Webinar - City Plan - Nanaimo ReImagined: A Blueprint for Community Engagement (2023 IAP2 Canada Core Values Awards Winners)

2023 IAP2 Canada Core Values Awards Winners 

Join us to learn more about the 2023 Core Values Awards winning projects. Congratulations to the teams working on these outstanding projects.

City Plan – Nanaimo ReImagined: An Engagement Journey

Visual Engagement Award

Nanaimo, BC

In 2020, the City of Nanaimo embarked on an ambitious journey to develop an integrated community vision that will guide how the City evolves over its next 25 years and beyond. In 2022, after two years of community conversations, intensive collaboration, and continuous improvement, City Plan – Nanaimo ReImagined emerged. ReImagine Nanaimo, the engagement process behind City Plan, was the largest community engagement program the City of Nanaimo has ever attempted. The engagement process started with a bold goal: develop an outreach approach that would cross the path of every person in the community.

While Lisa and Jana would love to say the two-year journey of ReImagine Nanaimo was smooth sailing, the reality is that any process like this one will encounter some rocky waters and twists and turns that necessitate experimentation and adaptation. Their endpoint wasn’t necessarily the place they thought they’d go initially – but it was where they needed to be.

In this webinar Lisa and Jana will share some of the defining moments in the process and what they learned along the way. Some of the questions they found themselves needing to answer included:

• What happens when your brand fails to connect with people?
• What do you do when a global pandemic hits two weeks before your launch?
• How do you stake a visible presence in an expansive city?
• How do you bring (and keep) everyone in the tent for an inter-disciplinary process?
• What do you do when a doughnut enters the mix?
• How do you adapt to different audiences with diverse needs?
• What tools can you use to gather meaningful feedback on a complex topic without overwhelming?

In the end, ReImagine Nanaimo connected with more residents than any process to date. Thousands of people worked together to create a collective vision for Nanaimo’s future. Join us to learn how. 

Watch their Video, Visit their Website 

Time Zones

• 01:00 pm - 02:15 pm Eastern
• 12:00 pm - 01:15 pm Central
• 11:00 pm - 12:15 pm Mountain
• 10:00 am - 11:15 pm Pacific

About the presenters:

Lisa Bhopalsingh works for the City of Powell River as a Chief Administrative Officer and was the Former City of Nanaimo, Director of Community Development. Lisa is a planning professional with 23 years of experience working with municipal, regional, First Nation, and Provincial levels of government in British Columbia. She led a cross-departmental team through the ReImagine Nanaimo process that led to the creation of City Plan and a corresponding Integrated Action Plan and Monitoring Strategy.

Jana Zelenski is LANARC's Principal. Jana is a project manager, engagement professional, and landscape architect with over 20 years of experience collaborating to support thriving, resilient, and forward-thinking communities. She led the consulting team collaborating with City staff in the ReImagine Nanaimo process and creation of City Plan.