Places and Faces: Gathering Older Adults' Stories of Connecting, Belonging, Placemaking in Thunder Bay

This series of eight digital video stories was created through the 2023 Places & Faces project. The Thunder Bay Museum and Age BIG hosted a digital storytelling workshop in December 2022, made possible through support from the Government of Ontario. Together, eight older adult storytellers gathered to write, record and share their stories about the places and faces that helped them foster a sense of connection and belonging to their community. Many of the stories in the series were inspired by adapting to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The storytellers hope that these 3-minute videos will inspire the viewers to explore their own communities. Get out and revisit inspiring places and discover new ones. You just might meet some new faces along the way!

Download the PDF Toolkit Here

What is Placemaking?

Placemaking is often concerned with planning, designing, and managing “public spaces in ways that promote people’s health, happiness, and well-being.” Emerging research is now focusing on placemaking as ways that people “transform physical spaces into socially relevant and meaningful places.” Through this storytelling project, we have captured stories that highlight how older adults in Thunder Bay actively create and negotiate their sense of place as they get older.