F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D
Q U E S T I O N S
What is Jane’s Walk?
Jane’s Walk is a global festival of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by urban activist, Jane Jacobs. What started in 2011 has since grown to include thousands of walks across the world! Jane’s Walks are often walking tours, but they can also be bike rides, poetry readings, performance art, games, and more! There are three things that make a walk a Jane’s Walk:
i) free, volunteer-led, and open to everyone. There can be no registration, fee, or donation associated with leading or participating in a Jane’s Walk.
ii) non-commercial and non-partisan. They cannot be used to promote a business or a candidate running for office.
iii) Seek to promote dialogue Jane’s Walks are dialogues that seek to engage participants in conversation. They are not walking lectures.
Who can lead a Jane’s Walk
Anyone can lead a Jane’s Walk because everyone is an expert on the places they live, work, and play. Jane Jacobs believed that the people best equipped to understand cities and make decisions about them are “ordinary, interested citizens”. She intuited that getting to know our neighbourhoods and each other is the foundation of city-building. Jane’s Walk Leaders help people get to know their communities by gathering people outside of their homes, offices, and cars to exchange knowledge, tell stories, and share experiences.
Does the Toronto Jane’s Walk Festival approve the walk that are submitted?
No, Jane’s Walk supports the principle of self-organization and civic engagement. The walks submitted are not curated. The inclusion of any walk does not imply an endorsement from Jane’s Walk Toronto of any specific perspectives or proposals. Jane’s Walk Toronto does however reserve the right to withdraw a walk if the subject, location or leader poses any harm or danger to participants, makes use of hate speech, or defames or excludes specific individuals or groups.
How are Jane’s Walks promoted?
Jane’s Walk is promoted through several communication channels on our website, social media, video/audio formats and in print advertising. We do encourage participating individuals and organizations to identify themselves as part of Jane’s Walk through inclusion of the event logo and language in their respective communications (e.g. local newsletters, social media posts, word of mouth etc).
Is photography allowed?
We encourage all walk leaders and participants to take photos and videos while respecting everyones boundaries. We would love to see your photos and video shared with us on social media using the hashtag #walkwithus and #janeswalkto.
Can I seek compensation for leading a walk?
Jane’s Walk are free and open to the public. We rely on volunteers to lead the walks and therefore walk leaders are prohibited from soliciting compensation (including monetary tips) from attendees.
Can I use Jane’s Walk as a promotional opportunity?
Any marketing materials that are distributed outside of the context and scope of the walk are prohibited. However, we do encourage walk leaders and participants to share information about a particular project, initiative, or events as it relates to the walk.
Will I know how many people to expect on my Jane’s Walk?
We do not track attendance at specific Jane’s Walks, since there is no official registration or RSVPs for participants. Past Jane’s Walks have attracted anywhere from a handful to more than 100 attendees.
What if I need to cancel my Jane’s Walk?
Jane’s Walks happen rain or shine! We have no way of contacting all those that might show up to the meeting location. Therefore, once a walk is promoted we encourage you to find a replacement walk leader. If you must indeed cancel your walk please let us know as soon as possible by emailing torontosupport@janeswalk.org so next steps can be explored including alerting through your own promotional outlets and deploying a friend at the meeting location incase people show up.
What if there is inclement weather?
Jane’s Walk occur rain or shine! People will show up in all weather conditions and this is part of the fun of Jane’s Walks!
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
For further inquiries please do not hesitate to reach out to our team! Please contact torontosupport@ janeswalk.org with any questions you may have.
Resources
For those that would like a refresher or are new to Jane’s Walk please feel free to attend one of our Walk Leader Training - Walk Shop sessions.
More details on our Walk Shops for 2020 will be released soon - check back soon.