Rural Communities Summit

Port Hardy, 2010

The Port Hardy Civic Centre was the site of the 6th BC Rural Communities Summit, “Transforming Rural Economies: Change and Innovation”, held March 16-18, 2010. Over 145 participants from rural and remote communities across BC attended the Rural Summit, as well as representatives from province-wide service providers, initiatives, aboriginal organizations and government departments. Participants had 25 workshops and presentations to choose from, and frequent opportunities to network and socialize. This year’s Summit was coordinated jointly by the BC Rural Network, the District of Port Hardy and Rural Team BC (Canadian Rural Partnership).

The Summit was officially opened with a welcome greeting from Hereditary Chief George Hunt of the Kwakiiutl First Nation. The keynote speaker was Harry Nyce, President, Union of BC Municipalities and Nisga’a Hereditary Chieftain. In his address, Chief Nyce spoke about the value of mobilizing and supporting the social and economic participation of all our community members. He emphasized the value of youth in our communities, and the mentoring and education of rural youth as critical to the long term resiliency of our communities. He acknowledged the on-going importance of dialogue between aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities to develop understanding and trust, and to foster collaboration.

Workshop themes addressed a broad range of issues, needs and opportunities facing rural communities. These included rural energy options, building collaboration, literacy, sustainability planning, economic development models, building senior and disability-friendly, and active communities, leadership development, green infrastructure policy development, youth leadership and perspectives, workforce training and retention, invasive plant management, aquaculture, population diversity, First Nations education, and finally, adaptive strategies to economic and demographic changes.

In addition to the concurrent workshops, plenary presentations provided an opportunity for discussion by all participants on two key issues for rural and remote communities in BC.

On Wednesday morning, Jessie Hemphill, Comprehensive Community Planner for Gwa’sala ‘Nakwaxda‘xw Band facilitated a panel presentation on Rural Youth Initiatives with Laura Archer of Golden and Clara Foulds from Nelson. We heard about the leadership and contributions of rural youth in the province. The panelists identified the enthusiasm and often differing perspectives of youth as key assets in community building. Attendees were provided with ideas on how to approach and incorporate youth in community solutions and projects.

On Wednesday afternoon, George Penfold, Regional Innovation Research Chair for Rural Economic Development at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC gave a presentation on the “Harnessing the Tide” initiative proposing a new approach to economic development in Rural BC. Partnering with the BC Real Estate Foundation, Harnessing the Tide has undertaken including a series of background research papers, case studies and a major conference on successful rural revitalization. Penfold provided a summary description of the 12 Best Practices in Rural Economic Revitalization that were identified as part of this project.”

A highlight of the Rural Summit was the Protocol Signing Ceremony and banquet. An initiative of the Regional District of Mount Waddington with funding from the Union of BC Municipalities “Community to Community” grant, the protocol is considered a first step in working together toward future bilateral and multilateral agreements within the regional. Signatories to the protocol include all local communities, the Regional District and all local First Nation Bands.

In the Rural Summit evaluations, many participants expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to gather, share ideas and network at the BC Rural Communities Summit. Others articulated a desire for more policy discussion at the Rural Summits, and the need for provincial and federal governments to think upstream and support policies which support rural communities. Finally, participants spoke to the value and resiliency of rural communities in BC, and their passion to continue living rural.

Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Summit participants valued time for dialogue and interaction in the workshops, as well topical relevance and the use of concrete examples in the sessions. Participants also provided the Summit organizers with some practical suggestions for the next BC Rural Summit.

Workshop summaries, evaluations and general comments make up the bulk of this report and are included in the next two sections. A participant list is included at the end of the report. This Summary Report will be distributed to all Summit participants, Summit funders and sponsors, as well as over 100 provincial and federal government representatives. The report will also be shared with thousands of rural citizens and organizations in BC through communication networks for viewing and downloading, including the BC Rural Communities Summit website and the BC Rural Network website.

