November Project Update
By Nancy Mattes, Director, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo One of the important jobs of the Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo project is building and strengthening networks. Coming into the project I didn’t think this aspect of our work would become so important, but as my understanding of social innovation deepens, I am beginning to appreciate why […]
Guiding Principles to Help You Develop Better Capacity Building Strategies
By Nancy Mattes, Director, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo For the first time since I began visiting Fort McMurray in 2009, my role at the recent Convergence YMM Summit was to listen and observe. Normally I would have been helping behind-the-scenes, but this time it was a real pleasure for me to be one of the participants. […]
Report from a Globe Trotting Social Innovator
By Ken S. Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and Co-Director of Research, International Centre for Northern Governance and Development, University of Saskatchewan I have been away from Fort McMurray for a year and a half – far too long – but I have been keeping busy! Nor have […]
A Learning Journey Part 2: Getting Legislation That Helps
By Kim Nordbye, Project Manager. Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo In April, I embarked on a two-part learning journey, having the honour of attending two incredible conferences. In A Learning Journey Part 1 – Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact, I shared my learning from the first conference. Now, in part 2, the focus shifts to […]
A Learning Journey Part 1: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact
By Kim Nordbye, Project Manager. Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo In April, I embarked on a two-part learning journey, having the honour of attending two incredible conferences. The first was hosted by the Tamarack Institute and attended by approximately 100 people from across Canada and the United States including 11 people from a wide variety of Fort […]
How Do You Measure What Really Matters?
By Nancy Mattes, Director, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo Do you ever catch yourself thinking that you love your community? Usually this happens to me when I’m travelling outside of Canada, and I’m seeing things that don’t exist in my neck of the woods. It also happens when I’m hearing stories of persecution, injustice or crimes […]
Caring Community
By Nancy Mattes, Director, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo At the recent launch of Paul Born’s new book, “Deepening Community: Finding Joy Together in Chaotic Times,” long-standing regional chair Ken Seiling told the audience that one of the reasons Waterloo Region is known as a great place for people to live, work and raise a family […]
Measuring What Matters
By Russell Thomas, Executive Director (Interim), Arts Council Wood Buffalo A former boss of mine, back in my radio broadcasting days, often repeated the admonition, “What gets measured gets done.” Arriving here in 1996, I was surprised to discover a level of professionalism and diligence that, at first, seemed over the top, but eventually began to […]
The "Look into Wood Buffalo" Community Wellbeing Survey: Time for Personal Reflection
By Nancy Mattes, Director, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo A group of community leaders are working with the Canadian Index of Wellbeing to conduct a communty wellbeing survey which starts on May 3rd and runs through to June 20th. The purpose of this survey is to gather information on community wellbeing to help decision-makers better understand […]
Reflecting on Wood Buffalo – Community Wellbeing Survey
Guest Blog by Brandi Gartner, Oil Sands Community Alliance, Fort McMurray Self-reflection – In some cases, this is a simple concept and is a personal experience. I have learned that incorporating self-reflection into my own experiences, both professionally and personally, allows me to get a sense of what is happening around me. It is a […]
