What is Transportation Shift?
In conversations across Canada during the first phase of the Green Resilience Project, we heard repeatedly that transportation needs are not being equitably met, if they are met. The consequences of this can range from isolation, financial hardship, or significant loss of personal time, to the inability to remain living in a community or particular location. We also heard that transportation can be redesigned to be more affordable and accessible and produce fewer emissions. So, let’s talk about it.
Transportation Shift is a series of community conversations focused on how communities’ transportation needs are being met, what’s missing, what could be better, and how these needs interact with the transition to electric vehicles or electric mobility solutions, like e-bikes.
Transportation Shift is a project of the Green Resilience Project, managed by Energy Mix Productions. We are seeking partners (individuals or organisations) that would like to host a conversation focused on the future of transportation in your community. You can define ‘community’ by geography, or it could be a community of people connected by culture, health, economic status, livelihood, identity, faith, or other factors.
Some additional background context for this project is available here.
Who should host this conversation?
This project is focused primarily (but not exclusively) on Northern provinces and territories, Atlantic Canada, and the Prairie provinces, and is meant to engage with people in population groups that may experience transportation gaps or access issues, barriers to participation in the EV transition, or may be in a unique position to benefit from a transition to EV’s or micro-mobility solutions. Project partners hosting conversations do not need to have special knowledge of the transition to electric vehicles nor be enthusiastic about them.
The GRP’s approach to this project starts with the understanding that local people know their communities best, so a local community partner should design the project experience.
Ideally, a local conversation about transportation and equitable access to a climate solution, like EV’s, will support your ongoing work and will be useful for you. However, your existing work does not need to be in this specific issue area. As we learned in our initial Green Resilience Project conversations about climate change and income security, there are often connections between issues, even if they are not obvious at the beginning of the conversation. If you or your organisation have been working to strengthen your community, whether your focus is social justice, food security, healthcare, environmental protection, income security, or in other areas, we’d like to hear from you.
What kinds of support will the Green Resilience Project provide?
The GRP is offering project partners $3,000 in funding to offset the cost of hosting a conversation (this can include staff time, participant stipends, rentals, etc). Additional funds are available to cover specific logistical expenses. We have resources available to support up to 12 partners across Canada. We have materials available to help you host the session, including a customizable script, but the use of our materials is optional. If you or your organisation choose to participate in this project, our staff will work with you to help ensure you have the resources you need to design your conversation in the way that best suits your community’s needs.
You can customise the content as well as the format of your conversation. Your conversation could be an in-person or online meeting, a series of kitchen table conversations, part of a larger event, or incorporated into an existing event. If you have another format in mind, drop us a line!
What does Energy Mix Productions / Green Resilience get out of this?
We initiated this project because the initial phase of the Green Resilience Project shone a light on the shortfalls and inequitable realities of transportation, and the wide-ranging impacts that result for community members. And because we know that the people most likely to be harmed by climate change are often the least able to participate in climate solutions due to systemic barriers. With the transition to electric vehicles upon us and widely supported by government and industry, community members must have the opportunity to discuss their unique needs and how to ensure a path forward that is fair and equitable to all.
We have prepared a few questions to discuss with your community and we ask that you share what was heard with us (while keeping participants’ identities anonymous). We will compile what was heard in conversations across the country and share the results with community leaders, industry stakeholders, government, and policy-makers. Ideally, the discussion generated by your conversation will be useful and informative within your community and beyond. Our goal is to help move the dial on community-led climate solutions and policies that prioritize social justice.
Who should attend this conversation?
Anyone who relies on transportation to get from point A to point B, whether it’s personal vehicles, public transit, walking, biking, or other means, can actively participate in this conversation. Special knowledge of transportation or a personal interest in electric vehicles is not necessary. For many of us, household finances or logistical barriers put EV ownership, and/or personal vehicle ownership, out of reach. For others, existing public transportation doesn’t match our abilities, lifestyle, or daily schedule. Communities may have unique needs based on geographic location, cultural practices, livelihoods, or socio-economic status. These are the kinds of day-to-day-realities that will help create a dynamic conversation and shape the ideas and issues to be discussed.
What is the timeline for these conversations?
Conversations and reports back must be complete by January 30, 2024.
I am (or might be) interested in hosting a conversation. What’s the next step?
There is no formal application process. Get in touch with us so we can figure out together whether this is a good fit for us both. You can get started by sending a quick email to our Project Manager, Janet Patterfung (janet@greenresilience.ca). Briefly let her know:
Your name (and organisation, if applicable)
Why you may be interested in hosting a conversation
A brief description of who you’d like to invite to the conversation
