Jane’s Walk turns five this year – and we’re strolling into more cities and neighbourhoods than ever before. Here’s what the Jane’s Walk numbers are as of last week:

35 cities in Canada / 362 walks in Canada

Worldwide: 68 cities / 449 walks / a 30% increase over last year

New Jane’s Walk partnerships this year include Thunder Bay, Whitehorse, St. John’s, Red Deer, Oakville and Surrey – and Jane’s Walk continues to expand and deepen in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver (Yay!) and Regina. Check out the complete list of participating cities on our website.

This year Vancouver’s walks include: ( Full details can be found here: http://janeswalk.net/cities/list/category/vancouver )

• “Awesome Alleyways” with Snehjot Bumrah + Aaron Fossett
• “Central Business District” with Sean Ruthen
• “Discover UTown@UBC” with UBC Campus and Community Planning
• “Grow: Exploring Sustainability in South East False Creek” with Duane Elverum and Holly Schmidt
• “Habitat Forum 35th Anniversary Walk” with Lindsay Brown
• “Simon Fraser University Burnaby Campus Architectural Exploration” with Obi Vattanawong
• “Sonik Youth Soundwalk as part of newmusic.org with Kristen Roos
• West End Village – Life in a Postcard” with Liz Carney and West End Neighbours

Get Out and Walk on May 7 and 8!

Here’s a few helpful tips for Jane’s Walkers:

• Wear sensible shoes – something cushy and supportive. But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fashion. After all, Nancy Sinatra recommends boots made for walking.
• Dress for the weather – all walks go rain or shine. It’s easy to stay warm and dry if you layer up and bring an umbrella if it looks like rain.
• Plan your Jane’s Walk itinerary ahead of time. Confirm the dates and times your tours are offered on the website or download the new Jane’s Walk iPhone app.
• Ask questions – offer insights. Jane’s Walk works best when the tour has a friendly, conversational feel. Introduce yourself to fellow walkers, volunteers and guides. Be curious.
• Consider attending walks in neighbourhoods you already know and even live or work in, to deepen your appreciation and networks in the area.
• Cultivate your curiosity – venture farther afield and find out what is wonderful about neighbourhoods you’ve only heard about in the media or didn’t even know existed. Be adventurous.
• Take lots of pictures, savour the sites and sounds. Stop in at a café, pub or restaurant and linger. Develop your own impression of an area and share it with others.
• Get in close – in order to hear the tour guides stand close to the speakers. Remember to leave enough room on the sidewalk for people to pass by and make sure to cross at the corners.
• Share your thoughts and feedback with us on our website, on Twitter and on Facebook and consider supporting this work with a tax-deductible charitable donation.
• Thank the hosts and volunteers for giving their time to this thrilling insider’s guide to local communities.

Full details can be found here: http://janeswalk.net/cities/list/category/vancouver

Jane’s Walk is the street-level celebration of Jane Jacobs’ legacy that combines the simple act of walking with personal observations, urban history and local lore as a way of knitting people together into strong and resourceful communities.

Jane’s Walks very widely. One tour might focus on history and architecture, and another might be about tracking down the best local samosas and park benches – but they all boil down to being a conversation about between people who like talking to their neighbours and learning about cities. Jane’s Walks have been led by urban planners, guerrilla garderns, youth, professors, newcomers, social historians, cyclists, homeless rights acitvists, and former mayors. Jane’s Walk can happen anywhere. In 2010, there were 424 walks held in 68 cities in nine countries. Feel free to invent, create and draw outside the lines.

Lead a walk, or go on a walk: We hope you’ll join us in re-discovering Vancouver’s vibrant and fascinating neighbourhoods. Visit us today – http://janeswalk.net/cities/landing/category/vancouver/

Local Inquiry: janeswalk@afh-vancouver.org

General Inquiry: info@janeswalk.net

For those not used to working in disasters the first week is chaotic, filled with stories of heroism and despair. The first responders are not the charities but the families of those who are injured or missing. For those caught in this tragic situation, this is an overwhelming situation to be in.

It is also not the time for architects or urban planners to show up thinking they can start rebuilding. People are trying to find their loved ones and grieve not think about what their community will look like in 5, 10 or 15 years. For those of us who are part of the reconstruction effort, we need to think about immediate needs for shelter while planning for the next three to five years of rebuilding.

Architecture for Humanity makes it a policy that we do not go anywhere without being asked. Within hours of the disaster we were approached by a number of Japanese groups, including our local chapters in Kyoto and Osaka, for our support and services. We stay focused to our mission of reconstruction but in the first few weeks, when architects are not necessary, we respond to the needs on the ground.

