From Discord to Discourse: Engaging 2SLGTBQ+ Communities in Projects of Cultural Significance
Memorials, monuments, and Queer Spaces have a profound impact on how 2SLGTBQ+ communities connect, grieve, celebrate, and are represented.
Daniel Fusca (he/him)
This session equips architects, urban planners, and designers with the insights and strategies needed to meaningfully engage 2SLGBTQ+ communities in projects of deep emotional and historical significance. These projects—such as memorials for AIDS victims, Trans individuals, and those impacted by systemic discrimination such as Canada's government "purge"—carry profound cultural weight. This session highlights – with lessons learned – that engagement with these communities should not be approached as a procedural checkbox but as an ongoing relational process that fosters trust and long-term connection between the community and service providers.
Through two case studies related to significant 2SLGBTQ+ spaces in Toronto, Hanlan’s Point Beach and Barbara Hall Park, participants will explore considerations for how queer communities show up to engagement processes, the significance of trauma-informed approaches, and the lasting memories that community engagement experiences create. The speaker will emphasize how the quality of these interactions directly impacts the integrity of the final project and the relationships 2SLGTBQ+ communities have with it.
For projects undergoing updates or renovations, the session will address the critical balance between respecting the contributions of current community members while continuing to honour the legacy of those originally involved. Attendees will leave with a framework for fostering meaningful collaboration, ensuring that community voices are genuinely heard, valued, and incorporated into architectural and urban planning outcomes.
Learning Outcomes:
Recognize the historical, cultural, and emotional significance of projects impacting and/or reflecting Queer communities.
Identify the importance of trauma-informed approaches to engagement that prioritize relationships over procedural obligations.
Understand the long-term impact of community engagement experiences on trust-building and project reception.
Learn strategies for engaging present community contributors when updating existing culturally significant projects, while honoring the voices of the past.
Foster meaningful collaboration with Queer communities that honors their histories, contributions, and lived experiences.
Availability: Online (anywhere), In-person (Toronto)
Daniel Fusca (he/him), MSc (Urban Planning)
Daniel Fusca is an experienced community engagement practitioner, urban planner, policymaker, and communicator with a passion for engaging diverse communities to drive meaningful change. A recognized leader and innovator in municipal civic engagement, he has dedicated his career to designing more inclusive and collaborative processes that strengthen relationships between communities and institutions and to building the institutional capacity needed to sustain them.
Daniel has led strategic engagement efforts to increase participation from youth, newcomers, and equity-deserving communities, and has worked to improve relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Metis Torontonians and rightsholders. For five years, he served as the Stakeholder Engagement Lead in the Chief Planner’s Office at the City of Toronto, working to evolve City Planning’s approach to engagement and bring new, hard-to-reach voices into planning processes. In 2019, he became the first Manager of Public Consultation for Toronto’s Parks, Forestry, and Recreation Division, where he and his team have built a citywide engagement practice from the ground up. Since 2020, they have engaged over 200,000 Torontonians in shaping the city's parks and recreation capital program, prioritizing deliberation and relationship-building over transactional engagement. Notable 2SLGBTQ+ projects he has contributed to include the Barbara Hall Park Improvements Plan (home to both the AIDS and Trans memorials) and work related to Hanlan’s Point Beach and Park through the Toronto Island Master Plan.
Beyond his municipal work, Daniel is a trained facilitator and Partnership Broker, a frequent speaker at conferences in North America and Europe, and an instructor at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University. He holds a Master of Science in Planning from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Systems and Italian Civilization from McGill University. His commitment to meaningful and equitable engagement as a foundation for government action continues to shape how cities engage with their residents.