Is Slow Living the Answer?

Martin Langeveld stepped away from a 30-year career in the fast world of media about five years ago to what he describes as a rewarding and interesting experience working with a local farm and food group - what could be considered the slow lane.

What started as an in-house conversation about professional and public lectures attended by Andrea McKenzie has seeded the Creating Vibrant Communities Lecture Series presented by Urban Systems.

This past week I had the privilege of participating in the Neighbours: Policies and Programs unconference put on by the Tamarack Institute in Kitchener, Ontario. One of the key ideas that framed the gathering was the conviction that neighbours are absolutely critical in building great communities and cities. That might seem obvious enough but we often overlook what can sometimes seem like small interactions in the face of the larger abstractions of communities and cities. Amid the many sessions, workshops, and conversations, there are a handful of ideas that stood out for me.