Co-creating a Mutualistic City: A Collaborative Public Scholars Initiative Zine!

Zine cover (above) and entire zine designed and illustrated by Alana McPhearson

All living beings have the same basic needs: a safe home or refuge, food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe. Yet, dense cities like Vancouver have so far prioritized things like transportation and business over a healthy environment; predictability and convenience over the welfare many human and non-human residents. Thus far, urban growth has tended to pave over and uproot habitats, and opportunities to connect with non-human nature have become scarce.

What if things were different?

16 diverse environmental knowledge holders alongside PhD students, Jo Fitzgibbons, Dana Johnson and Daniel Forrest, and PI, Dr. Kai Chan aimed to ask and address this question through a full day workshop.

The process and results of this workshop were summarized in this short illustrated zine.

We would like to thank the environmental knowledge holders for their invaluable contributions: Aaron Aguirre, Deandra Atmojo, Leona Brown, Kathy Dunster, Danielle Dagenais, Sophia Fan, Fekre Yohannes Mulugeta, Grace Nombrado, Belva Stone, Douglas Swanston, Zaida Schneider, Christine Thuring, Nadia Xenakis and three others who wished to remain anonymous.