Gravelbourg to Host Community Builders Workshop on May 5
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In an era of global economic uncertainty, building strong rural communities is more important than ever!
✅ Ideas to foster collaboration between organizations, businesses, and residents
✅ Practical solutions to address local challenges and create new opportunities
✅ Connections with like-minded leaders from southern Saskatchewan
Workshop Facilitator: Peter Kenyon OAM, Director, Bank of I.D.E.A.S.
Peter refers to himself as a community enthusiast and social capitalist. He is motivated by the desire to help create caring, healthy, inclusive, connected and enterprising communities, where all community members feel ‘they matter, belong and can contribute’, and where communities discover and mobilise their strengths and transform themselves. Peter has had a background as a youth worker, teacher, youth education officer, tertiary lecturer, farmer, small business operator and senior public servant. His employment experiences have included Director of Employment in Western Australia, Manager of the Community Employment Development Unit in New Zealand, Coordinator of the Natal KwaZulu Job Creation and Enterprise Strategy in South Africa and international youth and employment adviser to 26 countries.
Through his social enterprise organisation, the Bank of I.D.E.A.S (Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Action and Strategies), Peter has had over 35 years of experience working in the field of community and economic transformation. Such opportunities have enabled him to design, implement, test and refine a variety of change and renewal methodologies and tools in a wide range of rural and urban communities and local economies throughout Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa, Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North America. Project work has been undertaken in 59 countries. Peter is especially passionate about small rural town reinvention and has worked with over 2000 rural communities seeking to spark their own ideas and invest themselves in building sustainable economic futures.
Workshop Overview
International evidence drawn from positive rural and small-town reinvention initiatives in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA emphasizes the importance of seven locally driven development actions; namely:
- Continually growing and diversifying local leadership and capacity.
- Fostering a positive and can-do mindset.
- Actively encouraging healthy community behaviours related to inclusion, conversation, engagement and collaboration.
- Encouraging asset, idea and opportunity obsession.
- Developing community wow-factor.
- Enhancing lifestyle options related to housing, childcare, recreation, education, health, retail services and staying local.
- Creating the environment that supports local-based employment, enterprise and economic development.
The one-day workshop will focus upon the above seven locally driven development actions, to provide community builders the necessary principles, frameworks and tools to drive community change. The format of the workshop incorporates presentations, interactive group exercises and an open space experience. Action principles and frameworks will be illustrated by stories, practical examples and humour.