Cultural Creatives Are Showing Up in the Next Alberta

I love creative people with courage to imagine and explore.  Beth Sanders is just such a person.  She is an Urban Planner who I met a few years ago when she was working in Fort McMurray in the planning department of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

She runs her own business called Populus Community Planning Inc. and is a member of the progressive citizen's movement of Reboot Alberta.

She attended a symposium called Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta we at Cambridge Strategies co-sponsored with the ATA, Literacy Alberta and others.  As a "creative note taker, she wrote poems to capture the conversation.

Speaking of creative people, you may want to see if you are a Cultural Creative and therefore likely to be a Progressive too.  Check out the survey link "Are You a Cultural Creative?"   If you are you might want to meet like-minded Albertans at the Reboot Alberta site where you can register to the Taking Action gathering of Rebooters Nov 5-6 in Edmonton

As for Beth, the cultural creative, here is a sample of one of her symposium offerings that I offer to help make your day this crisp and cool Monday morning in our Alberta:

inspiring education

an important day

for inspiring education

listening for resonance

and build the next Alberta

with shock and awe

genuine wealth

and happiness

knowing neighbours

walking to school

in the absence of truth

myth pervades

stories

we need to talk about

conscious  of renaissance

of home

economy, ecology

in genuine well

being

resilient

spirit

care

holders

diversity heals

inner spirit

virtues, values

individual to collective

practically

measuring

happiness

when I hear the word

spirituality

I reach for my revolver

to revolt

oh, you do care

about friends, family, children

we’re not bad people

we can look here

to be happy

learning to live

together

then

literacy for efficiency, equity,

efficiency

happiness

not without

mismatched skills and jobs

but diverse interventions

for significant work

wrestling shortages

demanding literacy

to entice investment

so how to support, lead

catalyze change

continually improving complex systems

observe the time

for opening

taking, making

holding space

until then

an unusual choice for

a whole province

to aim quite high

transforming, designing, researching

choosing

commitment to

excellence, equity, value

add – ing

what is, to

what could/should be

resilience designed with talking, listening

conversation

for action

If Beth's poem resonates with you and if you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Alberta Needs to Design a New Future for Itself

Nice to see the op-ed in yesterday's Edmonton Journal written by economist Todd Hirsch.  Todd is turning into a first rate public intellectual with his op-ed writing.  Now he and Rob Roach of the Canada West Foundation are planning a new book on the creative economy entitled Re-writing the Code: Changing Canada's Economic DNA.  I am looking forward to it.


With all the changes happening in the world it is imperative for Canada - and Alberta especially - to shift from a virtually sole focus on a resource extraction economy into a more  right-brained economy and society.  The Dave Hancock Inspiring Education initiative as Minister of Education has been a step in the right direction.  The new Literacy Policy and framework for Alberta is now established and needs life breathed into it as a key part of this shift in consciousness.

I have been involved with others in a new initiative that addresses this overarching concern about the future of Alberta in a series of public dialogues entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta.  I encourage you to visit the site and see what we are up to in this effort to influence the future direction of Alberta.

The Premier's Council for Economic Strategy has a discussion paper out that starts to reshape the thinking around Alberta's future too. The Council is focused on six key questions:

1. What must Alberta do to earn a global reputation as a responsible energy producer and natural resource steward?
2. How can we ensure the Alberta of the future has a robust, stable economy and fiscal position?
3. What steps can Alberta take to create new wealth through knowledge and innovation?
4. How do we ensure we have the healthy skilled and engaged citizens needed to drive innovation and sustain prosperity?
5. How do we ensure Alberta's urban and rural communities are vibrant, supportive and inclusive?
6. How can we engage more strategically with the rest of Canada and the world?

All of these question integrate into each other - which is a good thing,  We need a robust and vibrant discussion amongst Albertans on each and every one of them.  There is a place to share your thoughts on these and other concerns with the Premier's Council here.  I strongly recommend you engage and exert some influence on the future of Alberta in this way.  I will be engaging on these questions over the next weeks through this blog and my public speaking opportunities.

So You Think You Want to be a School Trustee!

The Alberta School Boards Association is doing a candidate school for people standing for school trustee in the October elections. The next workshop for candidates is mid-September.  I am doing the politics part of it.  Go figure eh!  We did this for the first time in conjunction with the ASBA Spring Conference.  It was a lot of fun and very well received. I am looking forward to the next one.

Here is a link for more information.  If you are thinking of running as a school trustee this workshop is for you.  Here is the link to register

If you are interested in some of the new directions education and learning is going in Alberta you will want to check this links to Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta.

Alberta is Changing But for the Better or the Worse is the Question

"Why is this Man so Happy?" is an interesting "must read" from Avenue magazine's Edmonton edition on Mark Anielski, the award winning best selling author of "The Economics of Happiness."

Mark is a good friend and recently pitched in at the last minute at the Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta public dialogues in Edmonton and Calgary when David Peat became ill and could not travel from Italy.  He also added to the dialogue at the symposium on the same theme with Gwynne Dyer and Scott Murray.  Cambridge Strategies Inc. was please to sponsor this event with the ATA, Literacy Alberta, the University of Calgary and the four ATA locals in Edmonton and Calgary.

