TeachingCity Oshawa releases Annual Snapshot highlighting local collaborative projects

The City of Oshawa and its education and research partners – Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University Durham GTA, and the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering – are pleased to announce that the TeachingCity Oshawa 2024/2025 Annual Snapshot, detailing accomplishments from the partnership’s eighth year, is now available online.

Notable applied research, experiential learning and curriculum-based projects featured in the Annual Snapshot include:

Students re-imagine our City

Durham College students from the Architectural Technology Program, with support from the City of Oshawa’s Planning Services branch, were challenged to reimagine several vacant properties across Oshawa as vibrant residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments.

The experience gave students the opportunity to step into the role of urban developers and learn how to analyze the many factors that impact how land is planned, used, and designed. They then brought their ideas to life through a 2D site plan, 3D models, digital renderings, and other creative visual tools. Topics that were discussed with Planning Services included affordable and student housing, sustainability, pedestrian experience, active and public transportation, and the long-term vision for Oshawa.

This practical experience provided valuable insight into the real-world challenges and considerations that shape successful land development projects in Ontario.

Neighbourhood approach to building community and identity downtown

Ontario Tech University’s Dr. Tyler Frederick recently completed a community development inspired study to identify popular community building frameworks in pursuit of supporting positive community-building and identity in downtown Oshawa.

The project reviewed eight popular community building frameworks, conducted 17 interviews with community leaders, did an analysis of Downtown Oshawa (DTO) social media, and conducted 136 word-on-the-street interviews.

The insights from the project led to the creation of the Neighborhood Identity approach – an integrative community building approach specifically tailored to Oshawa.

This framework defines Neighborhood Identity as a shared or collective connection to a neighborhood, which is impacted by four interconnected drivers of connection: identification, affinity, participation, and care. From this perspective, the project recommends several strategies to help build a stronger neighborhood identity with a particular focus on enhancing the visibility of existing communities and groups downtown, creating links between groups and communities, community storytelling, and investing in welcoming public spaces.  

Dungeons, Dragons, and Neurodiversity

John Smith, a student graduate from Trent University Durham GTA’s Department of Child and Youth Studies and Psychology has developed and piloted a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Club for Autistic Youth, expanding the program over two years at the Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex and Northview Recreation Centre.

This unique program provides Neurodiverse Youth with an opportunity to collaborate with their peers, socialize, and ’slay dragons’ to achieve collective goals. Opportunities such as these foster meaningful friendships for Neurodiverse Youth in the Oshawa community. The program provides an environment to build meaningful social relationships, in a neurodiversity affirming approach that provides a more organic opportunity for social engagement and places an emphasis on the youth having a voice and a sense of ownership.

Student placements

The City provided more than 71 work-integrated learning opportunities for TeachingCity students through placement, practicum or co-op opportunities. Students developed real-life applied skills while bringing new ideas and fresh perspectives to City departments to help support the achievement of City initiatives.  

About TeachingCity

TeachingCity brings together the City of Oshawa and its education and research partners – Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University Durham GTA and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

The partners address Oshawa’s urban issues through innovation, collaboration, applied research and shared experiential learning opportunities with the aim to position Oshawa as a local, national and global community of urban research and learning.

Learn more about TeachingCity at teachingcityoshawa.ca and follow #OshTeachingCity on Twitter and Instagram.