丁香园AV

Trust, Misinformation and Change: Tools for BC Communities in Facing the Polycrisis
Wes Regan
Thursday, December 14, 2023

Why do some people find it easier to believe that space lasers and ANTIFA started the fires in BC this summer instead of climate change making conditions riskier for fires? Why do some people oppose mundane planning work by associating it with vast and terrifying conspiracy theories instead of just emphasizing how it might impact them and why they find that concerning? As BC communities face complex and fast approaching challenges (Related to climate, artificial intelligence, etc.) misinformation risks exacerbating divisions and confusing communities about our risks, options, and opportunities as we face uncertain futures in which there are changes we could choose to make or those mother nature will make for us.

Wes has worked in community advocacy and capacity building as a non-profit leader, as a municipal planner, and as a public health policymaker during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he has experienced and observed issues of trust and distrust, communication, and disinformation from different vantage points. This inspired his concerns about and fascination with issues of power and trust and effective public engagement and deliberation amidst the growth in digital disinformation and misinformation.

Raising our Game: Advancing Community Economic Development with the Community Capital Compass
Dr. Mark Roseland
Thursday, November 16, 2023

Contemporary development often falls short in addressing the cascading environmental, economic and social issues communities face. The
Community Capital Compass is a transformative framework that transcends silos, empowering community developers to weave together social, cultural, economic, and environmental elements in an integrated and comprehensive way. The Compass is a guide to the why, the what, and most importantly, the how of creating sustainable, resilient, healthy, equitable, and prosperous places.

Mark Roseland is a groundbreaking sustainability leader innovating solutions for communities, governments, and organizations. Dr. Roseland is Professor and past Director of the School of Community Resources and Development, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, at Arizona State University. Before coming to ASU, he was at 丁香园AV, where he was a professor of planning in the School of Resource and Environmental Management and director of the Centre for Sustainable Community Development, which housed this Community Economic Development certificate program. The 5th edition of his Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments, was published in November 2023.

Dr. Roseland generously shared his slide deck, as well. 

Sustainability is not Self-Sufficiency: The Social Costs of Social Enterprises
Anne Jamieson
Thursday, October 12, 2023

Anne shares her insight into understanding how to identify and calculate the social costs incurred by social enterprises, especially employment and training social enterprises. Learn about determining your 鈥楤usiness Cost Recovery鈥�, and take a different approach to measuring social enterprise sustainability.

Anne Jamieson recently retired from United Way Greater Toronto and now does freelance work in the social enterprise sector. While at United Way, Anne ran the Toronto Enterprise Fund for almost 20 years, where she developed a robust curriculum and set of tools to support the start-up, stabilization and scale-up of employment social enterprises. Among these is the Business Cost Recovery methodology of identifying and separating social costs from business costs, and measuring sustainability.

Anne has long been committed to building a robust, vibrant and sustainable social enterprise sector in Canada. She launched the Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise series in 2004, is a founding member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, and is the former chair of the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable. Anne is also committed to expanding markets for social enterprises through advocating for social procurement and launched and managed the Social Purchasing Project from 2014 to 2019. Anne鈥檚 background is in small business development and, in contrast, international commercial finance. 

These are the spreadshets referenced in the lecture: Financial Planning Worksheets with auto links Oct23 & Social Costing Template Oct23

Creating Rural Routes to Climate Solutions
Derek Leahy
Thursday, September 21, 2023

Derek Leahy, Director of , covers the various strategies Rural Routes uses in having what many may view as a challenging conversation in a perhaps unlikely place: climate solutions in rural Alberta.

Derek and the Rural Routes team have years of experience implementing a climate solutions co-benefits engagement strategy and carefully crafting it to make sense for the rural Alberta context. Whether it is exploring which climate solutions align with Blackfoot culture or discussing the soil health benefits of increasing soil carbon sequestration on agricultural land, Rural Routes' approach to community engagement on climate solutions is very much about finding ways to leverage climate solutions to support thriving and resilient rural communities.