The 6th BC Rural Communities Summit organizers want to thank this year’s Summit sponsors. Your support is such a big part of the Summit’s continued success in generating and sustaining strong rural voices and connections in BC:

Fraser Basin Council
Canadian Rural Partnership
District of Port Hardy
BC Hydro
Province of British Columbia
Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC
Epcor
Overwaitea
Government of Canada
CivicInfo BC
Mount Waddington Transit
Regional District of Mount Waddington
Community Future Development
Corp of Mt. Waddington

100 Mile House, 2008

The District Municipality of 100 Mile House was the site of the 5th BC Rural Communities Summit, held March 13-15, 2008. Over 130 participants from rural and remote communities across BC attended the Rural Summit, as well as representatives from province wide-service providers, initiatives and government departments. Participants had 23 workshops and presentations to choose from, and frequent opportunities to network and socialize. This year’s Summit was coordinated jointly by the BC Rural Network, the Cariboo Regional District and Rural Team BC (Canadian Rural Partnership).

The Summit was officially opened with a welcome greeting from Chief Mike Archie of the Canim Lake Band. The keynote speaker was Laurie Ringaert, project director of Measuring Up the North, from Prince George. In her address, titled, ‘Building Inclusive Communities,’ Ringaert spoke about the value of mobilizing and supporting the social and economic participation of all our community members, and the need to make our rural communities accessible to all.

Workshop themes addressed a broad range of issues, needs and opportunities facing rural communities. These included food security, internet technology, small businesses, tourism and natural amenities, youth and senior leadership, bio-energy and bio-resources, local and regional sustainability, adaptive strategies to economic and demographic changes, the mountain pine beetle, First Nations leadership and collaboration, and finally, inclusive, integrated and holistic social planning, policy and community development.

In additions to the concurrent workshops, plenary presentations provided an opportunity for discussion by all participants on two key issues for rural and remote communities in BC.

On Thursday afternoon, Greg Halseth, Canada Research Chair in Rural and Small Town Studies and the Acting Director of University of British Columbia’s Community Development Institute, gave an extensive presentation for the Rural Economic Development Panel. Halseth spoke about the new rural economy in relation to the global economy, and the need for reinvestment in rural infrastructure, inclusive of human and community capacity, businesses and physical infrastructure. He added that rural communities already have many in-demand assets, including a strong sense of community, safety, recreation, key products, and marketing to global markets.

Halseth argued that the future of local rural economies in BC depends on the ability of rural communities to: 1) compete for low-cost production, 2) diversify their commodities mix to include value-added, amenities and local assets, 3) mobilize all four levels of partnership, including government, the private and educational sectors, and community, and; 4) work as regions and develop joint roles to reduce and equalize costs. Halseth also called for the balancing of economic and community development, remarking, “We don’t want to make the economy strong and destroy community at the same time.”

On Friday morning, four young women gave a panel presentation on Rural Youth Initiatives: Amy Greenwood, Fraser Basin Council; Dana Welsh, Columbia Basin Trust; Karly Proudfoot, BC 4H Club, and; Kim Lipscombe, Columbia Basin Trust. Panel attendees were informed about the leadership and contributions of rural youth in the province. The panellists identified the enthusiasm and often differing perspectives of youth as key assets in community building. Attendees were provided with ideas on how to approach and incorporate youth in community solutions and projects.

Three general themes resonated at the Closing Gathering of the BC Rural Communities Summit. Many participants expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to gather, share ideas and network at the BC Rural Communities Summit. Others articulated a desire for more policy discussion at the Rural Summits, and the need for provincial and federal governments to think upstream and support policies which support rural communities. Finally, participants spoke to the value and resiliency of rural communities in BC, and their passion to continue living rural.

Workshop summaries, evaluations and general comments make up the bulk of this report and are included in the next two sections. A participant list is included at the end of the report. Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Summit participants valued time for dialogue and interaction in the workshops, as well topical relevance and the use of concrete examples in the sessions. Participants also provided the Summit organizers with some practical suggestions for the next BC Rural Summit. The desire for more Aboriginal representation was also noted.

