When first conceived, Dockside Green in Victoria, BC, Canada was a living example of a global paradigm shift in the way cities could be built. As an early adopter, the project achieved a lot of notice, winning awards and the title of one of the greenest communities in North America. However, innovation means taking risks and learning from being at the ‘cutting edge’ of the new. As a result, the development also experienced several challenges.
Dockside Green is entering a phase of re-engagement with the City of Victoria, residents and citizens in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
With a new team in place and a renewed commitment to the completion of the project, the developer has begun rethinking how the initial concepts and ideas can be realized in today’s context. At the same time they are looking to to honour and learn from the goodwill and hard work that many in the community have invested in the project. Dockside Green is looking at ways to reinvigorate the development and create a community that is not only healthy in built form, but vibrant, well-loved and enduring. The community has played an important role contributing to some great achievements at Dockside Green over the last decade.
Building on Innovation
The desire is to build on the original innovation of Dockside Green, while addressing a number of challenges to us moving forward. It is important to recognize that Dockside Green is not a blank slate. The fundamental values of the neighbourhood plan are—and will continue to be—grounded in social, environmental and economic sustainability. The goal is to ensure what happens on the site is relevant, vibrant and enduring for residents, neighbours, and all citizens of Victoria.
Community Engagement
To ensure this happens, Dockside Green is seeking community input and involvement to move the next phase of the development forward. Over the next several months, there will be a series of community briefings, workshops and feedback sessions. Each session will build on the last, will re-enforce project values and will seek input into what the Dockside Green neighbourhood can contribute —not only in what will be built, but in how a vital places that supports and energize the future of Victoria West and the City of Victoria. A full schedule of events is available on the Dockside Green website.
First Community Briefing and Workshop
On May 7th the first public meeting was held at the Da Vinci Centre. The goal for the session was to share the most up to date information on the project, its limitations and historic challenges, as well as provide opportunities for residents and interested citizens to ask questions and to participate in some preliminary short and longer term planning on the site. To learn more about the session, you can read a summary on the Dockside Green website.
Neighbourhood Design Workshop
The next community engagement opportunity will take place on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1 from 10am – 4pm at the Dockside Green site (376 Harbour Road). This session will offer an opportunity for interested members of the community to join forces with the architects and planners of Dockside Green to build on the existing plan. In this creative and interactive exercise, we will ask for your ideas in areas such as affordability, local economy, culture, recreation, retail and amenities like the Sustainability Centre. The Dockside Green team would like to invite residents, community leaders, city and government officials, and local organizations to attend the workshop, but all interested are welcome. The ideas and drawings generated at this session will be incorporated into the larger Dockside Green Neighbourhood Plan. 
Online Opportunities
To help broaden engagement with the community, Dockside Green has set up a topic page on PlaceSpeak, an online community consultation platform. On PlaceSpeak, you can view the current status of the Dockside community engagement process, comment on specifics, and even start your own conversation. 
Learn More
To learn more, please visit docksidegreen.com, the PlaceSpeak topic page, email info@docksidegreen.com, or call (250) 519-4246 for more information.
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