Field Trip to “Eco-Dreaming Vancouver” at W2

The VTL Steering Committee made it out to the “Eco-Dreaming Vancouver” event at W2 last Friday, where Mark Lakeman of Portland’s City Repair,  spoke about the motivation and successes of his organization. As an “an organized group action that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live, ” City Repair’s work is focused on a goal to engage and inspire creative and ecologically oriented place-making in both public commons and private homes.

Our steering committee was incredibly inspired to learn about the projects, led by City Repair, that have been transforming Portland’s streets since the organization was established in 1996. As the VTL’s principle aim is to “empower and equip our community members with the tools and skills they need to repair, renovate and green their homes and community spaces,” our highest hope is that the tools we are going to make available very soon will be put to use in community projects such as the ones Mark shared with us.

To learn more about how these project are organized and put into action, our steering committee is planning a bigger field trip down to Portland from May 27 – June 5 for City Repair’s annual Village Building Convergence, where we’ll participate in community builds, cob construction workshops, and harvest ideas that we can bring back to our community in Vancouver. Can’t wait to make the trip! Stay tuned for more blog posts while we’re down there.

And thanks of course to Village Vancouver for co-hosting the event!