Supporting Local Businesses, Arts and Culture

Where do the MacChangers themes come from?

The MacChangers themes are based on four  "Our Future Hamilton"  themes. “Our Future Hamilton” is a 25-year vision created by the City of Hamilton in consultation with the Hamilton community. Approximately 55,000 Hamilton community members were consulted through focus groups, mail lists, vision cards, and pop-ups across the city to collaborate on this shared vision. “Our Future Hamilton” co-developed a  Public Engagement Charter  that outlines the City’s responsibility to involve and engage citizens to problem solve and plan for the future of Hamilton. 

What is the intended use for this guide?

This guide is meant to introduce you to community-informed challenges in a way that reflects the needs of the community as identified through interviews with various community members. The MacChangers Program greatly values lived experiences, hence, you may notice limited stats or references in this guide as many challenges are born from the lived experiences of community members. Furthermore, this guide is meant to provide you with context, inspiration, and a place to kick start your research. We suggest you bookmark this site and use it frequently to assess if your project aligns with the needs of the community, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the project's expectations, and the laws and regulations of the City of Hamilton.

At MacChangers, we strive to align ourselves with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). During the course of the program, you will be identifying and aligning your project with UN SDG targets. Watch the video below to better understand the UN SDGs and why they are important.

This years questions are outlined below! Each question contains a context paragraph, some media for inspiration, and links to jumpstart your research. As you follow the process for human centered design, your group will narrow and refine your chosen question. 

Among the most devastating consequences of the pandemic for Hamiltonians was the surge in unemployment that shook our already fragile job market. Although Hamilton’s unemployment rates prior to COVID-19 were below national levels, an increasing number of the available jobs were  “precarious, non-union, low wage and temporary.”  Then, from February to June of 2020, just under  50,000 Hamilton residents lost their jobs . The first wave of COVID-19 in March imposed hardship on everyone, but its severity was exacerbated for those who already faced disadvantages in obtaining secure employment.

Many employees are experiencing difficulties accessing work that can accommodate mental health or disability needs. Marginalized and vulnerable workers  “disproportionately suffered layoffs and loss of hours of work”  indicating a certain stigma within the workplace. As outlined in the  Just Recovery Hamilton 2021 Policy Paper , individuals with disabilities in Hamilton often struggle to find work due to discrimination or the simple fact that many work environments are not built with them in mind. Additionally, mental health and stigma remain a major concern in Hamilton, as it is considered the  top 3rd largest burden  on the city’s health.  41% of Canadians  report a decline in mental health since the pandemic began, yet  46% of the national population  also reports thinking that people use mental illness to excuse bad behaviour. Employees in Hamilton are in a tough situation, of needing to work and find a job- while those jobs do not accommodate their needs. 

Furthermore, employers of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hamilton (the majority) are also suffering after the pandemic -  struggling to retain staff  as 65% of them have seen reduced employment since 2020. The  Ryerson Diversity Institute’s 2021 report  recommends improving Equity, Diversity and Inclusion practices to address recruitment and retention issues, as access to more diverse job candidates may help connect business owners to a greater number of employees with the desired competencies and fresh perspectives. Many business owners simply do not have a complete understanding of accessibility and diversity accommodations, and even if they did, many would not have the capacity to implement them on their own.

Moreover, many places of employment have a narrative surrounding mental health and disability. While an individual may not be overtly discriminated against, they may hear a negative narrative surrounding those who require accommodations, making them not feel safe to address their own needs. While issues like inaccessibility and the mental health crisis are both broad and systemic, it is highly valuable to work on alleviating some of the more specific ways they affect our communities.

We challenge you to: 

1. Assist local SMEs in accommodating the needs of their staff and creating an inclusive work environment
2. Assist job candidates in accessing more secure and equitable employment that can accommodate their needs

Imagine: 

• Cynthia is the owner of a cafe who wants to build a strong team of staff who enjoy their jobs and feel supported. However, it has been hard to cover costs of the business over the pandemic, and even harder to retain staff. 
• Michael is a business owner who does not understand how to help his employees who have mentioned that they have depression. English is his second language and he does not understand why they sometimes cannot come into work.
• Lydia is an employee at a thrift store in Hamilton who has a chronic pain disorder. She feels uncomfortable speaking to her boss about it as she often hears people around the store referring negatively to those who call in sick.

Topics to inspire you!

•  Not Myself Today - CMHA’s Workplace Mental Health Program
•  The Working Mind Training Program 
•  Hamilton Community Health Network Informative Sessions 

Helpful links to start your research!

