Week
3 of
the
Pragma Council
Conference focuses
on "Future
Foundations:
The
Nature
of
Community".
The
global
pandemic
of
COVID-19
has
introduced
an
unparalleled
scope
and
depth
of
impact
to
our
communities,
arguably rocking
their
very
foundations.
Needed
lockdowns
closed
schools,
many
work
places
and
cornerstone
institutions,
crushed
economic
activity,
and
consequently
traffic
free
streets
and
nearly
empty
transit
systems
became
the
norm
across
the
world.
Early
speculations
about
the
role
of
urban
density
in
the
pandemic,
wrestling
with
the
surge
in
bicycle
sales,
an
apparent
return
of
nature,
and
cities
exploring
the
halting
of
transit
systems
are
a
few
examples
of
the
many
early
impacts.
Now
a
half
year
into
the
Canadian
experience,
there
are
deeper
questions
being
explored.
Prime
among
those
questions
is
the
likelihood
of
returning
to
“the
way
things
were”.
The
nature
of
“home”,
“work”
and
broadly
“community”
looks
and
feels
very
different
today.
Is
this
temporary
and
will
communities
chart
a
path
back
to
the
trends
of
activity
and
way
of
doing
things
pre-COVID?
Or,
as
many
have
offered:
“Today,
we
have
an
opportunity
to
reflect
and
reset
how
we
live,
interact
and
rebuild
our
cities" (António
Guterres,
Secretary-General
of
the
United
Nations
2020).
This
theme
of
the
"new
normal”
will
be
central
to
a
series
of
Pragma
Debates
this
Fall.
We
will
bring
together
experts
with
diverse
perspectives
and
discuss
the
nature
of
work,
home
and
community.
The third installment in our Pragma Fall Series "Future Foundations" builds on our previous explorations of the nature of work and home with a focus on "the nature of community". As before, the discussion will probe the question of a post-COVID-19 "new normal" facing our cities and their leadership. This session will be moderated by David McCleary, Senior Consultant with StrategyCorp, and will feature:
- Ed Holder, Mayor of London
- Cherise Burda, Executive Director, City Building Ryerson
- Enid Slack, Director of the Institute on Municipal Finance And Governance, University of Toronto
Please register for the event here.
See
you
Wednesday!