Derek is best described as part community organizer, part somewhat-skilled farmhand and part storyteller. He has over a decade of experience as an organizer and communicator on climate and food security issues and has led Rural Routes to Climate Solutions since its inception in 2017. Equipped with the message of 鈥榳hat is good for the climate is good for the farm鈥�, Rural Routes is a on mission to empower farmers, ranchers and rural communities in Alberta with climate solutions. Rural Routes is currently involved in two flagship projects, the Regenerative Agriculture Lab and the Siksikaitisitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) Agriculture Project. Derek also hosts and produces the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast. He lives in Calgary.

Enriching Communities by Applying CED Principles to Organizational Recruitment Practices
Adrienne Kovacs, Locum Home
Thursday, August 17, 2023

How does recruitment influence communities? Likewise, how can the five principles of Community Economic Development be applied to recruitment to build stronger organizations? Adrienne Kovacs has a vision for a proactive recruitment model that is both organizationally effective and community focused. Join this engaging session to learn about how organizations that embrace innovation and unleash creativity can improve the quality of life for both their employees and their community.

Adrienne is a Human Resources professional with fifteen years experience working in Recruitment and HR for large-scale organizations in BC. As someone who has lived in various regions of the province, both urban and rural, she has a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities that organizations face when recruiting professionals to their communities.

As an optimist at heart, Adrienne was drawn to recruitment because she sees it as 鈥榯he happy place of Human Resources鈥�. But she鈥檚 learned that some recruitment practices don鈥檛 always lead to positive outcomes so she鈥檚 sharing her experiences to ensure that every organization can benefit from a wholistic approach to recruitment.

Adrienne generously shared her presentation with us, too. Click to open.

Creating Welcoming, Innovative & Reslient Communities
Daniela Seiferling, Rural Development Network
Thursday, July 20, 2023

As an employer it can be challenging to find the human resources required to sustain your business and community. How can we create innovative, welcoming and resilient communities through experiential learning? Join Daniela Seiferling to learn more about two projects from the that are building capacity for rural and remote employers.

Daniela Seiferling is the Program Manager for the READI to Work project and the Rural Roots initiative. She has over 10 years experience with the nonprofit sector, including the delivery of skilled volunteer and experiential learning programs.

Fostering Thriving Local Economies: Commercial Real Estate, Inclusive Economic Development and Community Building
Steven Johnston, Community Impact Real Estate
Thursday, June 15, 2023

In a city like Vancouver, real estate is inevitably at the centre of any discussion regarding the liveability of the City. The residential affordability crisis rightly takes centre stage in conversations around the future viability of neighbourhoods and their potential to provide a home to all residents. However, there is a parallel crisis in commercial real estate affordability that is often overlooked. Rising lease rates make it incredibly difficult for non-profits, social enterprises and, small businesses to remain in community close to the constituents they serve. In neighbourhoods like the Downtown Eastside that means residents are losing access to affordable goods and services and growing increasingly disconnected form the place they call home. Community Impact Real Estate was created to think differently about commercial real estate, disrupt the traditional leasing model and, work towards fostering inclusive local economies that provide opportunities for all residents to thrive and prosper. This session will examine the model and unpack the way commercial real estate can be leveraged to create cohesive, whole communities.

Speaker Steven Johnston is a seasoned executive with more than 18 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector, working to improve the social and economic circumstances of vulnerable populations. He began his career in community economic development at Dixon Hall in Toronto, where he played a key role in building and supporting innovative programming for at-risk residents in the inner city. He relocated to Vancouver in 2014 to lead Tradeworks Training Society, where he guided the growth and revitalization of the agency鈥檚 critical employment and social enterprise programs. The majority of his experience supporting populations facing barriers to employment, including concurrent disorders and homelessness, comes from working in two of Canada鈥檚 most challenged and impoverished urban communities: Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside and Toronto鈥檚 Regent Park. He has developed, delivered, and led innovative programming to provide support and solutions to improve the lives of residents with a focus on income generation and grounded in a social determinants of health perspective. He serves on a number of community boards, including the Advisory Board of the Binners鈥� Project, and is a mentor to many organizations in the Downtown Eastside.

