Engagement
Our engagement work involves public presentations, exhibitions and events. We build awareness on current urban issues, convene discussion, and mobilize change.
Featured Engagement
FutureBUILDS: Excellence in Real Estate Development Panel
March 6, 2023
Infrastructure Institute along with Monumental held a fireside chat with BIPOC trailblazers in the real estate development sector. The panel included: Sherry Larjani, an experienced real estate developer and entrepreneur, Odeen Eccleston + Lamont Wiltshire, of The Wiltshire Group and Marcel Greaux, co-founder of co-founder of proptech startup, Ownablii
Black Led Community Space Panel
February 23, 2023
This conversation which featured Isaac Olowolafe Jr. of the Dream Legacy Foundation, Amina Mohamed of the Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation, and Alica Hall of Nia Centre for the Arts, moderated by Helen Ketema of the Infrastructure Institute discussed how to build culturally-relevant and multi-faceted community spaces that are led by, and serve Black communities.
+(plus)2.0 DesignTO Exhibition
January 21, 2023
In January 2023 the Infrastructure Institute held their exhibition, +(plus)2.0 as a part of Toronto’s DesignTO Festival. The opening night event which included a short panel discussion, good food and great company won the award for Best DesignTO Event. The interactive exhibition that used storytelling to develop conceptual models which captured the future of city building through creative mix-use design – questioning the ways in which we can live together.
Current Programs
+(plus) Exhibitions:
Drawing from ideas generated through the public’s participation in
+(plus) 1.0, our newest exhibition seeks to answer the question “What if ?”. +(plus) 2.0 explores the full breadth of possibilities for community-building that emerge from mixing improbable uses together; questions the current systems that maintain the ‘status quo’ in architecture/urban planning; and encourages us all to reimagine not only what our neighbourhoods look like, but ultimately who our cities are for.
Training Programs:
Infrastructure Institute offers free training programs to those looking to expand on their knowledge in real estate and use that knowledge to improve their existing property. Our SPRE Accelerator leverages the mixing of public, private, and non-profit spaces in the same building to generate value and create outcomes that none of the partners could realize on their own. Our FutureBUILDS incubator seeks to support mid-career Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), who are interested in launching entrepreneurial ventures in real estate development.