FollowUpArticle

Last Friday and Saturday, 40 Bowen Islanders gathered at the Boulevard Cottage in Snug Cove to discuss “How to make Snug Cove and inviting place to live, work and play.” The event was an Open Space community forum aimed at deepening dialogue between neighbours and citizens on the future (and the present) of the Cove. The event was co-sponsored by the Sustainable Community Advisory Committee, the Bowen Island Municipal planning department, the Bowen Island Lifelong Learning Society, the Ashoka Institute for Community Practice, Natural Resources Canada, the UBC Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning and the UBC Sustainable Development Research Initiative.

Setting their own agenda, the participants covered a diversity of topics, including storytelling about the Cove, seeing Snug Cove through the eyes of a child, connecting self-employed people in Snug Cove, analyzing external factors impacting development in the Cove and how to extend and deepen conversation between citizens. We also witnessed an extensive conversation about traffic, ferry marshalling and conflicting values in Snug Cove. It was as if the letters section of the Undercurrent rose from the page and began speaking. Diverse and deeply held views and values were discussed in a respectful and productive way.

There will be a number of follow-up activities from this event. The proceedings of the event, including pictures, are online at http://www.chriscorrigan.com/aicp/snugcove.html (not yet posted there! leave invite as is, post BIG link to proceeds?). When you visit this webpage, you will see that anyone can add their thoughts to the issues that were discussed last weekend. Details on follow up actions will be posted there too, or you can phone Chris Corrigan at 604-947-9236 for more information.

Also, look for us at Bowfest. We will have posters designed by the meeting participants, on hand, as well as tools for capturing stories of the Cove to add to a growing database. Some of the co-sponsors will be there to tell you what we did and invite you to add your thoughts to our work. Look forward to more of these community forums in the fall as citizen engagement picks up on issues near and dear to all Islanders.

post a photo or two in the paper????

participant names posted in wiki???

consider this, btw, chris... municipal govt as power, base, pelvis. community dialogue as open, embracing, generous heart. mapping as brain/vision and clarity looking around/ahead