The Weaving Care playbook emerged from a collaboration between Carleton University's Urban Imaginaries Lab (School of Industrial Design) and Arlington Five (A5), a local cafe in Ottawa. The project focused on designing a way for A5 to become a place that supports a hands-on practice of hospitality and provides the conditions to take care of each other in the community. It also aimed to approach hospitality from a decolonial perspective and without any reliance on economic transactions (decommodified hospitality). Several stages of research were conducted with A5 and its community, beginning in March 2022, to better understand A5’s operations and current role within the community, the current context, and A5’s community. This was then followed by additional exploratory research to define key concepts, identify best cases, and envision possible futures.

Based on this research, the playbook was designed to support this vision and expand beyond A5 to allow others with community care-driven mindsets to contribute to strengthening a collective sense of community identity together. 

Share your weaving care experiences with us at urbanimaginarieslab@gmail.com.

  • Chiara Del Gaudio

    Chiara is a designer, researcher, and instructor in Design. She is Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design. She holds a Ph.D. in Design from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, an MSc in Design & Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from the same institution. She has been working on applied design research projects addressing more democratic, inclusive and sustainable urban contexts, design processes and outcomes.

  • David E. Cabrera Zapata

    David is a design student from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. He is the recipient of a Mitacs Globalink Research Internship at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He defines himself as a specialized generalist, with a comprehensive background in design as a participatory, discursive, and project-based discipline. His interests center around design research, storytelling, and graphic communication. He’s profoundly passionate about speculative design; inspired by how it opens spaces for collective, critical, and imaginative thinking.

  • Maya Chopra

    Maya is a designer and researcher and holds a Master’s in Design and a Bachelor’s in Industrial Design from Carleton University (Canada). Her research focuses on exploring the relationship between gender, design, and power, and embracing the concept of intersectionality in design to counteract exclusionary design practices.

  • Jessie Duffy

    Jessie Duffy is the co-founder and owner of Arlington 5. She has worked in hospitality for over two decades, and previously pursued a degree in interdisciplinary studies in community food systems at Carleton University. Jessie is a former contributing editor for edible Ottawa magazine and wrote primarily about issues pertaining to food security, sustainability and food service culture. They were one of the founding members of Cooking For A Cause Ottawa with the Ottawa Community Food Partnership, a program designed to serve the acute needs of community members experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic. Their interests intersect in the local networks created through food and hospitality, along with the practices of place-making and notions of public space. Jessie believes wholeheartedly that spaces of hospitality can serve as places for community care.

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