The Toronto Star
Special guests in R.V. Burgess Park: City Parks Alliance
Since 2008, the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee has strived to revitalize our community public green space – R.V. Burgess Park. With the efforts of the community, we’ve lobbied the City of Toronto to help improve our park. We’ve been extremely lucky to see a multitude of improvements to R.V. Burgess Park, including benches, a water fountain, and picnic tables; newly planted trees, flowers, and sod, paved paths, power outlets, and an additional storage shed; as well as updated playground equipment and a splash pad.
Thanks to the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee’s community revitalization projects, R.V. Burgess Park was the first Canadian park to be named a frontline park by City Parks Alliance – a recognition awarded to “standout examples of urban park excellence, innovation and stewardship.”
City Parks Alliance is “the only independent, nationwide membership organization solely dedicated to urban parks” – by bringing together community leaders, governments, funders, and park authorities, this collective works to “engage, educate and nurture a broad-based constituency to support the creation, revitalization and sustainability of parks and green spaces that contribute to dynamic cities.”
Excited to be hosting @CityParksAll in #rvburgesspark! Our revitalized greenspace is the first Canadian park with a "Frontline" designation!
— TP Women's Committee (@tpwomenscomm) July 23, 2016
This past July, the folks from City Parks Alliance paid a visit to Toronto on a sunny Saturday morning, during which the members of the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee led an in-depth tour of our community greenspace – R.V. Burgess Park – exploring its past and present, demonstrating naan baking with our famous tandoor oven, and sharing important, exciting ideas, as well as delicious food!
After this successful action-packed visit to our community, the folks at City Parks Alliance have extended an invitation to Sabina Ali – the chair of the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee to speak as a part of the plenary session at their upcoming international urban parks conference in Minneapolis next summer. The “Greater & Greener 2017” conference seeks to explore the “issues, challenges, and opportunities facing today’s urban parks.” As a featured speaker on the plenary panel, Sabina will be presenting the TPWC’s work in R.V. Burgess Park, discussing the positive impact that parks and green spaces can have on our urban communities.
Promoting environmental leadership – a peek into our Youth Stewardship Program
Our youth stewardship program took place over the course of two weeks during the summer season. A number of youth from the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood participated in the annual program which engages young community members in environmental stewardship and conservation projects through hands–on learning opportunities.
Over these two weeks, youth involved in the program had the opportunity to connect with nature through hiking, exploring, and cleaning up the Don Valley Park and ravine systems surrounding our neighbourhood. They also had the chance to visit an Ontarian farm to learn more about our local food systems and agriculture.
The youth stewardship program also allowed youth participants the opportunity to gain new skills through participation in a leadership program led by Toronto Public Health. During theses sessions, the young community members learned about working as a team, speaking in public and making presentations, styles of leadership, as well as advocacy, activism, and education.
Why Urban Gardening? Building Food Security, Friendship and Community
I love seeing this contrast between gardener Davina’s ceiling of cucumber plants and the high-rise infrastructure in the background. This varied landscape carries a long history of growing food in cities on Turtle Island and in modern Canada. At the community gardening sites managed by the Thorncliffe Women’s Committee, we offer a space to continue this tradition of urban agriculture and to cultivate relationships with the land and our neighbors. Our organization’s mission that seeks to create healthy and vibrant communities by providing opportunities for newcomers to Canada is integrated within a rich tradition of community development that centers food as a medium for connection and solidarity.
The ongoing stewardship and innovation of Indigenous societies; the diverse contributions of Black communities; generations of settler migration, many of whom arrived as farmers and gardeners; and the ongoing migration of new Canadians from all corners of the globe, have introduced new ways of sharing food that are invited to grow at our garden projects. For many of our gardeners that have arrived in Canada from different areas of the world, our projects offer a space to nurture ancestral relationships with their home countries by growing staple foods, and to build a sense of home through the inclusive social network that is at the heart of our grassroots efforts. This 2020 season, our participants include families from the Philippines, Pakistan, and Syria who have worked to create a productive garden filled with vegetable varieties from different parts of the world. Bitter melons, a key ingredient in many dishes in the Philippines that has become prohibitively expensive in Toronto’s grocery stores, is grown for a low cost by our gardeners. This exercise allows gardeners to meet new friends and share their heritage with others. Our gardeners describe this space as a site of “therapy,” providing both relaxation and energy through garden labor.
Operating at the grassroots level, our gardens are sustained by the ongoing dedication of our gardeners, volunteers, staff, and all Thorncliffe residents who provide their support. We practice urban gardening to connect and engage; to collectively survive and thrive in our city spaces. Urban gardens breathe new life into seemingly forgotten spaces. Through our creative practice, collaboration, and hard work, we transform unused areas into “people spaces”. Observing the green canopy of Davina’s garden in the foreground of high-rise infrastructure allows us to imagine new ways of making our living spaces into “home