Solarpunk Presents 7.6: Abundance, Inclusion, Resilience: The One Million Neighbours Project with Sam Nabi
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May 19, 2025 Sam Nabi, the Project Coordinator for the One Million Neighbors initiative, discusses how the project envisions a future for Waterloo Region's growing population of one million residents. He highlights the importance of inclusive language in planning and the need to provide a voice for marginalized communities. Sam emphasizes collaboration among 65 nonprofits to shape a resilient city focused on public spaces and diverse connections. He also addresses challenges newcomers face, including barriers to credential recognition and calls for reformed nonprofit funding strategies.
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Region Shifting From Small Town To City
- Waterloo Region is transitioning from small-town mindset to a mid-sized urban region facing growth choices.
- Planning for one million people surfaces competing visions from government, business, and community sectors.
Big Projects Aren't The Only Vision
- Government and tech business visions focused on infrastructure and prestige projects.
- Sam Nabi argues community and nonprofit voices were missing and needed to shape the growth conversation.
Build A Broad Nonprofit Coalition
- Build a broad coalition across nonprofit sectors to increase advocacy influence.
- Center shared issues so groups can support each other instead of repeating the same lone voices.