Team C2 Solution & Progress

Vaishali Dave, Gurjaap Mangat, Harnoor Kaur Harnoor Kaur, Oreoluwa Adu

"Our team wants to make a meaningful impact on the Hamilton community and improve the quality of life for all. Our team is backed with a fully mechanical engineering background to rigorously suggest, test and innovate through our ideas and ambitions. The goal of our team is to become more open-minded while considering the perspectives of many Hamiltonians in all stages of life."

Hamilton, Ontario has many available greenspaces to the public that enjoyed by many annually, but may not be very accessible to its entire population due to mobility issues, mental health obstacles, age and physical conditions, and many other issues.

How can we change this so that more Hamiltonians are able to fully explore and appreciate its greenspaces? Leading to our How Might We Question...

How might we make greenspaces and conservation area properties more accessible for Hamiltonians?

We identified some major stakeholders involving the green parties in Hamilton, considering how broad our initial How Might We Question was.

City of Hamilton (Parks and Greenspaces)

People affected by Mental Illness

People/Person with disability (physical and mobility limitations)

HSR

General Public

How can we focus on the important issues that are relevant to our HMW Question? By using...

Before meeting with community members and focusing on solutions, our team went on a search for some information surrounding the issue, from facts about the community, to opinions from other people in the community, to our own experiences on greenspaces in Hamilton. Here's what we found.

Our experiences:

• getting to greenspaces can be very long if you are not immediately near one to begin with (e.g. needing to take a bus)
• going to the location (once there) can be inconvenient and tiring due to physical inaccessibility and challenging man-made structures

Opinions from online:

• green spaces such as the waterfront are not maintained as often as would be liked (e.g. leading the area to be covered in goose feces)
• - the water itself is not clean/clear
• - the community is divided between wanting more green spaces or more urban space

Facts and developments:

•  Hamilton continues to expand its urban boundary  and eat into surrounding unprotected and protected
• Green spaces (green spaces are diminishing
• The members of city council has remained relatively unchanged over the years, leading to little to few radical changes or different approaches to plans about greenspaces
• Inaccessibility affects lower income, youth population without means to reach the area
• Creating more greenspaces such as rebuilding at harbor front and turning parking lots into park spaces are already in motion

• What previous endeavors has the City of Hamilton already tried before to increase access to greenspaces; which ones were unsuccessful and why?
• The face of the city council in Hamilton has remained quite consistent over the past couple elections. Has the topic of greenspaces in Hamilton been introduced as a topic in the city council? Are there any plans in place for Hamilton to improve, alter, or even implement new greenspaces in the area? If yes, what areas is the city council trying to update the most? Do these plans include getting help from the community such that those resources are easily available for Hamiltonians?
• Hamilton is known to be the home of over 100 waterfalls. Yet, due to the lack of transportation and people not being aware of the greenspaces, people living in the nearby areas are least likely to go to the greenspaces in comparison to the number of tourists that visit the green spaces in Hamilton and the main cause of it is lack of interest and transportation available. Making transportation accessible for the Hamiltonians is possible by increasing the amount of public transportation that specifically takes tourists to the greenspace but would the government be looking forward to contributing to that initiative?
• I understand that a lot of the green spaces available in Hamilton are not in the rural area, is it that it is harder to maintain them here, there just isn’t space for it or is because when developing the city the need for it was just not factored in?
• Is it a good idea to focus on one specific group of people affected by this issue, and if so, who should we focus on and in what areas should we treat them with sensitivity and care (e.g. mental health, income, etc.)

Try to understand the needs of the people, (why aren’t they going to greenspaces ?)

• Language barriers 
• Income, can’t afford a car and the park is far away 
• Working conditions, some people cannot make time out of their busy schedules 
• Childhood conditions: not used to going to greenspaces 
• The type of transportation offered might not be convenient for some people
• Some people might not find the environment safe
• Healthy behaviors: is the park closer or are there other things closer and more accessible?
• Different types of people(wheelchairs)...
• Gender (outdoor sports aren’t for girls type of situation)
• Parks aren’t well maintained 
• Stay in touch with the community, and know what their concerns are

How to talk to the community members: 

• Start with the community members you’re most familiar with (Mechanical Engineering department ) by making a google form and asking them basic questions

What is the big problem?

• It is hard to get the message through 
• It is difficult to figure out how to spread awareness

Understanding the need to go to greenspaces in the first place?

• Ask people for advice and their opinions 
• It gives you a Reason to explore
• Get out and be a child 
• Get out of the seriousness

Considering the transportation available: 

• Bikes are available near the greenspace but how far are the bicycles?

Revised HMWQ: How might we help McMaster students be more aware of existing resources to access greenspaces?​

Next, the team created a list of possible ideas and solutions to answer the Revised HMWQ.

For the image below, the team first thought of different solutions to the question, and each bullet point below the solution is a means or specific solution to accomplish it. The means written in red font are the ones chosen by teammates to prototype.

Solution Type 1: social-media based attention to direct traffic to pre-existing resources like Apps or Websites (ex. Nature @ Mac)

• Make an app to promote greenspaces and how to get there
• Other methods like brochures
• Weekly Mac-Email add-on or new email chain detailing around places and where to go

Solution Type 2: make physical boards advertising

• Interactable kiosks around McMaster campus in the direction of landmarks/areas that are updated regularly. If kiosk is near a bus stop then it will give bus information to reach that location, or interact with websites like Nature @ Mac, Google Maps

Solution Type 3: Removing the language barrier in the greenspaces so that navigating in the greenspace is easier

• Create a program that gives devices to aid foreign students (potential language barriers) by giving audio instructions in their preferred language of what greenspaces to reach, how to get there, what to do
• Symbolic communication (specific coloured arrows, pictures in a certain style/colour) placed around campus or leading out of campus to guide to nearby locations

Solution Type 4: Hold events/attention during student-convenient times (ex. after tests, majority of classes)

• Hold events at select greenspace locations at these convenient times, with registration for events so that we are aware of numbers, interest

Below are some of the first prototypes our team created for what our solutions may end up looking like:

With 3 possible prototypes in mind, our team now goes forward to analyze each one with the Three Lenses of Innovation, concerning Viability, Desirability, and Feasibility.

After analysis, the team concluded that the Nature Kiosk will have the greatest and most effective reach to students, and the Mac-Eng Email Section will be the easiest to implement. Thus, the team will pursue these 2 ideas and refine them to pitch to Community Members.

The Kiosk will be high-reward but provide high-reward, while the Mac-Eng Email add-on will be very low risk, but potential give low-reward.

To make these ideas as effective as possible, we can improve them with...

To increase the range of inclusivity for a wider audience, some steps we could take are:

• Having audio playback options
• Having minimal clutter/text options on screen, emphasis on visuals and symbols to aid with language barriers
• Be free for anyone to use

The final event MacChangers holds is the MacChangers Showcase in April, a chance for all groups to show off their final solutions and propositions to community members. This is our presentation we delivered as our final deliverable.

This is all our work, from the beginning in October, to the end in April. Thank you for following our story! - Team C2