April 18, 2018

Community Planning Exchange
Our next Community Planning Exchange is less than a month away! This free workshop on May 12 will include presentations on the lifecycle of schools, middle housing, and parks and green spaces. Learn more and register here!
Beyond the Four Walls Conference: Shifting Attitudes
We are ten days away from our 8th Beyond the Four Walls community conference! Join us on Saturday, April 28 at the Winston Heights-Mountview Community Association for a day of Shifting Attitudes. Come prepared to shift your attitudes on community hubs, neighbourhood engagement, green spaces, community economic development and board governance. This event is not to be missed, so register today! Click here to register!

Alberta Narratives Project
Federation of Calgary Communities has partnered with the Alberta Narratives Project to begin a discussion on the future environment of Alberta. We are looking for 7 to 10 participants from our network to lend their voice to the provincial conversation. For more information, click here.

GST for Charities – Thursday, April 26
GST for Not-for-Profits – Thursday, May 3
Hall Rental Best Practices: What’s Working Fireside Chat – Wednesday, May 9
Community Planning Exchange – Saturday, May 12
Click here for more upcoming events
Neighbour Day is 2 Months Away!
Is your community association organizing and hosting a Neighbour Day event on Saturday, June 16? If so, let us know by emailing Rebecca! Our Engagement Team spends Neighbour Day attending community association events across the city, so make sure yours gets on our list! Neighbour Day is a wonderful opportunity for you to showcase your organization to your residents and engage with them in fun activities on a day that is promoted and celebrated city-wide. Looking for inspiration, ideas and resources? Visit the Neighbour Day website here.
REMAX Special Events Caravan
Did you know that REMAX offers non-profit organizations access to FREE activities for your summer events like bouncy castles, inflatable tents, tethered hot air balloon rides, and more? Click here to learn more and to fill out a request.
Invite Apathy is Boring out to your next event!
Did you know that only 25% of voters aged 18 to 30 voted in the 2015 provincial election? Well, Apathy is Boring is looking to change that. Their goal is to get more people aged 18 to 30 registered to the voters list as a way to encourage them to become more aware of the issues and go to polls come election time. Apathy is Boring goes out to youth groups and hosts booths where they talk about the provincial government and the importance of voting. So, if your organization has a youth group or events coming up please email Andrew, the volunteer coordinator, and have Apathy is Boring come to your community.
City of Calgary – Online Census
Did you know that the City of Calgary was conducting a 2018 Census Online from April 2 to April 19? Access codes were mailed out to residences by Canada Post or you can request an access code online. The information you provide is important to The City of Calgary to help make informed decisions regarding transportation, recreation and many other City services. If you are unable to complete your census online, don’t worry – census takers will go door-to-door beginning on April 20. Click here to complete your census online.
Shifting Attitudes: Me to We
Let’s learn how to include traditional Indigenous ways of decision making at board meetings that encourage active participation. Discover how you can shift your attitude on approaching consensus, board governance, and working together. To register for our Beyond the Four Walls Conference: Shifting Attitudes, click here.
Dementia Friendly Communities Update
The Brenda Stafford Foundation has an update on their Dementia Friendly Communities project, as well as upcoming event reminders and information. Click here to read on!

Here are a few highlights from our urban planning world this month – be sure to check our blog for a complete listing of recent events and updates.

  1. Backyard Suites Design Engagement: The City is looking for communities interested in providing comments on design guidelines for Backyard Suites. We’ve created a Doodle Poll for communities to tell us their availabilities to meet. To learn how to get involved, click here.
  2. Update on Cannabis Legalization – April 2018: Council has made new decisions on cannabis legalization relating to public consumption and land use restrictions. To learn more, click here.
  3. Notice posting survey: The City would like to stop advertising approved Development Permits in the newspaper and move primarily to advertising through online tools such as the Planning & Development Map. This change would not apply to change in land use or existing notice posting details. Help us gather data on your preferences for notification and what potential barriers you see with this change. To fill out the survey, click here.
  4. Infill Working Group Update: The Infill working group met for the first time since their introduction to one another and the group’s objective on March 1. To read our discussion items, click here.
  5. Faculty of Environmental Design Year End Show: Join EVDS at their 2018 Year End Show on April 21. This open house gallery will showcase the final studio projects and theses from the graduating Master’s Students from the Faculty of Environmental Design including Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Environmental Design Research. For more information, click here.
  6. Home Improvement Open House on Saturday May 12: This free event will allow homeowners undertaking renovations to increase their understanding about the requirements and advantages of permits, inspections and, if they are not doing the work themselves, hiring licensed contractors. To learn more, click here.

Love where you live: Host a block party
Summer is just around the corner, are you planning a block party? Do you want to organize a block party with your neighbours. Here are some handy tips on how to engage newcomers and be neighbourly.

  1. Around the block: Lets Walk (Walking Guide)
  2. Building Blocks for Engaging Newcomer Volunteers
  3. Engaging Ethno-Cultural Communities Toolkit
  4. My Neighbour Card

ActivateYYC is looking for your winter ideas! With our next deadline on July 3, we are looking to see winter and spring ideas implemented from July 2018 to March 2019 in your community. We are really sorry Ward 7, 8, 9, and 11, but your wards are sold out! While we will not discourage you from applying, we would love to see bring your ideas to the other communities in Calgary. Share the love and the knowledge and help us #ActivateYYC!

Need some ideas to go from passive to active? ActivateYYC will share some of our stories at our upcoming Beyond the Four Walls Conference:Shifting Attitudes on April 28. Don’t miss us!