Weaving in Practice
How do we weave in connections during these colder months? We know as the days get colder our bodies will crave more indoor times. As a community how do we continue to nurture the connections we made during the warm seasons and weave them into our everyday live? The Building Connected Communities team is here to share some activities that you can partake in during the cold season to ensure that we are able to maintain connections with our community.
How Do We Stay Engaged
Calgary is an outdoor-oriented city and during the colder season, the city stays alive through these and many more activities:
Winter Campfires: The City of Calgary has a fire pit rental opportunity that community members can rent to bring one another together.
Cross Country Skiing: This is an exhilarating way to get active and enjoy the beauty of Calgary's snow-covered landscapes. While cross-country skiing and snowshoeing can be done in almost any park, there are several dedicated cross-country skiing tracks available in Calgary. The City of Calgary’s cross-country ski and snowshoe areas are free to use.
A Community Connection Passport: As a community, you can partner with local community hot spots to bring this engagement activity to life. Community members can come together to design what the connection passport might look like and have their passport stamped at all the local hotspots for a discount or coupon to their favorite community spot. This is a creative approach to discovering all the cool spots in your community and getting to know some history and hidden gems in your community.
Repair and Exchange Workshops: The Arusha Centre is partnering with community organizations to bring this initiative to life. This activity involves volunteers coming together to offer repairs of broken household appliances such as bikes, household appliances, clothes etc. Want to sign your community up? Reach out to the Arusha Centre HERE.
Exchange or Swap Gatherings: Do you have some cool clothing, household items, sports equipment, winter gear etc.? Instead of a garage sale, why not a community exchange or swap day? This activity allows you to connect with community members and swap items that you rarely reach for in your home or closet to an item that you will use daily.
Online Potluck: This is a great way to engage people who may not be able to go outside due to the cold weather. You can send shelf sustainable ingredients and recipe lists to community members who are interested in online potlucks and are willing to bond online about food.
Door step delivery of craft supplies- Dollar Stores have great craft supplies and if you are looking for an affordable and cost effective activity to do this cold season, might I suggest a craft care package sent to your neighbour or community member with some fun facts about why you chose that particular craft activity. Looking for some inspos? Sunshine and Rainy Days blogpost has got you covered, read all about affordable care packages HERE.
Why is it important to stay engaged?
We are social beings and thus finding joy in connecting during the winter season despite the cold weather is important. Calgary is the sunniest city in Canada and we get to appreciate the sunny days and blue skies all year round, even in the cold season.
There may be people in our communities who need extra time when it comes to community engagement. A mix of both online and in-person activities, and different sizes of events/gatherings are helpful ways to meet people where they are at around the level of engagement they are interested in.
As the season turns and it gets colder. Newcomers who are yet to experience Calgary’s extreme weather may want to stay indoors as they may have challenges being outside. We can connect with them by sharing advice, tips/tricks for how to adjust to a new climate and stay warm. The City of Calgary has some great resources that you can share with newcomers.
Don’t know your neighbour? Send them a self-made season’s greetings card, to start the connection process. Looking for inspos? Check this video out here. You can also become a Snow Angel, where you help your neighbors clear their walkways, ensuring safety for everyone in your community.
Calgary gets a lot of sun during the colder season, take advantage of that and if you are looking for fun and free events during the cold season check out all these activities Here.
Connecting and engaging with the community in the winter months allows community connectors to unlock already existenting talents, gifts and skills that exist within the community. If you want to learn more about what that looks like, read more here and sign-up for our monthly Growing our Asset-Based Community Development practice as we discuss: “Engaged Communities Who are they and Where do we Find Them” this November.
If you want to be in celebration while sharing your gifts and skills with the community, then join us for our Growing our ABCD celebration this December by signing up HERE and tell us what gifts, skills or knowledge you will be sharing with us.