3. Communicate Creatively
Most industries are good at sharing ideas amongst them-
selves because they speak the same language, but how
can we bridge that gap to find common ground across
disciplines? I am an advocate for creating new and inno-
vative ways to share ideas and stories—whether it's
through film, creative writing, or art installations. As an
example, the objective of my film, Women Branching Out:
A Diversity of Careers in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry,
produced in collaboration with Fleming College, was to
profile women's work in our industries and to inspire
and encourage more young women to enter the fields.
Similarly, I was writer and director of the 2013 film
funded by Toronto Public Health, Partners in Action: A
Shade Policy for the City of Toronto, exploring the twelve-
year journey of the City of Toronto's UVR (Ultraviolet
Radiation) Working Group by profiling members, dis-
cussing the policy, presenting examples of shade in
Toronto, and demonstrating the necessity of multi-dis-
ciplinary collaboration for skin cancer prevention. This
film won the 2014 Canadian Dermatology Association
Public Education Award. Since then, the film has been
screened at various conferences and community events
and shared across multiple platforms, and the chair of
our Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition Shade Policy
Committee has received calls from municipalities across
Canada who want to develop their own shade policies.
Dr. Bardekjian and her colleague Lorien Nesbitt
co-curated a photography exhibit called "Human
Faces, Forest Places" for the "Do Rainbows
Come in Green? Urban Forests and Multicultural
Citizenship" event at the University of British
Columbia in 2017.
One of my colleagues used to frequently say
to me, "GEPO" (Good Enough Push On) ...
Perfection is subjective, and when we
hold impossibly high standards, we
may miss the larger picture.
22 CityTREES