A coalition of individuals are trying to help update foreign nationals in Japan with the latest information regarding unfolding events. This is also being done via twitter the hashtag #honyaquake

We are looking at implementing a 10 phase approach.

Next Six Weeks
1. Support the #honyaquake movement with global translators
2. Distribute lessons learned [underway]
3. Engage Our Network of Building Professionals [underway]
4. Pre-Planning Assessments and Damage Analysis

Six Weeks to Nine Months
5. Identify Key projects and begin design and development process
6. Sorting Out Land Tenure and Building Ownership
7. Produce and File Construction Documents

Nine Months Onwards
8. Bid and Tender Process
9. Construction
10. Post Occupancy Analysis

Focus and Team
Our focus will be to support the building of the following;
Transitional Shelters, Health Clinics, Community Structures, Schools, Hospitals and Civic Structures

To implement our long term plan we are partnering with our Kyoto and Osaka chapters as well as a number of Japanese architects in our global network. If we need to we will broaden our reach to our entire network. Thanks to long term supporters and individual donations we now have the resources to start this process.

However an organization should only work within a scope that fits the scale of the response. In Haiti we raised close to $2M and are undertaking a 3 year construction plan building many schools, in partnership with studentsrebuild.org. However in Chile we raised around $50,000 and focused resources on building a small youth center in Talca. Let us not forget Christchurch.

For Japan if we raise between $50,000 – $200,000 we will provide pro bono design services and construction management. If we raise more than $200,000, our organization will provide a suite of design and construction services as well as construction financing for small ‘urban acupuncture’ centers.

Thank you.

Related program: 2011 Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami

A massive 8.9 quake has struck off the coast of Japan. The effects could be felt as far away as Beijing and a tsunami with 33ft waves has devastated the Japanese coastline. 4M people are without power and over 1000 people are feared dead.

The chapter members from Osaka and Kyoto are keeping us updated on this current disaster. Please follow us on twitter at @archforhumanity or Osaka chapter organizer Kana Kondo at @koncham

Our thoughts are with those in the region right now and we will announce on Monday what action we will be taking.

A DIRECT APPEAL FROM ALEXANDRA LEE, DIRECTOR OF ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY – AUCKLAND AND CAMERON SINCLAIR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY

Architecture for Humanity is working with the Auckland, New Zealand chapter to help fund raise to Build Back Christchurch. Today a violent earthquake has struck Christchurch, New Zealand and a state of emergency has been declared in the city. Massive property damage and a rising death toll is ongoing; latest news at NZ Herald or find us on Facebook – Christchurch Earthquake Relief.

Here is how you can help.

If you are in New Zealand please donate here, If you are in the United States then donate here

Your donations will be used by Architecture for Humanity Auckland in the steps following immediate work on rescue of people caught in the quake, on rebuilding areas of Christchurch worst affected by the disaster. The team working with communities on the ground in Christchurch and will continue our support for the residents of the city.

Thank you for your support. Our hearts and thoughts are with the residents of Christchurch, and in particular families that lost a loved one in this disaster.

Alexandra Lee and Cameron Sinclair

Re-Fab is a partnership between Canada Place and Vancouver Architecture For Humanity Society (AFH Vancouver) to repurpose the fabric from the old Canada Place sails for new uses. For more information with regards to this initiative and its latest development, please sign up for our email list here.

Living Future, the Unconference for deep green building professionals, is the Cascadia Green Building Council’s annual event to inspire and inform the green building community to implement sustainable practices and identify solutions to the problems facing the built environment. The fifth annual event returns to Vancouver to provide a forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting issues of our time. It will feature discussions led by green building influentials and visionaries, an elite tradeshow showcasing companies and products meeting Living Building Challenge standards, creative networking sessions, and tours of the continent’s greenest buildings and community projects. Featured speakers include Majora Carter, president of the Majora Carter Group and founder of South Bronx Greenway; Sarah Harmer, Canadian singer/songwriter and co-founder of Protecting Escarpment Rural Land; Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council and the International Living Building Institute; and Margaret J. Wheatley, author, organizational expert and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute. Out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking formats provide innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information, and the hope and inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly living future. It takes place April 27-29, 2011 at the Sheraton Wall Centre, 1088 Burrard Street. Pricing ranges from $300 to $750, and discounted rates available for Cascadia members and students, For more information and to register, go to http://cascadiagbc.org/living-future/11.

