MORE THOUGHTS: Bob Maher

1) Ways of Knowing (Zita Cobb)
The perception of landscape is quite different if you drive a car at 100km per hour on Hwy 101 and go from one 'urban' centre to the next. The in-between piece becomes 'dead space'. Compare this, with walking through the landscape on an abandoned railroad. Here the surrounding space is full of interest and alive.

We all wear different 'coloured glasses'. This influences what we do and don't see in our landscape. This is one of ideas behind Maitri Space Awareness.

2) Language
There is a wonderful book by Trudy Sable and Bernie Francis called The Language of the Land, Mi'kma'ki'. I highly recommend it, from CBU press. It shows how language influences what we are able and how we are able to describe our environment.

3) We talk about abilities. We should also talk about dis-abilities. A strong team contains a mixture of both abilities and disabilities.


PS ...

on post-secondary institutions and rural communities. I think that Nova Scotia must have the highest density of post-secondary institutions/per square kilometre than any other jurisdiction.
What an opportunity !

CLOSING OBSERVATIONS: Edward Wedler

Media celebrity and moderator of the "Focus on Future 'Doers' and 'Producers' panel, Shaun Majumder said "never underestimate the power of the story".  We heard a lot of stories. We love stories. We love stories because they entertain us and teach us. They "stick". For me this conference was about "the story".  I leave the Georgetown Conference ready to create, tell and show -- no matter how small or grandiose.

From Bob, my trekker colleague, I learned that a better term than 'youth' (in referring to our future entrepreneurs) was 'next-generation'. Next-generation entrepreneurs go beyond just youth. They include those ready to cut a new path to make things happen. They include those willing to try, to "just say yes" and not be afraid to fail. They also include the mentors and motivators for those pioneers.

Most conferences I have attended I know that when delegates return home the event quickly becomes history. No so with Georgetown. I felt in my bones we would return home to 're-jig' our projects. We would return home re-invigorated to persist and create something special. To get things done and lead by example.

Our trek was a story, yes, but it was part of something much bigger; a bigger story -- the Georgetown story.

CLOSING OBSERVATIONS: Bob Maher

Here are two lessons I gained from the Georgetown Conference:

1) Annapolis Youth Delegation.
Don't judge on the basis of age, sex, ethnicity. Diversity and inclusiveness are critical.

2) Wicked problems (from Zita Cobb) ...
can be solved by 'chunking them' into manageable pieces or tasks. Try to optimize the special skills and abilities of the group.Collaborate and be open.

Here is a third lesson:

3 How do you avoid being a victim of a "volunteer vampire"?
You maintain your independence as well as your integrity.

COMMUNITY PRIDE. MEADOWVILLE circa 1950.

QUARRYING BEAR EARLTOWN

WELL-MANAGED DECIDUOUS WOODLOT

GETTING READY FOR COLDER WEATHER