A Summit Summary Report was be distributed to all Summit participants, Summit funders and sponsors, as well as over 100 provincial and federal government representatives. The report was also be shared with thousands of rural citizens and organizations in BC through communication networks for viewing and downloading, including the BC Rural Network website. www.bcruralnetwork.ca

In addition, the Summit Planning Committee would like to thank:

All the volunteers of this year’s Summit
The town of 100 Mile, and the 100 Mile Lodge and Conference Centre for making us feel so welcome
The Red Coach Restaurant for their wonderful catered meals and snacks
Cariboo Regional District IT Department for technical support throughout Summit

A call for host community proposals for the 6th BC Rural Communities Summit, to be held in 2010, will go out this fall, 2008. The successful community will be announced spring 2009 at the BC Rural Network’s AGM and Member Workshops. Please consider joining us. To keep up to date on these and other upcoming events, please visit us at www.bcruralnetwork.com.

On behalf of the Rural Summit Planning Committee, thank you, again, to everyone for another great BC Rural Communities Summit.

Co-Chair Maureen LeBourdais, Coordinator, BC Rural Network
Co-Chair Shelly Burich, Manager of Communications, Cariboo Regional District
Brandon Hughes, BC Rural Team (Canadian Rural Partnership)
Nadine Kainz, Ministry of Community Services
Louise Renard, Service Canada
Gail Wallin, Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Manager, Fraser Basin Council
Dana Welsh, Youth Coordinator, Columbia Basin Trust

Osoyoos 2006

The 4th Annual BC Rural Communities Summit “Strengthening Links Between Rural Communities” was held in Osoyoos BC, April 20 -22, 2006. Building on the momentum of previous Summits, and on the activity of the BC Rural Network since its inception in 2004, this joint conference brought together 185 participants from across the province, representing communities, organizations, and local, provincial, and federal governments that work on issues of importance to rural and remote communities in BC.

Community Futures Development Corporation of Okanagan Similkameen was the
coordinator of the 4th Annual BC Rural Summit, and made the decision to join forces with the BC Rural Network, in order to bring together a broader, more diverse and representative cross-section of rural BC than either organization had been able to do at previous events. With the additional support of the BC Rural Team, “Strengthening Links Between Rural Communities” provided an opportunity for rural residents and representatives of rural organizations from across the province to come together, share lessons learned from local and regional initiatives, develop new partnerships, and renew and strengthen existing ones.

Keynote speaker Flo Frank spoke to the need for rural communities and organizations to “get on the same page”, to work together with each other and all levels of government to make the sometimes limited resources of rural communities go farther in addressing our common concerns and challenges. In the 23 workshops and presentations, as well as in the 3 plenary presentations, Summit participants heard the voices of rural youth, First Nations, francophones province-wide organizations, and local community champions. They shared their experiences addressing a wide range of rural community issues, from community safety to broadband access, from volunteer recruitment and retention to innovative transportation initiatives, from climate change impacts to urban rural migration trends. Summaries of all these workshops and presentations are included in this Summary Report, as well as the evaluations and comments from those who attended them.

Summit participants were asked to provide input into the future of the BC Rural Summit. With the advent of the BC Rural Network, there is now a formal non-profit organization in this province that has both the capacity and the mandate to hold province-wide annual rural networking events. The question was posed whether rural BC, as represented at the Summit, wanted the BC Rural Network take a lead role in providing continuity and support to future local community organizations that are chosen to host the Summit each year. The 1st Annual General Meeting of the BC Rural Network, held in conjunction with the Summit, also surveyed its members and other attendees as to what role the BC Rural Network should take in future province wide events. Summit co-facilitators Tracy Summerville and Gail Wallin provided some guidance and analysis of the input provided.

Conference participants, based on the completed evaluations, were strongly positive about having ample opportunity to participate in well-facilitated workshops on relevant topics. They felt the event was an effective approach to supporting rural community development. They appreciated having ample ”white space” - non-structured time during meals and breaks – to network informally with each other, and to “process” all the information they were receiving. Representation and a strong voice for rural youth at the Summit was seen as a very positive step forward. Evaluation respondents also felt this Summit provided significant momentum in developing a strong rural voice in BC.

