Durham Community Foundation
Welcome to Unflood Ontario! Durham Community Foundation (DCF) is proud to have partnered with over 50+ allies around the Golden Horseshoe to work together to Unflood Ontario: Together, naturally.
Unflood Ontario is a network of groups and organizations from across the Greater Golden Horseshoe that are working together to build public demand for urban-based natural infrastructure such as rain gardens, community gardens, green roofs, trees, and other technologies that eliminate hard surfaces and rely on natural processes. DCF is excited about natural infrastructure because it also delivers many social benefits including creating jobs, improving community climate resilience, addressing key social determinants of health and reducing food insecurity.
Why flooding, you might ask? Because the fear of flooding is something many of us can relate to personally. If climate science is alienating, water seeping into your basement and the cost of repairs are impossible to ignore. Remember the floods of the summer of 2018? This video is a stark reminder if the memory escapes you. What’s more, the impacts of flooding does not discriminate; flooding is indeed an equity issue as is the broader devastation caused by climate change.Utilizing creative online communications Unflood Ontario aims to educate the public about natural infrastructure and provide tangible, achievable and accessible solutions that can be directly implemented in the community.
Unflood Ontario is led by Durham Community Foundation, the Niagara Community Foundation, and the Toronto Foundation and is managed by the Small Change Fund. There is a growing network of partners that span all sectors and all regions. With over 50 organizations from around the Golden Horseshoe listed on the About Page, Unflood Ontario reaches all around Lake Ontario.
For DCF, the opportunity began in 2015 Executive Director, Vivian Curl worked with the Council of Michigan Foundations to submit a proposal to the Great Lakes Protection Fund to financially support shoreline community foundations efforts through green and grey infrastructure.
In 2018, the Great Lakes One Water (GLOW) initiative was formalized as a basin-wide binational network of seven teams led by Community Foundations, working to address growing concerns around climate change and reducing lake pollution.
Recognizing its limited environmental expertise, DCF brought together a GLOW Region of Durham round-table, made up of our municipal leaders in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington, along with experts from the Region of Durham. Together this network provided input to the larger Ontario team and together with the round-tables in the other regions, Unflood Ontario was developed, launching in the spring of 2021.
The Unflood Ontario online campaign promotes tangible and accessible action that invites residents to help unflood Ontario.
The Unflood campaign is backed by great branding and great videos targeting the interested public.
The Unflood website includes videos, basic resources, non-expert reports, and three Calls to Action.
To date our sponsors include the Insurance Bureau of Canada and Walker Industries as the lead Niagara Sponsor.
There is power in networks. Join the Unflood Ontario network and help us Unflood Ontario: Together, naturally.
To learn more about our involvement with Unflood Ontario, contact Vivian Curl, Executive Director, Durham Community Foundation.
For all other Unflood Ontario inquiries contact: Franz Hartmann, Chief Engagement Officer, The Small Change Fund.