Community Solutions Network

Big cities and small communities face wildly different challenges, but they have at least one thing in common: the need to update their infrastructure, particularly in a rapidly changing climate.

In the 2010s, climate action and city building ideas were being discussed in purposeful hubs and labs. What if public infrastructure could become more efficient, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of residents? Across the world, there was a growing desire to explore data-driven approaches to achieve social, environmental and economic goals. Wi-Fi, smart sensors and digital applications deployed in the public realm could generate useful data to improve quality of life. That new data, however, would require proper governance and community engagement to ensure it was being managed with integrity and accountability.

In the wake of Canada’s first Smart Cities Challenge and with funding from the Government of Canada, the Community Solutions Network was in an excellent position to host events and panel discussions, offer advisory services and communities of practice, and produce reports and toolkits to further support public innovation capacity-building.

From 2018 to 2025, Evergreen and Open North connected with hundreds of communities, engaged subject-matter experts, civic practitioners and academics to share best practices – true community solutions that remain relevant today.

In this archive, you will find hundreds or resources organized by type such as research brief or podcast. If you would prefer to search our database by keyword or topic, please visit the Resource Library page and select the appropriate filters. To access our French resources, please visit Réseau de solutions pour les communautés.