The 4th BC Rural Summit Planning Committee and the BC Rural Network will meet to determine a process for choosing the location of the 5th BC Rural Summit. The full Summit report can be found at: http://www.bcruralnetwork.ca/node/91

Report on the Rural Communities Summit in Merritt 2005

The 3rd Annual Rural Communities Summit took place in Merritt June 16-18, 2005. Our final tally was 78 registrants and 30 speakers (plus about 9 spouses). Although overall numbers were lower than hoped for, we did have very good representation from across the province. The following communities sent representation:

Armstrong
Barriere
Cache Creek
Chase
Clinton
Creston
Elkford
Fernie
Houston
Invermere
Kaslo

Keremeos
Lillooet Logan Lake
Lytton
Mackenzie
Merritt
Nelson
Princeton
Rossland
Sicamous
Spallumcheen

Sparwood
Tumbler Ridge
Valemount
Regional Districts
Non Government Agencies
Upper Nicola Band
Lower Nicola Band
Provincial ministries
Western Economic Diversification
Federal government

Small communities have very limited budgets for sending delegates to conferences so it was gratifying to see so many communities represented. Somewhat disappointing was provincial government representation being limited to one MLA from Bulkey-Stikine. Unfortunately the Provincial swearing in ceremonies coincided with the conference and so the Premier and others sent regrets. We did, however, have good representation from the Federal government with the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Communities (who came all the way from PEI), WED reps and a member from Industry Canada (northern region). Mr. Easter gave a very inspirational address regarding the importance of rural communities and our need to band together to make our voice heard. An interesting note from Mr. Easter was that Ottawa defines “rural” as any population under 250,000!

We were very fortunate with sponsorships to help cover the costs of the conference. Our sincere thanks to WED, Terasen, BC Hydro, BC Transmission Corp, TNRD, MFA, Princeton, Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women Services and the Canadian Rural Partnership. Local sponsors provided some door prizes and smaller amounts. Epcor and Nestle provided copious amounts of bottled water, and Hester Creek Estate Winery sponsored a wine tasting on our opening reception.

Maureen LeBourdais facilitated the sessions on the future of the Rural Communities Summit. She offers the following report:

“I could not help but be impressed by the strong sense of ownership participants have for the BC Rural Summits. Whether listening to the lively discussions talking place in the workshops, or talking one-on-one with individual Summit participants, I repeatedly heard two perspectives that provides us with direction for the future of the BC Rural Summit:

There is strength in bringing forward a collective rural voice: Participants greatly value the BC Rural Summit for providing an opportunity to meet and dialogue face to face with others from communities like our own – with people who “get it” when it comes to issues of concern to rural citizens.
There is strength in bringing forward a continuous rural voice: There is recognition that we need to effectively continue the dialogue between Summits.

Keynote speaker Greg Halseth’s “Top 10 Tips for Rural BC” resonated with participants, and his first tip – “scale up” – speaks to a desire by participants to expand the BC Rural Summit and bring a wider rural audience to the discussions. The advent of the BC Rural Network is timely, and will take direction through 5 regional forums held around rural BC over the next few months on how communication between Summits can best help us in the work we do, back in our communities. Partnering with Canadian Rural Partnerships, the BC Rural Team, and the BC Rural Network, on the 4th BC Rural Summit, to be held in Osoyoos in 2006, will combine the audiences of each of these organizations and expand the scope of the our “collective voice” at the next Summit.

In the closing plenary, Janice Lacko with the Rural Artisans Community – Kingfisher, brought forward three key guiding principles that were endorsed unanimously by attendees. These value statements will be carried forward as organizing principles for the 4th Annual BC Rural Summit in 2006.

We meet because of the values we have in common:

We value sustainable rural communities that our children and grandchildren could chose to live in,
We value healthy dialogue with policy makers; we want to strengthen the link between healthy dialogue and healthy communities,
We take responsibility for doing our part to ensure rural economic development, based on community interests.”