•  Now Hiring Hamilton: Workforce Development and Retention Strategies for SMEs 
•  The National Psychological Standard of Canada 

The Hamilton Harbour is one of the city’s most valuable natural features and bears a  rich history : for centuries, it was appreciated by First Nations communities for its abundance of wildlife before also attracting European settlers. It was also an ideal port for shipping, which supported Hamilton’s  booming steel industry  during the mid-19th century. However, this industrial development caused  significant environmental damage  over time and one century later, the area was widely considered  “unfit for human, animal or plant life.”  The Hamilton Harbour was eventually identified as an  Area of Concern in the Great Lakes , which then led to the creation of a  Remedial Action Plan (RAP)  to clean up Hamilton Harbour. While the Hamilton Harbour RAP is working to address environmental concerns in the Harbour, Hamilton’s waterfront remains affected by environmental stigma, with the public perceiving “a risk or threat to human or environmental health” from this area.

While there are some exciting redevelopment initiatives underway for Hamilton’s waterfront area such as Aeon Studio Group’s proposal for the  Bayfront Studio District  and  Pier 8’s upcoming Waterfront Shores  complex, destigmatizing the area remains a concern. Namely, research done by the  Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC)  has found that while Hamilton youth tend to express an interest in the Harbour and surrounding green spaces, they do not feel like they have much agency in decisions that affect the area and other public spaces.

Another component of the issue is the staggering  plastic pollution  in the Great Lakes. An estimated  10 million kgs  of plastic waste enters the system each year, and accounts for  80% of litter  found along the lakes’ shorelines. While this is a problem for the entire Great Lakes freshwater system,  seabins  installed at Hamilton Harbour West collect  2-3kg of plastic debris  in a 24-48hr time frame. Addressing this issue requires a two-pronged approach, as plastic must be removed while we also work to divert future waste from entering the system. The latter aspect demands collective effort from our community, which is why greater education on the harbour is so valuable: letting people know that it should not just be written off as a wasteland may be a key part of its sustainable restoration.

We challenge you to:

1. Consider how the input of Hamilton youth could be gathered and implemented to reflect the next generation’s vision and interest in local wildlife. How can youth contribute to the restoration of the Harbour both physically and via public perception?
2. Propose creative systems to divert or remove plastic waste from the Harbour in a way that contributes to Hamilton’s culture and environment.
3. Change the environmental stigma surrounding Hamilton’s Harbourfront to promote restoration.

Topics to inspire you!

•  Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea 
•  Narrative Street Art 
•  Ballot Bin: Creative Cigarette Butt Disposal Initiative 

Helpful links to start your research!

•  Urban Placemaking 
•  About Seabins 

Food is an absolute necessity, but access to sufficient amounts of nutritious foods is not a luxury that everyone can afford. Imagine if right in your neighbourhood, you could access freshly grown produce, and contribute to a community effort that aimed to tackle the problem of access to food. Urban farms try to do just that. Unfortunately, many Hamilton residents were struggling to achieve and maintain access to healthy foods even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that food insecurity  bears a strong relationship to income levels , the issue has only worsened as unemployment rates and the cost of living continue to rise. Moreover, food banks have been overwhelmed with demand, as increasing poverty rates among seniors and the closing of nutrition programs for children have  driven a surge in visits from both of these groups .

Additionally, farmland across Southern Ontario remains threatened by urban sprawl and residential development. The  2021 Census of Agriculture  showed that Ontario is losing farmland at a rate of  319 acres per day — an increase of over 180% since 2016. Although the Hamilton City Council recently  voted against expanding Hamilton’s urban boundary  in favour of  intensification  strategies to accommodate population growth, other nearby municipalities are at risk of losing  50,000 acres to car-dependent sprawl . After conversations with the Barton Village BIA’s Executive Director, we have also found there is a growing demand for accessible produce and green space within this area, as well as interest from initiatives like  541 Eatery & Exchange ,  Barton Lettuce  and  Depave Paradise  to facilitate this.

