ABOUT THE BOOK
From subjects to citizens: it’s a transition that people in many nations of the world have made during the last 100 years. But it hasn’t been easy. Community building has been impeded by two world wars, economic hardship, oppression, persecution, and fumbling attempts at international order. It is undeniable, though, that humanity has made significant progress in empowering citizens to take control of their destiny. This book traces that progress through the remarkable and previously unpublished story of one man, Peter Oberlander.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Cameron has had a distinguished career in planning in Ontario and British Columbia, guided by the training and mentorship of Peter Oberlander and the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. A founder and former Chair of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, Ken Cameron is the author, with Mike Harcourt and the late Sean Rossiter, of City Making in Paradise: Nine Decisions that Saved Vancouver (Douglas & McIntyre, 2007). He lives in Vancouver, Canada with his partner Angie Walkinshaw and he is an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.
ABOUT PETER
Born into a liberal, middle-class Jewish family in Vienna after World War I, Peter Oberlander had his life torn apart when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. After his father suffered incarceration and physical and mental abuse at the hands of the Nazis, Peter’s family escaped to England with the clothes on their backs. The British, facing the imminent threat of a German invasion, interned Peter and other refugees of military age from Austria and Germany as “enemy aliens.” Without his prior knowledge or consent, Peter and others were transported to Canada across the U-boat infested Atlantic to Canada in the hostile company of German prisoners of war, to a hostile reception by Canadian authorities who reflected the government’s philosophy that any Jewish refugee to Canada was one too many. Throughout this experience, Oberlander never lost his passion for architecture and city planning or his sense of his responsibility to contribute as a professional to a better world.

PAST EVENTS
Ken Cameron has spoken about citizenship and Showing the Way at many great events around Vancouver, BC.
LAUNCH
Showing the Way was officially launched at a UBC School of Community and Region Planning event on July 12 2018. Author Ken Cameron gave a talk relating Peter Oberlander’s contribution to the School and to the planning profession in British Columbia.
LECTURE - CITIZENSHIP AND CITIES: THE TORCH OF A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Free lecture - Citizenship and cities: the torch of a sustainable future
Adjunct Professor Ken Cameron introduced his new book, Showing the Way: Peter Oberlander and the Imperative of Global Citizenship September 24, 2018, at SFU Vancouver. Through the previously unpublished story of Oberlander’s progression from persecution and internment to becoming a pioneer in Canadian urbanism, Cameron's book elucidates the remarkable evolution of the concept of citizenship over the past 100 years. The lecture featured commentary by Dr. Patrick Smith, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of Governance Studies at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Smith’s research interests include metropolitan governance, global cities and local democracy. He was closely associated with Dr. Peter Oberlander in the latter’s role as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science and they collaborated on a number of studies and publications.


Presentation by Ken Cameron to Canadian Institute of Planners Online Conference for World Town Planning Day, November 5-9 2018
VIEW PRESENTATIONINVENTING A PROFESSION
“Peter Oberlander virtually invented British Columbia’s planning profession.” That comment was made by Professor Zack Taylor of Western University, an expert on regional governance, upon reading my book, Showing the Way: Peter Oberlander and the Imperative of Global Citizenship. Here are excerpts from the book to substantiate his statement.
