Big Ideas to shape BC's resilient future
Joanna Ashworth, PhD, director, Imagine BC, Dialogue Programs, 778.782.7883
Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, 778.782.5151
One hundred and fifty creative thinkers and leaders from throughout British Columbia will gather at Simon Fraser University’s Wosk Centre for Dialogue on Monday, February 23, 8:30 am-4:30 pm, for a final Imagine BC summit meeting to explore what “Big Ideas” matter most when it comes to shaping a resilient future for the province. Emerging and established leaders from First Nations, business, the universities and the environmental and community sectors will spend the day challenging each other to identify and champion a direction for the province that will contribute to citizens’ health, habitat and livelihood – now and into the future.
Two speakers, David Suzuki and Thomas Homer-Dixon, have been invited to stimulate imagination and conversation. In the morning session Suzuki will urge the group to move beyond the debate that our planet is in peril and explore ideas and solutions that can make a difference within a generation. In the afternoon session Homer-Dixon will propose that imagination, dialogue and increased diversity of systems will foster a resilient society, even in the most challenging times.
Delegates at the morning session will participate in focused dialogues led by the authors of a series of Big Idea essays (see below for a list).
The day will be co-chaired by former Imagine BC delegates -- Nadine Caron, University of Northern British Columbia, and David Helliwell, president of the Small Energy Group. Tony Penikett, former Yukon political leader turned negotiator, and Joanna Ashworth, director of SFU continuing studies' dialogue programs, will co-moderate.
Imagine BC is a non-partisan dialogue forum to bring people and ideas together to explore BC’s desired future. This five-year initiative is wrapping up its final year of programming with this summit and subsequent regional tour of the province. Funding for the project comes from the North Growth Foundation, the Vancouver Foundation, Western Economic Diversification and Simon Fraser University.
Big Idea essay authors include:
- Foregrounding Food in BC by Mark Holland and Janine de la Salle
- Literacy and Citizenship by Cynthia Whitaker
- Mental Health for the Future by Nancy Hall
- Green Space and Health by Rob Butler
- Energy Efficiency: Small Energy for the Future by David Helliwell
- Social Networking and Engagement by Candis Callison
- Health and Empowerment by Nadine Caron and Tony Penikett
- Teaching for Creativity by Nadia Chaney
- Sustainability Education at Universities by Janet Moore and Duane Elverum
- Eco-System Management: First Nations Work the Land by Art Sterritt
- Place-based Economics by Donna Morton
- Innovation and BC’s future economy by Jock Finlayson
- Cultural diversity and Community by Lorene Oikawa