So much local

Local Bowen Island businesses tucking into dialogue on the circular economy last night.

Almost through a really busy month of travel and work which has been punctuated by some local volunteer work here on Bowen Island. It’s always a tricky thing, to work as a facilitator in one’s own home town, but I think it’s important to do especially as I spend a lot of time coaching and supporting others to do so. Working in your own home town, especially if its a small town like ours, comes which a special kind of peril if you are hosting conversations that are particularly fraught, as I have done over the years. When things don;t go well, it can make it awkward when you run into people at the General Store or on the soccer field, or on the trails.

Luckily for me these last two gigs have been more fun than that. One was working with our local Arts Council on some purpose and high level planning, and the other was last night when I facilitated a World Cafe at our local Business Summit during which 50+ businesses talked together about issues and opportunities for applying circular economy principles to our local context. Our municipality has decided that these principles will be embedded in the next iteration of our Official Community Plan, which is exciting, but it needs local businesses to get excited about it to in order for it to work well. Last night was really interesting, and I’m still working with the materials to look through what the Community Economic Development Committee can work with to provide really good information to the Council and the planning process, and to support local businesses in what they need.

In ten days or so I’ll co-host our bi-annual Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Roundtable which meets twice a year to talk about bigger issues around the governance of our local Biosphere Region. This is a cross sectoral group that comes together to share perspectives and offer ideas about how the Biosphere can help support emerging activities within the inlet.

When your basic operating principle is “leave more community than you found,” doing local work takes on a doubly important mission. I always want it to go well, and last night seemed to result in people wanting more good dialogue and deliberation and actually opportunities to come together and strategize about things they could do. That checks the boxes for me. After all I have to live with the consequences too!

What’s your experience working locally? Do you do it, avoid it, embrace it…?