About EDDIT

The Equitable Development Data Insight Training (EDDIT) Initiative helps city building professionals build buy-in for equitable development in their communities. We offer data analysis and storytelling training to non-profit, community, and government organizations working in the U.S. and Canada, empowering them to leverage both data and narrative for positive change.

EDDIT is offered in partnership between University of California, Berkeley and the School of Cities at the University of Toronto, and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Why Urban Data Storytelling?

Urban data storytelling is the process and practice of using data to craft compelling narratives about cities, in order to communicate key insights, inform policy-making, build public-will, or advocate for change. Urban data storytelling combines data analysis, data visualization, and narrative techniques to make complex urban trends understandable and engaging for specific audiences, such as policymakers, funders, or community members.

Who Can Benefit from Urban Data Storytelling?

Individuals and organizations working on local urban equitable development may not have access to the data they need, or if they do, they may not have the tools they need to tell impactful stories with data or to perform meaningful data analysis and visualization. We are dedicated to providing training, resources, and support to city building individuals and organizations in order to showcase the benefits of equitable development to funders, policymakers, and the public.

Areas of Equitable Development

Read below to see examples of the types of projects EDDIT is equipped to support through our training programs. We welcome all participant interested in pursuing impactful urban equitable development, ranging from a single community fridge to a city-wide policy. Projects and impacts may fall under one area of equitable development, or span across multiple areas.

Economic opportunity

Entrepreneurship programs, small business loans, grants

Housing affordability

Housing advocacy programs, housing design

Transportation accessibility

Rider advocacy groups, bike lane projects, bus route projects

Food security

Community gardens, local produce delivery services, food banks

Environmental justice

Community cleanups, river restoration projects, climate advocacy groups

Capacity building

English language classes, youth after school programs, trade skills training

Culture and history

Public art projects, oral history projects

Community wealth-building

Community land trusts, co-operative housing

Active living

Sports and recreation programs, park space design, winter outdoor activities

Partner Organizations

‍EDDIT is a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Toronto, and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The School of Cities

The School of Cities is a world-leading, interdisciplinary center for urban research, education, and engagement at the University of Toronto, dedicated to uncovering new ways for cities and their residents to thrive.

Center for Community Innovation

The mission of the Center for Community Innovation (CCI) at the University of California, Berkeley is to nurture effective solutions that expand economic opportunity, diversify housing options, and strengthen connection to place. CCI works toward more equitable, resilient futures for communities.

TheCaseMade

TheCaseMade helps everyday heroes emerge as leaders through the power of storytelling, or Strategic Case Making™. They train leaders how to persuade stakeholders and the public to throw their support behind deeply transformational systems change.

TheCaseMade is a curriculum partner for the EDDIT Coaching Program

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

This project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJF works with others to identify, understand, confront, and remove the structural barriers to health and well-being, including racism, powerlessness, discrimination, and their consequences. RWJF supports research, programs, policies, and practices aimed at bringing about meaningful change and improving the lives of everyone in our nation now and for generations to come.

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As planners we are often aware of what the problem is, and what our data is telling us, yet that doesn't always get us anywhere. EDDIT helped open our minds to try and un-learn some of what we have been doing and try a different way of doing things, based in the belief that we have the capacity to make positive change today so that we can get to a better future tomorrow.

Isela Contreras-Dogbe