A documentary, a book, and a manual about the Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the integration of immigrants in Vancouver.
The research was to explore the role of the CNH in the integration of immigrants in a neighbourhood which had undergone significant socio-cultural change since the 1980s with the rapid influx of immigrants from non-traditional source countries.
We found that CNH had played a major role in the successful social inclusion and community building process in that low income neighbourhood and that it embodied the success of a community development approach to ‘active citizenship’.
The film was used by CNH as their ‘evidence’ in being nominated for the BMW Prize for Intercultural Learning (an international award made in Germany) and CNH and I shared that prize in 2007. Since then, the film, book and Manual have been widely screened and distributed internationally, spreading an inspirational example of the successful integration of immigrants.
See www.mongrel-stories.com for more information about the project, trailer of the film, etc.
