About Us

CityStudio is a proven model of experiential education and civic engagement that is developing tomorrow's leaders by opening up municipal government to the classroom. Started in Vancouver, the CityStudio model is now in 10 different municipalities across Canada and has officially launched in the Region of Durham.

CityStudio Durham is a collaboration between the Region of Durham, Durham Regional Police Service, Durham College, Ontario Tech University and Trent University Durham GTA. By furthering connections between municipal government, academic institutions, and local community, Durham's post-secondary students have real opportunities to apply their skills, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit to challenges facing our community to shape a better future for Durham.

Vision

Our vision is for a more liveable, joyful and sustainable Durham where students are deeply engaged in municipal government and their community.

Mission

Our mission is to innovate, co-create and experiment within municipal services, while teaching students the skills needed to succeed in today’s economy and inspire action in the community and government.

CityStudio Manifesto

CityStudio’s manifesto directs what we do, how we do it and why. It reminds us of what matters most about the CityStudio way.

We don’t employ a devil’s advocate at CityStudio. We say Yes more than No. We remain curious and stay open to others’ ideas.

We learn by doing. By following an idea. By experimenting with our hands. By taking risks. By trying, struggling and failing forward fast.

And in the end, we have done something that is real. We find ways to tackle global issues by putting a project on the ground in a local place.

We learn that good projects come from good relationships. That working together is the only way it can work. And that we can’t solve a complex problem without hearing from everyone affected by it.

We sit in a circle and speak from our hearts and our minds. We learn to listen. We learn to enjoy the long pause that emerges in a rich dialogue. We learn how to design. We find better problems to solve. We learn that aesthetics matter.

We work on a team and reflect on our process together. We believe that small projects can add up to big changes in our community, our municipality and in ourselves.

And if we do it right, we will be high fiving at the end.

We’ve been to the future and it ends well.

Trust the Process.

Theory of Change

CityStudio measures its impact using an evaluation and reporting framework with a theory of change that’s based on our manifesto, goals and desired outcomes.

1. Build trust-based relationships between students, municipal staff, faculty and community.
2. Launch experimental projects that advance specific municipal goals.
3. Inspire students to be more engaged citizens.
4. Shift culture inside Council Chambers and higher education.

Contribute to a global movement that makes our cities more creative and innovative.