It’s been an interesting start to what seems will be another challenging year for all of us. However, it’s not without some good news stories that are underway or taking shape. It’s a refreshing change from last year when most of our projects were cancelled due to the pandemic. As good as this might sound we still have our heads in the sand when it comes to the way we are dealing with crime rates, and other challenges that are considered complex issues in our communities. Policing, mental health, addictions, homelessness and certainly our opioid crisis require our utmost attention! These challenges must remain a top priority and be addressed by all levels of government, and through active citizenship.
Writing about some of these subjects has been rewarding, and to reach an audience there is nothing more effective than tapping into news media and collaborating – sharing stories. The Times Colonist has been terrific, and has featured everything I’ve submitted, including my most recent opinion editorial titled “We need new ways to deal with rising crime rate.” A special thanks goes out to their editor Dave Obee for his support, as I’m certainly not a formal writer or journalist.
Recently, another media champion Kevin Midbo reached out and asked if I would be interested in doing an interview with him. He produces and presents a weekly community FM radio program via “People First Media” in Nanaimo, BC. The program is broadcast on CHLY 101.7 FM, and CFMH 107.3. It’s a long-standing project of the Vancouver Island Mental Health Society. It was actually the recent Times Colonist feature that prompted Kevin to contact me, and you can listen here. This provided us the opportunity to address some serious questions, and to talk a little bit about our new approach to community safety and well-being. This work fuses a number of best practices, including Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, Healthy Built Environment Toolkit, and Placemaking.
We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the linked article, and to listen into the interview. Later this month or in early May we’ll be posting our next guest blog feature by Carla V. Silva based in Ireland. Carla holds a PhD, and is an urban architect that will be addressing the relationship between architecture and crime – stay tuned or subscribe to our posts.
Stay safe, and healthy.
Steve
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