The Merritt organizing committee thanks all who participated and we hope that you had a good and productive time. We trust that your visit gave you a small taste of the many things that Merritt and the Nicola Valley has to offer and that you will return for some fun time.

The Rural Communities Summit is gathering strength and the next one in Osoyoos will be a strong amalgamation of groups supporting rural communities. Keep your eye on this website for upcoming details, and don’t forget to spread the word.

Chair’s Summary

Rural Communities Summit – Rossland ‘04

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to attend the first Rural Communities Summit held inClearwater, BC in June of 2003. Through out the two and a half day conference it was obvious that rural issues were raised by the speakers and discussed in detail during the workshops. Although the principal focus being economic development, other issues such as strengthening rural education, improving rural health care, tourism development, sustaining resource sectors and partnerships with first nations were brought forward.

The Rural Communities Summit broke new ground for rural BC communities and it was recognizedthat the Summit should be an annual event and I supported the continuation of the Summit in Rossland, BC. Thus Rossland was selected to host the 2nd Annual Rural Communities Summit on June 24 – 26, 2004. Approximately one hundred and fifty delegates from rural communities through out British Columbia attended the two and a half day conference to discuss issues regarding rural economic development and sustainability. Rossland also recognized considerable economic spin-off and provincial recognition as a progressive community.

A complete cross section of rural BC was in attendance, from local, regional, provincial and federal government, colleges and universities, government and non-government organizations and private businesses and individuals.

An interesting debate concluded the Rossland Summit, with some believing that the outcome of the Summit spoke to many authentic concerns of rural British Columbia and should be strong in voicing policy direction with provincial and federal governments.

Others believed that those elected officials in attendance gained an insight into rural issues and would consider them their future policy decisions. It was also stated in the debate that by taking a firm policy direction the Summit may limit this cross section of attendance.

In conclusion the Rural Communities Summit is essential in community networking and to the sustainability of rural BC.

I would like to offer a sincere thank you to all the people who worked diligently and the tremendous support from our sponsors toward the success of the Rossland Summit.

The 3rd annual Summit will be held in Merritt, BC in 2005 with Sicamous, BC seeking to host the 2006 Summit. I wish these communities success and look forward to offering them our continued support.

Kelly Stilling
Chair
Rural Communities Summit – Rossland ‘04

Clearwater 2003

The idea for a provincial gathering of BC’s rural communities emerged at the community level in September 2002.

The central interior community of Clearwater, facing high unemployment as a result of the local mill closure as well as the loss of services due to policies of recentralization, held Town Hall meetings in a community capacity building initiative. These meetings produced several recommendations.

Recognizing that Clearwater’s struggles were not unique in rural BC, one recommendation was to host a Summit where concerned rural advocates from across the province could enter into a dialogue with policy makers around key issues and policy changes effecting rural communities.

Alliances were forged at the community level, interest spread and the regional planning committee was formed. Despite obstacles, financial and otherwise, interest and commitment continued to build. A huge, central need to link together rural interest propelled The Rural Communities Summit effort forward.

Province-wide focus groups were formed to ensure Summit themes reflected key issues across regions and sectors. Additional input came from other leaders across the province.

Organizers noted reoccurring issues around the following major themes:

First Nations rights, settlements and collaborations with rural communities
Resource use for the benefit of rural communities
Structures of local governance which allow for greater autonomy
Address the impact of job loss and re-centralization of services

The first Rural Communities Summit, held June 19-21, 2003 at Clearwater Secondary School, worked to provide networking opportunities, and laid the foundation for strategies to make positive impacts on rural sustainability.

Respected speakers, panelists from First Nation communities, business and industry, as well as public and private sectors complemented more than twenty workshops focused on rural sustainability. More than 300 people were involved in the event.

Rossland Councillor Kelly Stilling attended the Clearwater Summit and requested that the second annual Rural Communities Summit be held in Rossland. The Summit is to be held June 24-26, 2004 at the Rossland Secondary School and will once again focus on key issues regarding rural sustainability.