeper level. That is, the level of our relationships — with each other, the planet, and all those who inhabit it.
So far, the material and/or economic implications of how we live our lives have made up our North Star. Does x invention, concept, or policy boost GDP? Does it allow us to have more things, faster and cheaper than ever before? Increasingly, as the climate crisis becomes too prevalent to ignore, we factor in the environmental implications of our operating system. Does x increase greenhouse gas emissions? Does it threaten biodiversity?
I believe we have sorely neglected — and are now experiencing the consequences of neglecting — the relational implications of our way of life. Whether it’s how we reside among each other, move from place to place, or produce and consume goods, did we stop and ask ourselves: How will this change how we relate to and interact with each other? In turn, how will it affect how we feel about and see each other in relation to ourselves — the extent to which we believe that we need each other, that my well-being is dependent on your’s and vice-versa, that we’re all in this together? As activist Naomi Klein notes in the context of the climate crisis,
“Today’s young organizers are setting out to change policy, but they understand that before that can happen, we have to confront the underlying values of rampant greed and individualism that created the economic crisis. And that begins with embodying, in highly visible ways, radically different ways of treating one another and relating to the natural world (emphasis added).”
This belief — that anonymous, distant, fast, impersonal, and cold relations (in other words, the byproduct of the status quo) are at odds with creating a brighter future — is why I’m excited to be joining Participatory Canada.
Adapted from the Participatory City approach that began in the UK, Participatory Canada brings people together to participate in practical, everyday projects that are useful for them, foster a sense of togetherness, and bridge divides between neighbours. While “people were naturally more used to working together on things…modern society has atomised that sharing culture,” explains Nat Defriend, CEO of Participatory City. Promising pilots were carried out in Montreal, Halifax, and Toronto during a year of social R&D from 2020–2021, and a next phase deep demonstration is now underway in Halifax, called Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk. Participatory Canada will provide a platform of support and learning architecture for further scaling in the coming years (see initial Roadmap here), with more detailed plans to scale taking shape in the coming months.
There are many reasons I’m looking forward to working with Co-Directors Jayne Engle and Tanya Chung-Tiam-Fook to scale and co-build the future of Participatory Canada, chief among them that much of the work that needs to be done in our world — creating a circular economy, advancing Truth and Reconciliation, and living healthier lives — demands the very principles of what Participatory Canada calls a “practical participatory ecosystem”: more sharing, co-creating, and connecting with the people around us in our daily lives. As suggested in the Y1 Social R&D report, “the Participatory City approach appears simple, and that’s the beauty of it.”
As I begin this new journey, I’m also excited to get back into sharing my reflections and creating content — stay tuned for more. :) If you’re interested in learning more about Participatory Canada, please feel free to reach out.
