Animating Waterloo Region: A crowdsourcing project

What is this project about?

My name is Troy Glover from the University of Waterloo's Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and I thank you for your interest in the Animating Waterloo Region (AWR) crowdsourcing project! This project is an attempt to examine the breadth and scope of creative practices used in waterloo region by individuals, groups, and organisations to improve, animate and activate public spaces. We will also aim to understand in what ways these practices—are processed and implemented—envision a new community affect place meanings and alter everyday movements. The kinds of efforts we're trying to profile include, but are not limited to:

• permanent or temporary changes that make public spaces more attractive, more enjoyable, more engaging, or more social;
• deliberate strategies or designs that draw attention to perceived shortcomings in public spaces; or
• forms of programming that invigorate public spaces and draw people to them.

In short, we're interested in any quality of life improvements that make our community spaces more interesting, amusing, or pleasurable. Accordingly, we're looking for community members like you to map, upload pictures, describe, and comment on any and all such efforts with the intent to create a shared public resource others can access. By participating in this crowdsourcing project, you are helping us to document the variety of efforts used in our region.

What do you need to know before proceeding?

By uploading content to this site, please be aware the information collected will be used for research purposes by the Healthy Communities Research Network [https://uwaterloo.ca/hcrn] at the University of Waterloo. To participate in this research project, you may begin by clicking on the button below after reading this form. In doing so, you will be asked to complete a brief online form. Questions on the form focus on the site you have selected to map (e.g., the name of the site, the place type, description) and your demographic information (sex, age, ethnicity). You will also be invited to identify the location of the site on a map and upload a photograph.

Participation is completely voluntary, so you are welcome to decline any request for information and can withdraw your participation at any time by choosing not to submit the form. Should you choose to submit any information, your personal identity, unless you give us permission otherwise, will remain anonymous. There are no anticipated risks from participating in this project.

All posts will be reviewed by a site manager and may be removed if deemed inappropriate. Content resulting from your submission may be reported in subsequent research reports or publication of the study. By agreeing to upload content, you give the Healthy Communities Research Network permission to use the content with the provision there is no mention of your identity.

Participation will take approximately 10 minutes.

All uploaded content is publicly available. All public can access the content is permanently on the ArcGIS Online platform.

Images that contain personally identifying features will be blurred at the discretion of the research team.

If you wish to withdraw any submitted content, please notify us @ remove and we will arrange to delete it from the website.

Who should you contact if you have any questions or concerns?

Please be assured that all phases of this study have been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee. However, the final decision about participation is yours. If you have any comments or concerns resulting from your participation in this study, please feel free to contact Dr. Maureen Nummelin in the Office of Research Ethics at 1- 519-888-4567, Ext. 36005 or maureen.nummelin@uwaterloo.ca. You may also contact the Healthy Communities Research Network if you have any additional questions regarding the study at hcrn@uwaterloo.ca. Thank you for your interest in this project.

Consent to participate

With full knowledge of all foregoing, I agree, of my own free will, to participate in this study.

By indicating your consent, you are not waiving your legal rights or releasing the investigator(s) or involved institution(s) from their legal and professional responsibilities.