5 questions to… Chris Winter
Chris Winter is the Executive Director for the Conservation Council Ontario since the early 90s and is known for having canfuls of fresh ideas. Chris has just been nominated for a Green Toronto Award for his leadership role in the environmental movement, and we wanted to catch up with him to quiz him on his long-lasting involvement with Jane’s Walk. In 2006, as Jane Jacobs passed away, her friends and colleagues were meeting to find a fitting way to remember her. Chris suggested to organize free neighbourhood walks. The idea struck such a chord that they ran with it and created Jane’s Walk. We sat down with him for a chat about Jane's Walk, how it all began and why it has grown so far and wide.
What is your relation to Jane Jacobs and her ideas? Has she influenced your thinking and actions?
I met Jane once, and I remember that I was sweating! I had written a paper on Smart Growth, trying to assert what the principles behind it should be and challenging the Ontario Government’s version of it, and I wanted Jane to endorse it. I went to her house and sat in her beautifully spartan 60’s style living room. She read the paper, harrumphed and snorted in places, and at the end she looked at me and said: “Are you sure that you really know what you want? You’re playing a tough game with tough people. The danger is that they’ll say yes. And then you can’t fight them anymore.” And she signed it! We had a Jane Jacobs’ version of what Smart Growth should be.
She was a honest person who spoke from the heart, from the street, from the community of people. She was very people-centred in her approach to planning, and that speaks to me as a conserver, as someone who is trying to create liveable and efficient communities.
Did you ever imagine that the event would grow so fast, from 27 walks in 2007 to over 500 in 2011? What do you think of the worldwide enthusiasm for it - 15 countries took part last year?
It’s phenomenal! I am stunned by how a simple little idea took off, all thanks to the first-year organizers: Mary Rowe, Margie Zeidler, Alan Broadbent and Ann Peters, and then with Jane Farrow at the helm.
I still remember being afraid that nobody would turn up for the very first walk, then turning the corner to see 30 or 40 people crowded in a little parkette waiting for the walk to begin. That first year, we were all blown away by the hundreds of people who came out. The beauty of Jane’s Walk right from the beginning was that there were so many leaders. It was a real bubbling up of community leaders whose heart and soul were in the community, which is why it was so easy for them to lead a walk and share their passion. In retrospect, it’s not a surprise that it became a worldwide success, because those types of people are everywhere around the world, working in their communities.
On an individual and collective level, what do you think people can gain from taking part in Jane’s Walk?
One of the things I love about Jane’s Walk is that there’s no set agenda. It just says “come out and experience.” If there is an underlying agenda, it is to get people engaged, aware and active in their community, and to encourage them to become the next generation of leaders in community development. But it is done in a beautiful and subtle way, without any forcefully overt message - it’s leading by example.
You stated in your Green Toronto Award nomination that your goal is ”to continue to help Toronto live better with less.” Do you see walking and walkability in our neighbourhoods as part of this vision?
I see a very strong fit between my mission in life to promote conservation and Jane’s Walk. A walkable community is an efficient community; a liveable community is a conserver community. We want to create a world that is more efficient in its use of energy and oil, that addresses climate change, health care costs, economic viability, and all these things lead down to community. They lead to creating walkable, efficient, vibrant communities. And that’s going to be the future. No matter how we come at it, whether from an environmental, economic, health or social angle, the answer is inevitably that we need to create and foster complete communities. And to me that’s exactly what Jane’s Walk is doing. We can start thinking about it from many points of view - historical perspective, sexual equality, the green environment - it’s all about helping people foster complete communities.
What’s your dream Jane’s Walk? Either the one you’re planning right now, or the one you’d love someone else to lead!
My ideal Jane’s Walk has 50 stops along the way with everybody coming out and showing and giving something to the walkers! I would have every little cafe and restaurant handing out snacks and samples, and street performances along the way. I want it to be a celebration!
That might be what happens on my walk this year... but there’s another ideal walk that I wish we had done. When the G20 Summit was here in Toronto [in 2010], we had a barbed wire fence around the Convention Centre. There was power on the inside, and there was violence on the outside. We missed a golden opportunity. My ideal Jane’s Walk would have been a series of walks and street parties around the G20 to show the world community solutions to global issues. For anyone concerned about the global economy, the environment, the state of the world, I would have liked to been able to show them what we’re doing, and what we can do. Maybe next time...
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