Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Delete. All uninvolved editors supported deleting the article. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  03:57, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement

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I am not sure that this meets WP:GNG. Everything I find by Googling does not appear to be independent sources. Only one such source was provided and its title suggests that it is not on the organization itself. Jasper Deng (talk) 17:55, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

We would like to have our Wikipedia page up and running. What steps do you recommend we take in order to ensure our account doesn't get deleted? Connor - 9:50, 25 July 2017
 * The answer is, not much. Firstly, I notice you write with "we" and "our". Wikipedia accounts are required to be used by individuals on behalf of themselves, not groups. Secondly, your account will never be deleted; only the article is being considered for deletion. Thirdly, having a Wikipedia article is not necessarily a good thing. See WP:FAQ/Organizations for more information.--Jasper Deng (talk) 17:21, 25 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 18:25, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Canada-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 18:25, 24 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Delete as per nomination. Blatant advertising and COI. -- P 1 9 9 ✉ 17:25, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

I believe this wikipedia page does not do justice to the Tamarack Institute. The Tamarack Institute won a UN award for their work in 2014. . Yes it is true that the news articles that are related to this award are no longer on site. An issue with a organization in a small media market. It is also a core contributor to the CENTRE FOR PEACE ADVANCEMENT at the University of Waterloo. It is apart of the centre along with christian peacemaker teams.

Tamarack has created a "Vibrant Communities: Cities Reducing Poverty" network of more than 100 municipalities across Canada working to reduce poverty for over a million individuals. Here is a list of some of the members


 * City of Edmonton
 * City of Grande Prairie
 * City of London
 * City of Medicine Hat
 * City of Moncton
 * City of Ottawa
 * City of Peterborough
 * City of Toronto
 * City of Windsor
 * City of Hamilton
 * District of Stewart
 * Niagara Region
 * Peel Region

Tamarack also has Engage! which is an award winning e-magazine

Tamarack is also working to create stronger communities including places like Grey county and bruce county, which are referred to as Grey Bruce as many of their programs are in both counties, and delburne.

- It is an important Non Governmental Organization in the Kitchener Waterloo Region and in Social Planning across Canada. The question was asked how to make the page last, or removed from deletion. Sure the question could have been worded differently, but there should be an education process rather than just stating it is advertising. There are many aspects to this organization that are not on the wiki page.

There is actually a lot that could be done to make this wikipedia page represent what work they are doing. Just cause the original wikipedia page writer is not up on how to make a good wiki page does not mean that it should be deleted


 * These do not meet the requirements of being reliable, independent, and significant (particularly the two boldened ones) that WP:GNG dictates for inclusion on Wikipedia. To be more explicit, we can't use a source from the organization itself to establish notability (even though we can use it to verify some statements in the article, see WP:PRIMARY), and a source on a significant person in the organization is not the same as a source on the organization itself.--Jasper Deng (talk) 05:42, 28 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete - Fails WP:GNG. Magnolia677 (talk) 01:27, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

I realized that I had to log in for my input to matter more. I do realize that you need independent and significant. So I have found some additional sources that are hopefully up to your standards

Since 2002, the Tamarack Institute has been guiding Canada’s approach to fighting poverty through the Vibrant Communities initiative in a dozen Canadian cities. The Tamarack Institute refers to their strategic action frameworks as “frameworksfor-change,” and cogently describes their value as follows: “A strong framework for change, based on strong research and input from local players, shapes the strategic thinking of the group, helps them make tough choices about where to spend their time and energy, and guides their efforts at monitoring and evaluating their work. Ask anyone involved in the effort about where they are going and their road map for getting there, and they will tell you. That quote is from a paper Channeling Change:called Making Collective Impact Work By Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, & Mark Kramer published by Stanford University.

Biosphere Reserves in Canada: Exploring ideals and experience by Sally Lerner is a retired Associate Professor who at the time held an Adjunct position in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo. Printed in ENVIRONMENTS a journal of interdisciplinary studies connected to the University of Toronto. The article discusses how the best practices developed by Tamarack can be adapted into use for building and protecting Biosphere Reserves. The discussion is on page 92-93

An Article written for the Horizon Policy Research Institute Comprehensive Community Initiatives: Promising Directions for “Wicked” Problems? by Bob Gardner uses the research and work that the Tamarack Institute does to find solutions to social problems. "In May 2010, Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement and the J.W. McConnell family Foundation jointly sponsored a Strategic Dialogue to consider these kinds of questions, in relation to their Vibrant Communities and other comprehensive collaborative community initiatives directed towards poverty reduction. This article is based upon background research commissioned for this conference.1"

There was a international study on 'knowledge to action' (KTA) done in relation to chronic diseases and public health. In their student of global work in KTA they focused on the work of the Tamarack Institute and Vibrant Communities Initiative. See: Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2015 May; 35(3): 47–53.

Here are additional news articles about their work CBC Article about their work with homelessness in the Kitchener Waterloo Area Rockford_Register_Star About their work in Rockford to create meaning full changes in Rockford, by the newspaper's editorial board Two stories about their work in The_Hamilton_Spectator, one where Maple Leaf Foods CEO is presenting at their conference Another where the mayor of Hamilton is inviting Tamarack to hold their conference in Hamilton because of what was inspired from previous years. Story about their work in Prince George. Another story about poverty reduction projects in Sault_Ste._Marie,_Ontario

True I did use a lot of 'inside' sources the last time. I hope that these sources are reliable, independent, and significant enough

"least one regional, statewide, provincial, national, or international source is necessary." - there is a sources from the US Government and Canadian Government sponsored research. The universities of Stanford University, University of Waterloo, and University of Toronto. News Articles about their work in Illinois, Hamilton, Kitchener/Waterloo and Sault Ste Marie in Ontario, Prince George in British Columbia.

I believe the issue started when one person noticed the wiki page could be improved but did not know what steps to take. Sorry forgot to sign it. Abutisechaba (talk) 15:45, 28 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, this is still insufficient. The first two articles (the PDF's) are not more than passing mention, and do not count as "significant". Only two of the articles you linked are on the institute itself and overall this does not qualify as "significant".--Jasper Deng (talk) 20:56, 30 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Delete: blatantly promotional, wholly unencyclopedic.   Dr Strauss   talk   08:45, 1 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete - I went through each of the sources like Jasper Deng did and have to come to the same conclusion. Before I write an article, I ask myself if independent reliable coverage provides enough information with which to build the narrative.  Any experienced editor should be able to extract enough meat so as to not have to go to the entity's website for anything except the address, if even that. There's very little history to be found in the sources I could find and those above, except for a mention of its founding year.  I don't know who the founder is even - maybe I missed it but it should be easier to find.  The majority of the media coverage seems to be about a few hosted Institute initiatives, i.e. their work fighting poverty, but there's not enough in my opinion to pass the general notability threshold WP:GNG. I recommend you wait for more media coverage, including more in-depth profiles, and reach out to an experienced editor who has done similar articles.  Also, Tamarack Institute should be the title - I think the current title is too promotional. TimTempleton (talk)  (cont)  00:33, 2 August 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.