One of Mark's key messages has been that Genuine Progress Indicators are so much more relevant than old fashioned misleading Gross Domestic Product rates for measuring the stuff that really matters to individuals, communities and societies - and that is its well-being!

Mark noted at his presentation at the Learning Our Way event that happiness is 50% is genetic, 10% is education and capacity and 40% as a function of the quality of personal relationships.  Interesting mix of influences on one's happiness and something to work with for sure.  Seems to me we, as a society, better starting working on our personal and community capacity for people to relate better with each other and more often too if we are going to enhance our well being as individuals and groups and communities.

Mark's work in Edmonton in 2009 charted 49 genuine progress indicators.  His findings included that "Overall, the results of the well-being assessment show that Edmonton's overall state of well-being is in a health and improving condition, though there are some economic, social and environmental conditions that need attention, [such as] rising income inequality, rising levels of family disputes, loss of urban agricultural land..." to name a few.  We are well positioned for progress in this city but we can't rest on laurels.

Albertans are finding themselves on unfamiliar moving ground in the political, economic, social and environmental aspects of life in our province.  It is time to re-evaluate what we think is important - and how we measure success.  Our research at Cambridge Strategies shows a yearning and longing for change but an uncertainty of how to get there and what "there" looks like except it must be very different than the "here and now" because the latter is not working.  There is general feeling of dismay over the lack of leadership  politically, economically and socially.  There is more apparent leadership in environmental aspects but it is either too aggressive or too anemic.  There is a feeling that we lack viable alternatives to choose from to enable and empower the transformational change that many people aspire to pursue.  Mark is way ahead of the pack on that new path towards that transformational aspiration, both personally and professionally. 

As we go into the red zone of the October municipal elections in Alberta, it is perhaps timely for us a citizens to reflect on what make the "good life."   It is timely to rethink what it is we ought to strive for in pursuit of the good life and what we need to do as individuals and in society to achieve it.  Then we can ask our politicians - incumbent and aspiring, what they see that needs to be done in public policy to enhance our overall well-being.

Mark' s book "The Economics of Happiness" is a good primer to help being to answer those questions.  It will help you find some better questions to ponder while you move along the pathway to well-being and happiness.   I recommend it highly to anyone feeling anxiety about the future, uncertain about the present and no desire to return to the harsh unjust realities of the past.

 

Albertans Are Embracing Citizenship and Activism Again!

When I see active engaged citizenship I can't help but participate and promote it.  At the bottom of thie blog post is a News Release from ARTES (Association for Responsive Trusteeship in Edmonton Schools) of an event I am speaking at in Edmonton on public education and Trusteeship on May 15th.  This an example of this kind of get informed and get involved citizen activism we need to overcome the democratic deficit we have allowed to prevail in Alberta - and Canada for that matter.

LEARNING OUR WAY TO THE NEXT ALBERTA:
It is all coming together as people take back control, start creating alternative approaches and changing the outmoded top down command and control style of politics and governance.   To get more of a flavour of this kind of awareness and engagement as an Albertan come to an of interesting public lecture (May 31 in Calgary and June 1 in Edmonton) featuring Gywnne Dyer as we  are Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta.  That link will give you more information on Learning Our Way and allow your to buy tickets at $10 each.  It is open to the public all about a better more vibrant and vital democracy.  It is very much in the spirit of the Reboot Alberta citizen's initiative - but this is not a Reboot Event.

So if you care and are committed to the future of Alberta and keen on preserving and advancing  what is good and can be better about our province, join us at these events and others that are being planned.

ARTES:
Here is the news release for the ARTES event as well.  I will be speaking on the Albertans values survey we recently did within the progressive Reboot Alberta community.  I look forward to meeting you at either or both events.


May 10th, 2010

For Immediate Release

Election event planned for potential trustee candidates


The (ARTES) will host a wine and cheese mixer for people interested in local education issues, including potential candidates who are eyeing the possibility of running in the fall election.

The focus will be on building connections, but the event will also include three brief presentations:

- Dale Hudjik, ARTES president, on the principles of effective and responsive governance;


- Lynn Odynski, a former EPSB trustee, on the responsibilities of the office; and


- Ken Chapman, partner at Cambridge Strategies, on the values that voters identify as most important heading into the vote.

Anyone considering standing for election as a trustee is invited to attend, along with members of the public who want to learn more the school board system or get to know potential candidates.

Event details:
Saturday, May 15th, 7-9 p.m.
Woodcroft Community League Hall
13915 - 115th Avenue
Media contact:
Dale Hudjik
c. 1.780.904.6081
dale.hudjik@gmail.com
http://www.responsivetrustee.com

ARTES (ar-tes) represents people committed to the welfare of children and public education in Edmonton. It seeks to encourage high quality candidates for school boards.


Mission: To encourage and support school trustee candidates who are independent, transparent in their views and values, accountable, forward-looking, and responsive to the community.


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