The Resilient Urban Systems & Habitat RUSH Initiative whatstherush.ca

Hub No Hub

Number of people in group:

500

Active participants in last year:

500

RUSH engages across sectors and generations. We have a team of about 8 part time youth and over 21 community partner organizations each with 100+ members

Group started:

2020

Paid roles?

Yes

Legal Structure:

Unconstituted (a group of individuals)

How active is your group?

Very Active

Live Projects:

• Community Growing
• Other food projects
• Nature
• Community hub or activities
• Art / creativity
• Community visioning / imagination work
• Building local networks
• Local economy or new economy projects
• Social Justice / Just Transition activities
• Youth or education projects
• Share, Repair or reuse
• Energy
• Transport
• Other

whatstherush.ca We are prototyping on southern vancouver island to create a scaleable open access platform to share.

The RUSH Initiative is a cross sectoral collaboration to create rapid resilience in record time by engaging people in creating the conditions for health now, and into the future.

Our approach combines nature-inspired design, community mapping and a focus on health with watersheds as a primary indicator.

By showcasing the research, creativity, and innovation happening in this region on an interactive landing page, we hope to provide a shared language on the vulnerabilities and opportunities for long-term health and climate action.

We want to change the critical questions that get asked in planning meetings such as:

• How is a development proposal an opportunity to increase resilience to climate-related events?
• How can we support neighbourhoods to adapt and thrive in changing conditions?
• If we extend and connect the ecosystem features across the urban landscape, what are all the benefits people would feel?
• How can we work with Nature to create a quality of life for all?

This is a tool for people to connect habitats, restore watersheds, feel a sense of belonging, and start conversations that help us reverse the trend of climate change, pollution and hopelessness.

Climate change is a real bummer but reversing the trend is at our fingertips and in our footprints. The Resilient Urban Systems & Habitat (RUSH) Initiative is about rapid resilience in record time.

Join this collective creation to mapping the difference we’re all making. Comparing datasets on personal and planetary health. Help us plot the spots that track the healing. Help identify the risks and the fixes.

The RUSH Initiative is exploring this work on the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples. Maps have a long history of erasure of Indigenous cultures and territories. Our goal is to promote tools that support the healing of ecosystems and communities so that all beings can live their best life.

Please use the feedback button to let us know what you think and any suggestions you have.