There's still time to register! Celebrate Prince Edward Island’s resilience at the 10th North Atlantic Forum in Summerside, September 16-19
Seventeen years after the first North Atlantic Forum (NAF) was hosted in Charlottetown, UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies and Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) are pleased to invite Islanders to the 10th NAF and 27th CRRF conference—Building Community Resilience: Innovation, Culture, and Governance in Place—in partnership with the City of Summerside. Both NAF and CRRF are committed to supporting healthy communities, as demonstrated in our collaborations with Island-grown businesses, including the Summerside-based Samuel's Coffee House; Island Taylored Meats, Montague; and Charlottetown’s Prince Edward Island Farm Centre and Legacy Garden, during this four-day event.
Building Community Resilience opens at Summerside’s Harbourfront Centre (7:30 pm, Wednesday, September 16) with a public “fireside chat" focused on the effects of globalization. Dr. Kelly Vodden and Dr. Sally Shortall, leading academics in rural community development from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Queen’s University, Belfast, respectively, will speak to "Globalization: Who's Winning? Who's Losing?" The Premier and UPEI President will bring greetings on behalf of the Province and University. The opening is free to attend and includes the launch of Place Peripheral: Place-based Development in Rural, Island, and Remote Regions (ISER Books, Memorial University) and a special journal issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. The evening closes with a reception.
Share your thoughts on “voluntary simplicity” and how you might envision “a planned way down in terms of physical consumption” as part of the Island’s future at one of the pre-conference AHAH! Workshops. FairTrade Canada founder Bob Thomson, who introduced the international “convivial degrowth” movement to Montreal in 2012, will lead sessions in Souris (September 13, Souris Striders Ski Lodge, 2-4 pm) and Charlottetown (September 15, 12 pm, UPEI Faculty Lounge and 6-9 pm, Murphy Community Centre).
On September 17, the Mayor of Summerside, Bill Martin, will be on hand to welcome us to Summerside and to kick-start the conference at the Loyalist Country Inn, followed by a keynote address on indigenous resilience by Daniel G. Pottle, Nunatsiavut Minister of Finance, Human Resources and Information. Stories of international resilience will be highlighted by guest speakers Maura Walsh (Chief Executive Officer, IRD Duhallow, Ireland) and Shey Conover (Vice President, Programs, Island Institute, Maine). The keynote sessions offer opportunities for conversations about youth mobilization, gendered resilience, tourism development, environmental management, Aboriginal issues, and much more.
In order to showcase the Island’s own path to resilience, Friday’s agenda includes tours of Summerside’s wastewater treatment improvements and Slemon Park, as well as field trips engaging with Lennox Island’s heritage, the Kensington North Watershed area’s environmental challenges, and the Evangeline Region’s cultural economy. The conference closes in Charlottetown at the Farm Centre and Legacy Garden on 2:30 pm Saturday, September 19.
Building Community Resilience will bring approximately 70 unique perspectives from across and beyond the North Atlantic to the Island, through a series of papers, panels, and presentations. The conference draws from CRRF’s countrywide presence and the international network of researchers built as the NAF travelled from Prince Edward Island to Newfoundland and Labrador, Cape Breton Island, the Shetland Islands in the UK, the island of Bornholm in Denmark, and Iceland. The aim is to build momentum and extend support for communities to achieve societal and economic health and stability. French and English simultaneous translation will be available.
Join us to learn about how to get involved in the 11th North Atlantic Forum, to be hosted in Norway in 2017. Check pei2015.crrf.ca for upcoming details about the post-conference Summerside Youth Forum, planned in collaboration with the City of Summerside. A detailed conference program and schedule are accessible on the website as are online registration options for community tours, daily attendance, and full conference activities.
Contact NAF 2015 Conference Coordinator Emily Thomas at naf@upei.ca or (902) 566-0909.
