Winter City Strategy - Feedback time

[Coldrsx]

More of this kind of stuff

Over time, museums can collect some pretty neat things.

Cool Stuff: The University of Alberta Museums Do Winter is an exhibition that dusts off over 350 funky items from over 29 U of A collections.

From dinosaurs to dog sleds, hibernating butterflies to a whalebone sculpture, the exhibit hopes to celebrate winter by looking at objects through a lens of ice and snow.

Some highlights include mammoth bones, meteorites, an Ancient Egyptian textile, a Chinese Imperial robe, a narwhal tusk and inspiring artwork including Inuit prints and Group of Seven paintings.

The exhibit is on now, and will run until March 31 at the University of Alberta’s Enterprise Square campus downtown (10230 Jasper Ave.). It will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Thursdays until 9 p.m.

To boot, there will be a handful of noon-hour series, featuring talks by a variety of researchers and curators:

Philip Currie, March 1, “Collecting Dinosaurs in Antarctica”

Chris Herd, March 7, “When Meteorites Fall on Snow: Unique Scientific Opportunities”

John Acorn, March 15, “Nature in Winter in Edmonton”

Jeremy Rossiter, March 23, “Winter Through Roman Eyes”

Jim Corrigan, March 29, “Curating Cool Stuff”

For more information, call 780.492.5834 or visit museums.ualberta.ca

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/201...from-the-past/

[Kevin_foster]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Bravo edm bravo

POLL
 
The city of Edmonton is in the midst of developing a winter city strategy. What do you like best about winter?
Skiing
11.00 %
Skating
3.20 %
Sledding
1.80 %
Anything outdoors
9.20 %
The snow
7.40 %
The end
67.40 %
 
Read the story and Sound Off!

Consider that it's also somewhat of a societal norm to hate on winter. It's a ... thing... to complain about the weather.

If this poll didn't have that last option, the results would be vastly different. It makes a joke out of people really thinking about what they like about winter.

"The end" isn't a recognizable trait of Winter.

Poll fail.

[ue]

Maybe in Contemporary Canada, but there was recently a documentary on the CBC about embracing winter. Canada used to embrace winter with open arms and people just dressed for the cold. There were all sorts of things that many people participated in - outdoors. Then, some events, including the Montreal Carnival were cancelled because the government thought images of people out enjoying frigid cold weather would make Canada unattractive to immigrants, which Canada sorely needed at the time (1910s, I believe). Then, post-war you get advanced climate control that allow people to just do activities fully indoors, which also makes them less able to cope with the cold.

But there are modern examples of cultures that embrace cold weather with open arms. Russia was mentioned in the documentary, including the tradition of swimming in ice cold water, and the documentary interviewed a Canadian woman from Toronto that she says her Russian friends call her the "little Canadian wimp" something-or-other because she isn't used to the cold winters and has to bundle up much more than Russians (despite Moscow having a not too different climate from many Canadian cities). The documentary noted that part of the embracing of winter in Russia probably has to do with the fact that Russia is poorer and cannot afford advanced climate control everywhere. The documentary also showcased Norway and Sweden, which are more comparable to Canada in terms of wealth (although the most populated regions of both countries are a bit milder than cities like Edmonton and Toronto). In cities like Stockholm and Oslo, there are heated sidewalks through the City Centres that make the streets teem with people even in the dead of winter, even people hanging out on patios in -10° weather. I don't see why Jasper Ave, 101 St, Whyte Ave, 124 St, 104 St, Churchill Sq, RHW, 102 Ave, 97 St, and Capital Blvd couldn't implement this. Although the documentary didn't note it, Sapporo, Japan is also well known for it's heated sidewalks.

There's also Northeast China (eg Harbin), Mongolia, Iceland, and Siberia we could look to. The point is we do not have to have a culture that hates on winter, and to prove it just look a century back when we as Canadians embraced the cold winter weather.

[Airboy]

When I look at other cities and how they have created some excitement around winter festivals I feel we really dropped the ball.

We of all Canadian cities should be championing winter activities. It’s like we are looking at other cities then steal bits and pieces from each and creating little festivals, here. Metropolis was a good start but we need to think bigger and actually have a group that can generate the enthusiasm needed.

I enjoyed the Patio party last week, and while I was there looking out over the downtown core I got the feeling that this city is about to change for the better. Not because of what I saw, but what I was hearing. There is a lot of young talent in this city that needs to be tapped into.

For me its not cold here anymore. I am out and about quite a bit during the winter. I think we need to have the same attitude as an Inuit Elder I talked with last week, her comment to me as we walked along a small northern town street, "Yah is cold, but it’s a warm cold".
And since it is Friday and I am heading over to Black Sheep in about 20min, here is something uniquely Northern Canadian, (Rankin Inlet NU).
See below, I saw this earlier this week. The newest Hybrid Snow Mobile.

[Coldrsx]

A bunch of presentations and videos from our Winter Strategy workings.

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_governme...o-gallery.aspx