University of Toronto's
2023/2024 Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project
The Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (MUCP) is an a full-year academic course open to undergraduate students in their final year from all U of T faculties, departments and campuses. Students are placed in multidisciplinary teams and matched with a community partner that has identified an existing urban challenge that they would like the students to consult on.
For the 2023-2024 academic year we have been fortunate enough to be placed with Building Roots with the main goal of helping refugees get the resources they need to work and live in the community. Given this project goal we have researched, proposed and helped to prototype a revamped community leadership development program that will help select residents, with a focus on newcomers, develop community-oriented skills. We conducted literature reviews, visited the site and presented our proposed solution to the organization to ensure our recommendation was developed as collaboratively as possible.
Meet the Team
Malak Gaafar
Hello everyone! My name is Malak, and I am in my final year at university studying Political Science and Urban Studies. I applied to the UofT capstone program hoping to gain hands-on experience in community development, and my experience has been priceless. Overall, I am overjoyed to have created and implemented Building Roots' first Community Leaders Program, and to have designed the Moss Park Chronicles website to showcase all the fascinating aspects of Moss Park.
Mahlet Berhanu
Hi! My name is Mahlet Berhanu, and I am a 4th year student, double majoring in Sociology and History with a minor in African Studies. I joined the Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone because I wanted to utilize my research and academic skills in a hands-on way, alongside an academically diverse team of students and a community partner. I valued working with building roots because I believe in the power of collaboration and practical action in driving positive change in communities.
Nicolas Martinez-Gonzalez
My name is Nicolas and I'm a fourth year Bachelor of Commerce student. I joined the project because I want to help build community and Moss Park is an area that interested me because it seems to be in transition right now. With the new subway station, the community centre renovation and the condo construction in the area, I believe there is an opportunity to bring different communities together.
Taylor Simsovic-Peters
I'm Taylor and I am in my fourth year of undergraduate studies, majoring in Diaspora & Transnational Studies and double minoring in Sociology and Human Geography. My experience with community volunteering has motivated my interest in working with Building Roots. By engaging with the Community Leaders Program I got to connect with the Moss park community and learn how food security organizations can expand the reach of their programs to several other community strengthening initiatives.
Nashaat Rahman
Hello my name is Nashaat! I am a fourth-year architecture student driven by a desire to make meaningful contributions through design. I joined the MUCP Capstone course to get to address real-world problems with new design solutions. I chose to work with Building Roots to deepen my understanding of the Moss Park community and to actively engage with residents to foster positive change.