1UP Youth City Builders
  • 2023 1UP Conference
  • Chapters
    • Fellows
    • Launch Pad
  • PREVIOUS EVENTS
    • 2023 Design For Change
    • 2022 1UP Office Tours
    • 2022 DesignTO Festival
    • 1UP Connect >
      • 2022 1UP Connect
      • 2021 1UP Connect
      • 2020 1UP Connect
    • Design Competition >
      • 2022 Design Competition
      • 2021 Design Competition
    • Leaders Lab >
      • 2022 Leaders Lab
      • 2021 Leaders Lab
      • 2020 Leaders Lab
      • 2019 Leaders Lab
      • 2018 Leaders Lab
    • Conference >
      • 2022 Conference
      • 2021 Conference
      • 2020 Conference
      • 2019 Conference
      • 2018 Conference
  • Team
  • Apply
  • URBAN MINDS
    • BLOG
  • Our Sponsors

2023 1UP Toronto Conference

1UP Toronto is a youth conference that brings together secondary school students across the Greater Toronto Area to celebrate and incubate city-building ideas. The 2023 conference theme is Reconnect:

How does it feel to finally drop off from a Zoom call and reconnect with the spaces and people around you? Reconnect is a dialogue between youth and city builders about how we renew our relationships with the land, transform existing spaces, and reimagine our transportation systems for a world that is entirely different from what we knew before. We will explore whether the changes we see in our towns and cities today are just a blip on the radar or the beginning of something more permanent. We will navigate what youth’s role as citizens is now and can be in this new future. 

Co-hosted by Urban Minds and Plan Bold, the conference will take place on Saturday, March 18, 2023 from 9:30 AM to 5 PM.

As part of the conference, the Design Jam is a four-hour student design competition for a real-life urban challenge related to the conference theme. Students are assigned into teams to develop a creative solution for a case challenge provided by our Design Jam Partner.

Conference Schedule

9:30 am Registration + Breakfast
10:00 am Introductions
10:10 am Keynote Speaker
-Deborah Cowen, Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto
10:20 am Panel Discussion
-Alex Hanes, Master of Planning Student, Toronto Metropolitan University (Moderator)

-Sean Nix, Associate Dean of Architectural, Chemical, and Environmental Sciences at Sheridan College
-Phat Le, Architectural Designer, Infrastructure Institute at University of Toronto School of Cities

-Keisha St.Louis-McBurnie, Urban Planner, Urban Strategies Inc. 
-Tennesha Joseph, Project Lead, Are You Afraid of the Dark TO 

10:50 am Design Jam Part 1
- $300 grand prize to the winning team!
12:55 pm Lunch
1:30 pm 1UP Fair

- Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute 
- Milliken Mills High School
- Richmond Green Secondary School
- White Oaks Secondary School 

2:15 pm Design Jam Part 2
4:10 pm Closing Remarks and Group Photo
4:20 pm Awards
4:30 pm Networking

​Diamond Sponsors 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

​Platinum Sponsors

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

​Gold Sponsors 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

​Prize Sponsors ​

Picture
Picture

​Official Caterer

Picture

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

We're always looking for collaborators and partnerships.

If you're interested in education, urban planning, or design thinking, give us a shout at 1uptoronto@urbanminds.co
© COPYRIGHT 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • 2023 1UP Conference
  • Chapters
    • Fellows
    • Launch Pad
  • PREVIOUS EVENTS
    • 2023 Design For Change
    • 2022 1UP Office Tours
    • 2022 DesignTO Festival
    • 1UP Connect >
      • 2022 1UP Connect
      • 2021 1UP Connect
      • 2020 1UP Connect
    • Design Competition >
      • 2022 Design Competition
      • 2021 Design Competition
    • Leaders Lab >
      • 2022 Leaders Lab
      • 2021 Leaders Lab
      • 2020 Leaders Lab
      • 2019 Leaders Lab
      • 2018 Leaders Lab
    • Conference >
      • 2022 Conference
      • 2021 Conference
      • 2020 Conference
      • 2019 Conference
      • 2018 Conference
  • Team
  • Apply
  • URBAN MINDS
    • BLOG
  • Our Sponsors