4th Annual Toronto Park Summit

The 4th annual Toronto Park Summit took place on February 22nd at Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park.

 

Photo by Rebecca Alam (plus.google.com/105941323631461193175/about)

 

Toronto Park People's Park Summit is the premier event celebrating and sharing the successes and opportunities of Toronto’s 1600+ parks. This year’s theme, Reimagine Our Parks, explored creative ways volunteers and partners can transform parks into the heart of their communities. 400 of Toronto’s most passionate park advocates and champions came together at the 2014 Toronto Park Summit.

 

The keynote adress was given by Adrian Benepe. Adrian was New York City’s Parks Commissioner under Mayor Bloomberg from 2002 to 2012. He is currently a Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development for the Trust for Public Land, the world’s leading independent organization supporting the protection and enhancement of city parks. Adrian is one of the leading global experts on connecting the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in public-space development and management and his role with TPL is to provide advice on using partnerships to improve parks in cities across the US. As NYC’s Parks Commissioner, Adrian oversaw a renaissance in New York City’s parks system including adding 730 acres of parkland and overseeing such exciting new parks as the High Line, Battery Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

 

Reimaging the Role of Our Parks. We featured and explored opportunities to reimagine parks with four park groups.

 

Friends of Earl Bales Park - Partnerships for Parks (video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7PMtcMATzA)

 

Panorama Community Garden Group - Rexdale Foodie Fest

(video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHufEgSBtmA)

 

Friends of the York Beltline - Linear Parks & Active Transportation Corridors (video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAak22yOB8w)

 

Friends of The Guild Park & Gardens - Where Art Meets Nature (video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-jl_r7AevM)

 

The summit concluded with remarks from Richard Ubbens, acting director of Parks, Forestry & Recreation with the City of Toronto, followed by a social and tour of the new Regent Park, opening this summer.

 

Members of the Regent Park Food Partnership took attendees for a one-hour walking tour of the Regent Park community. Regent Park is undergoing a massive transformation, which is being looked at around the world as a model by which challenged urban neighbourhoods can be re-imagined and re-created as healthy, sustainable communities. See and hear about the new state-of-the-art neighbourhood amenities (including the six-acre park!) that are at the centre of this transformation and are sure to be a destination for the entire City!

 

Sponsors:

We'd like to thank the sponsors who made our 4th Annual Toronto Park Summit possible:

 

SUMMIT PRESENTING SPONSOR

TD Canada (www.tdcanadatrust.com/)

 

SUMMIT SUPPORTING SPONSOR

Mitchell Cohen & Janice Lewis

 

SUMMIT DONORS

Artscape (torontoartscape.org/)

Henry of Pelham Estates (henryofpelham.com/)

Mountain Equipment Co-op (mec.ca

Mill St. Brewery (millstreetbrewery.com/)

Montforte Dairy (www.monfortedairy.com/)

 

PARK PARTNERS

David Suzuki Foundation (www.davidsuzuki.org/)

Evergreen (www.evergreen.ca/)

Foodshare (www.foodshare.net/)

Jane's Walk (www.janeswalk.org/)

LEAF (yourleaf.org)

LiveGreen Toronto (www.toronto.ca/livegreen/index.htm)

Parks Canada - Rouge National Park (www.rougepark.com/about/parks_can.php)

City of Toronto (www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=830adada...)

Toronto Field Naturalists (www.torontofieldnaturalists.org/)

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (www.trca.on.ca/)

 

Photos by John Beebe (www.johnbeebe.ca) Rebecca Alam (plus.google.com/105941323631461193175/about)

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