Institute For The Future

Sustain Saskatchewan

 

"Trees make the prairies tolerable." 

 

 

 

 

PARC researcher Norm Henderson's comment was met by knowing laughs in a small conference room in Saskatoon. I couldn't exactly share their sentiment: I  grew up on the West Coast, all over the West Coast, but always no more than an hour or two from a forest and/or mountains. The crowd had come to learn about how climate change could impair the treasured fringe forests of the plains, and how human effluents could save them while developing a more effective water infrastructure in the long run.  I was in the coldest, flattest place I'd ever been, and listening to proposed innovations in ecologically nuanced sustainable development that it had never occurred to me to even try and imagine. 

 

 

 

 

However did I get here? I was asked to give a keynote address (my first!). The topic? Global-local food system connections and resilience (my favorite!). By whom? The Saskatchewan Economic Development Association (SEDA), for a conference of local and regional economic development officers and food processors from all over the province.  I was in good company!  Participants were working to forge a course of sustainable development amidst a bonanza of non-renewable resource extraction, to foster cooperation amongst different sectors of local communities, to nurture local and regional food systems without falling into protectionist policies.  These were not people who were "not going to live in any ecosystem," as one speaker quipped she had once been told.  

 

 

 

 

My fellow speakers were great. Michelle Long was brimming with stories of her community, which she described as a "petri dish of transformational change." She's co-founder and executive director of Sustainable Connections in Bellingham, Washington, one of the oldest of now over 80 community networks that comprise the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).  Now there is a superstructure if ever I saw one! 

 

 

 

 

<blockquote>North America's fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of over 80 community networks with over 21,000 independent business members across the U.S. and Canada. BALLE brings together independent business leaders, economic development professionals, government officials, social innovators, and community leaders to build local living economies. We provide local, state, national, and international resources to this new model of economic development.

[…]

BALLE believes in the power of bottom-up, networked change. In the age of the Internet and social networking and the emergence of “glocalism” as a new form of social consciousness, we believe that never before have communities possessed as much power to determine their futures as they do today and in ways that are good for people, places and the planet.

By catalyzing and connecting local business networks dedicated to Living Economy principles, we are movement builders, growing an ever-expanding constituency for sustainable businesses and sustainable communities, from Main Street to the world. By strengthening these networks, we are field leaders, deepening our understanding of community economic development frameworks and practices while experimenting with innovations aimed at building thriving local economies.</blockquote>

 

 

 

 

Her stories ranged from the economic multipliers of local businesses to farm apprenticeships to bike racks. Her descriptions of the Whatcom farm incubator project were especially interesting: increasing knowledge and participation in farming practices while sharing some of the most prohibitive elements of getting into farming and staying there: non-land capital investments like tractors, irrigation equipment, etc.  Increasing the spread of knowledge about food production and democratizing the means to do so in a vital endeavor, regardless of the proportion of actual local food production.  

 

 

 

 

The other speaker, David Chernushenko, works at the heart of the Power Struggle Superthreat.  He shared clips and stories from communities in North America and Europe (previews from his soon-to-be-released documentary, Powerful) that embody the connections between renewable energy and community-level governance for resilient development.  He's also a preeminent author in the world of greening sports (including the Olympics!), and generally a really smart guy.  

 

 

 

 

All in all, not a bad trip to the frozen north.  Thanks, SEDA, for having me.