Cultural Food Assets: Strengthening Our Local Food Economies
Janine de la Salle MA, RPP, MCIP; Principal, Urban Food Strategies
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Cultural Food Assets (CFAs) are at the heart of community. From food markets and districts in towns and cities to hunting and fishing grounds in rural and remote areas, CFAs create a sense of belonging and are intrinsically connected to local food economies. With increasing land values and development pressure in urban to remote areas, CFAs are being displaced and destroyed. Planners, economists, and politicians can play an important role as community allies and stewards of CFAs. This session will present core definitions and examples of CFAs as well as five steps for planning for CFAs in your community. 

Janine de la Salle brings over 17 years of experience in building healthy communities and resilient food systems with government, university, private and non-profit sectors.

Jane's Walk: Citizen-Led Participation in City Design
Guest speakers Jane's Walk co-chair Wesley Reibeling and former co-chair Geraldine Cahill
Thursday, April 20, 2023

Jane鈥檚 Walk is a global event of volunteer free walking tours held in May each year. Since its inception, Jane's Walk has existed in over 500 cities worldwide and can be used as a participatory tool for communities to lead local conversation at any time, anywhere. The global initiative of Jane's Walk is inspired by activist and urban studies scholar, Jane Jacobs.

Wesley Reibeling (he/him) is the co-chair of Jane's Walk, an advisory board member at UrbanMinds, a member of The Highline Equity Toolkit Committee and the Toronto Program Manager at Park People. 

Geraldine is currently serving as Director of Engagement at Social Innovation Canada where she oversees strategic communications development and facilitates multi-stakeholder projects in issues like affordable housing and inclusive economic development. 

 The slides are here.

Interactive Visualization as Tools for Participatory Planning and Stakeholder Engagment
Dr. Robert Newell
Thursday, March 16, 2023

Advancements in geographic information system (GIS), video game development software, and media technologies have created new opportunities for developing realistic, interactive visualizations that can be used as tools for community and stakeholder engagement in participatory planning processes. Dr Newell is the Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability at Royal Roads University, and a Research Associate at the Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley.

The Future of Financial Services in Economic Reconciliation
with Jon Davey, VP Indigenous Financial Services, Scotiabank
Thursday, February 16, 2023

Legislative and regulatory constraints continue to impact the ability Indigenous nations, businesses, and individuals to access capital and generate wealth. Financial institutions are now allocating significant resources to not only meet the demands of Indigenous leaders, but provide innovative solutions to help navigate and remove barriers to economic prosperity.

Positioning Indigenous-led Organizations in Urban and Rural Context with Mary Beth Doucette
Thursday, January 19, 2023

Mary Beth Doucette is the Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies & Assistant Professor in the Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University. Mary Beth's professional and research interests are focused in Aboriginal-led Economic Development, which she describes as an action-oriented field of study at the nexus of Indigenous-led education, self-governance, and Community-led Economic Development. For anyone working in this space, she suggests it is essential to be attentive of one鈥檚 positionality. She will preview the strategies and toolkits she uses when making sense of social cues in context when moving between groups of practice. Mary Beth very kindly shared her updated slide deck with us here. 

Who Owns Your Grocery Store? with author Jon Steinman
Thursday, December 8, 2022

Who owns the grocery store you shop at? Does it matter? Author Jon Steinman thinks so. Grocery stores exert considerable influence on human and environmental health and on local economies. Steinman believes grocery stores are the most influential of any institution in shaping the future of food. With such an important function to play, how might Canadians ensure that our grocery stores operate responsibly? How might a grocery store become a hub for all things Community Economic Development?

Asset Management and CED
with David Allen, Executive Director, Asset Management BC
Thursday, November 24, 2022

David is a former Chief Administrative Officer with significant municipal experience at five BC local governments. For the past eight years, he was the co-chair of the AMBC Community of Practice. David is the author of the The 4Cs for Sustainable Service Delivery: Collaboration, Capacity, Culture & Council, a regular contributor to the AMBC newsletter and is a passionate advocate of Asset Management.

Natural Assets Management in CED with Roy Brooke, Executive Director, Municipal Natural Assets Initiative
Thursday, October 27, 2022

How can local governments understand, value and make informed decisions regarding the benefits they receive from nature and ecosystems? By including natural asset management practices, community services provided by nature 鈥� including water quality, waste removal, disaster resilience, and recreation 鈥� can be provided in a cost-effective and sustainable manner now and into the future.