Art of Citybuilding (AoCB) 2026: Help us track our impact over 10 years
Photo taken by author of what she loves about the city on a post card as part of a series of graphics created during the 2024 AoCB gathering.
I am pleased to once again be a member of the organizing and planning committee for our annual gathering of placemakers, placekeepers and civic enthusiasts.
For a decade, AoCB has been our annual invitation to imagine Halifax and its region not just as a place where things happen, but as the place we build together. It’s a conference, yes — but more than that: it’s a gathering of residents, planners, artists, civic leaders, creatives and change‑makers. It’s a chance to look at what cities could be: equitable, vibrant, life‑rich, interconnected.
From “Under Water” in 2020 to “Forward Together” in 2024, each year has nudged us toward deeper insight about place, people and possibility.
AoCB’s 10th anniversary offers an opportunity to reframe how we think about “investment.” Not just dollars, but time, care, relationship-building, and intellectual energy — these are all currencies in their own right. Capturing them is not just progressive; it’s essential to the long-term health and vibrancy of our community.
Let’s start tracking, acknowledging, and investing in these hidden capitals.
How You Can Engage Now
Share your input: We’ll soon launch a living document for you — speakers, funders, attendees, network‑weavers — to propose metrics or thresholds for these capitals. What seems meaningful to you? What feels measurable yet honest?
Join the attribution process: Over the ten years you’ve contributed we want to find ways in the 10th‑anniversary year to distribute recognition across the network, across time — not just “this year’s contributors” but the network of ten years.
Celebrate the unseen: We’ll carve out space at the anniversary gathering to honour relational, emotional, intellectual labour. To acknowledge those whose contribution never showed up on a budget line or in volunteer tracking; but without which the event would not happen and especially to the great measure of success that it did each year.
Make invisible visible: By naming these other non-monetary capitals, by tracking them, by celebrating them — we strengthen their visibility across our ecosystem(s). We ensure our network is sustainable, our event retains its vibrance, and our placemaking impact is deep.
If you’re part of this community, you are part of this story. Thanks and see you at our 2026 gathering.