This suggests a need to rethink what types of land can and cannot be used for farming. While intensification efforts typically signify new residential development within urban areas, urban agriculture may offer an effective means to complement them.  Urban farming  is defined as “the cultivation, processing and distribution of agricultural products in urban and suburban settings, including things like vertical production, warehouse farms, community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic facilities, and other innovations.” Urban agriculture offers a  long list of benefits  to its communities from promoting positive mental health and greenspace to agricultural education, and making nutritious produce more accessible

Just as intensification prompts the consideration of how underutilized urban spaces might be used differently to house more people, we challenge you to explore how vacant spaces in Hamilton might be repurposed to implement more urban farming initiatives. The  McQuesten Urban Farm,  for instance, effectively uses 3+ acres of green space located on a former school property now used by non-profit organizaton  Niwas a Kendaaswin Teg . Keep in mind however, that large plots of land are not necessary for urban agriculture to be effective, and much more creative methods are possible! For example, the upcoming  expansion of Infarm’s Hamilton facility  will make it the company’s largest vertical farm in North America, where each 10-metre tall module will yield crops equivalent to 10,000 square metres of farmland. Additionally, community fridges like the one right here at McMaster also exist to make nutritious food more accessible, but often struggle to maintain constant supply— perhaps there is an opportunity for collaboration with urban farming initiatives. We encourage you to get creative in thinking about where and how else urban farming systems might be effective in contributing to Hamilton’s culture and food security.

Imagine

• You live in an apartment off of Barton Street East and enjoy the neighbourhood, but have difficulty accessing affordable, fresh produce and wish there was more greenspace. 
• You are a student at McMaster living off-campus, and find it challenging to maintain a balanced diet due to a busy schedule and a tight budget. You were excited to hear about the community fridge on campus, but it is not always stocked and you wish it supplied more produce items.  
• A business owner in the community wants to implement an urban garden in the plot behind his business, but has been told that it is too small to be worth the effort.

Topics to inspire you!

•  Bunchberry Connections: Urban Farm in Downtown Burlington 
•  Ultimate Guide to Urban Farming 
•  Barton VIllage: Depave Paradise 

Helpful links to start your research

•  Map of Underutilized space within Hamilton’s urban boundaries 
•  Street to Sky Guide for Urban Farmers 
•  “The Real Value of Urban Farming” 

What does the MacChangers journey look like?

The MacChangers program follows the Stanford process of Human-Centered Design. To properly implement human-centered design, you will use the "How Might We" questions as a jumping off point. Through your own research and in further consultation with the community members, your goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the problem in your HMWQ. Then, you will focus in on one aspect of the problem for which you could develop a tangible idea for a solution.

What does a completed MacChangers project look like?  

A final MacChangers project is a proposed solution discovered through the human-centered design process and is financially viable, well-researched, inclusive, and innovative. Past successful MacChangers projects have included the proposal for an app, a social media page, infrastructure proposals, policy recommendations, and businesses. In addition to the relationships and skills you’ve built, finishing the MacChangers program will look like creating a business plan, not launching a business; proposing a policy plan, not changing a policy; showcasing an app demo, not creating an app. The project is one that presents a well-thought-through idea that could be carried through by you or picked up by a community member. In some cases, students have been able to bring their idea to grants or mentorship programs to begin implementing their idea.   

What does “Innovative” mean?

Our definition of innovative means “new to the City of Hamilton,” or any idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by the Hamilton community. For example, p op-up parking patios  had been implemented by Nova Scotians long before the idea came to Hamilton. Basing a proposed solution on case studies from other places tends to produce more implementable ideas, as the constraints and successes of the proposal are better known. That said, the design thinking process allows for completely innovative ideas. If you do base things off of a case study, ask yourself to think about how to best adapt these ideas to Hamilton specifically. In other words, try to elevate these ideas to best suit the Hamilton community.

One question you want to ask yourself when solving a problem is, “Who has the authority to implement my idea?” As a MacChangers student, you are constrained to developing ideas that can either be implemented or approved by the municipal government. For example, one of the priorities identified by “Our Future Hamilton” is to reduce the average public-school class size. As education is overseen by the Provincial government in Ontario, this problem is considered outside of the City of Hamilton’s jurisdiction. Do some research to understand what authority the City of Hamilton has over the problem you are addressing to help you scope your ideas once you start solution finding. (Read more:  Government of Canada  &  Federal, Provincial and Municipal Responsibilities ) 

Some actions you may take to familiarize yourself with the scope of your problem include: 

1. Ask yourself: who has the authority to implement my idea?
2. Understand how by-laws work and how they can be introduced or affected or changed. Research what by-laws, Provincial laws, and Federal laws currently exist and how they may be impacting the problem. (For a well-organized resource, consider  this document  created in Saskatchewan. For a local resource, review the  City of Hamilton website .)