While recent developments in Haiti have made working conditions less than nominal, our team is cautiously determined to meet our 2010 milestones before winter break. Over the past weeks, cholera has not abated and the international reaction to presidential election results has been less than orderly. Twice in the past month the Architecture for Humanity house enacted 4-day lockdowns to weather inclement protests. Still, with the start of winter break less than a week away, our staff and volunteers are doing a final push to finish construction document sets to pass to contractors at the start of 2011. The Rebuilding Center winter break begins this Saturday, December 18. The office intends to reopen January 5. Architecture for Humanity will release ground condition updates throughout the recess. 

Headlines
Team finishing CD’s despite demonstrations
(source: Architecture for Humanity) 
Haiti team wraps 2010–three CD sets, completed site surveys and Pele demolition prep
(source: Students Rebuild Field Notes) 
Haiti team researches and develops an inventive waste composting system for Pele
(source: Students Rebuild Field Notes) 
Youth Rock the Rebuild amps up reconstruction funding…with a little help from our friends
(source: Architecture for Humanity) 
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund announces $800,000 grant to support Rebuilding Center
(source: Architecture for Humanity) 

BAR Architects firm commitment for innovative design fellowship
The San Francisco-based BAR Architects had been for several months following our work in Haiti before they decided to take a plunge. Receiving interest from nearly a dozen seasoned employees, BAR approached us with the idea of volunteering in Haiti for six months…collectively. Presently the group is being paired with a school project for design and construction oversight during their half-year tenure. BAR found means to donate their professional services by pooling outstanding PTO from the entire office–quite an inventive way of getting compassionate professionals on the ground! 

2011 sees reopening of Haiti School Initiative grant
Round two applications for school reconstruction through the Haiti Schools Initiative will be reviewed throughout January 2011. We hope to have the final schools selected by the end of January so we can launch into design as Round 1 schools enter construction. More information–including official announcement of grant reopening–to come following the New Year. 

Student Rebuild team captains
Over recent weeks the youth philanthropy program has been coordinating with representatives of the student teams to connect, catch up on effort and advise on the upcoming second year of the program. If you know middle or high school students who want to get involved with Haiti reconstruction, have them check out this incredible program. Student teams will be featured on the Field Notes as a recurring series. Queries and team captain selections can be sent to studentsrebuild@architectureforhumanity.org. 

Last call for Haiti senior staff applications
If you or someone you know has been meaning to send in an application to work with our team and got mixed up in holiday cards, there’s still time left to apply! Check out positions for a senior architect specializing in education; and an ambitious urban planner. 

Project Board (progress status from 12/16)

Haiti School Initiative
View the Four Round 1 Schools background and grant information on Students Rebuild
Bon Berger Montrouis – 90% Construction Documents 
Bon Berger Pele – 95% Construction Documents (for Phase 1) 
Ecole La Dignite – 90% Construction Documents 
Institut Foyer du Savoir – 80% Construction Documents (for Phase 1) 

Related Haiti Construction Projects
Ceverine School – 80% Construction Administration 
Ecole Mixte de Nancy – 80% Design Development 
Ecole Elie Dubois – Design Development 
Digicel House for Woodline – 100% Construction Documents 
Digicel House for Odeline – 100% Construction Documents 

See a full overview of our program and projects at the Haiti Rebuilding Center pageon the Open Architecture Network.

Thanks to our 2010 volunteers!
We’d like to thank all the volunteers that have helped us establish one of the leading reconstruction organizations in Haiti! 32 design and construction professionals flew down to Port-au-Prince in 2010 on their own dime for anywhere between 3 weeks to 4 months to assist in Haitian reconstruction efforts. Thanks for everything guys–Haiti isn’t an easy place to work and we applaud everyone who has dedicated their time and talents to helping Haiti fulfill its immense potential. 

Stay completely up-to-date
1-Track the latest developments. Students Rebuild releases regular blog posts and videos through its Field Notes and Video Library–Students Rebuild is a great resource to for tracking architectural progress, as well as Haitian news, cultural highlights and features on youth-based support efforts from abroad. 
2-Let the news come to you. Follow Students Rebuild on Facebook, Twitter, andYoutube for real-time updates and our series of webumentaries from the Ground 
3-Open Source through and through. Check out the Gro Kay Disko page for behind-the-scenes blips of the busy lives of our designers in Haiti. 
4-Send a request to join the Haiti team email list.haitivolunteer@architecureforhumanity.org

Almost 20 volunteering designers are working on the design of homes and school for local NGO, Caleb’s Hope.

Caleb’s Hope will have more than 20 volunteering builders heading to Atiak, Uganda this December. The purpose of today’s charrette is to come up with design proposals for their on going fundraising effort and build.

The project includes 21 homes for displaced women and their children, and a school/community structure. Further Info here.