2019 Events

Social Innovation Day

Our collaborative speaker series is gaining momentum following a very successful arts & culture event held on September 19 at the Marsh Street Centre in Clarksburg. Sixty people discussed the importance of the arts & culture sector as an economic driver, as well as being essential for creative and healthy regions. A report with highlights, including next steps towards creating a regional arts & culture strategy, will be released next month.

Make sure you are registered for the next dynamic Institute event:

Social Innovation: What is it and why now?
Saturday, November 23, 2019, 10am – 2pm
Simcoe Street Theatre, Collingwood

Social Innovation Day

Keynote, Panel, and Lunch Discussion $60
Institute members $50 (limited number of tickets)

Keynote and Panel $50; Institute members $40

Get Your Tickets Here

Institute Community Innovation Day leads to collaborative success!!

Catherine Smart of Smart Move Training and Development Inc. was one of many who attended the Community Innovation Day in January of 2018. During the day, the participants were divided into working groups where she met Yvonne Hamlin and Susan Cook who were representing the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts. The trio discussed many topics including “What’s next” for the BMFA. Soon after the event, Catherine was contacted by Yvonne to discuss the possibility of facilitating a workshop with the BMFA Board of Directors. The discussion went well and the BMFA Board met in the spring of 2018. One of the primary take-aways was to create an event that celebrated local artists and youth. Hence the genesis of the successful recent event called “Art for Heart’ which supported both the BMFA and Home Horizon. Moral of this story? Planting seeds and making connections can make a big difference! That is what the Institute of Southern Georgian Bay is all about.

Brain Gain, Art with Heart, and Canadian Water Summit

If you’re interested in the next generation and what they have to say about the future or learning more about the extraordinary artistic talent in Southern Georgian Bay or seeing how global issues affect us locally, May is your month!

Learn more about youth issues

The Institute’s growing partnership with Community Foundation Grey Bruce (CFGB) is focused on research, convening and philanthropy. The Vital Focus on Youth Report illustrates why we all need to be paying more attention to youth issues.

With member support, the Institute provided transportation for Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) entrepreneurship students and Beaver Valley Outreach youth to attend the launch of the report and a day of programming to help them learn more about entrepreneurship. CCI student and entrepreneur Emma Donneral had this to say about the event: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our class, and we all learned a great deal of valuable skills and information that we can apply to both our class and future business ventures.” https://tisgb.com/events/ 

The Institute also partnered with CFGB on the standing-room-only Arlene Dickinson event (over 700 people attended) where she shared her life story and insights on youth entrepreneurship, a changing labour market, women in business, and community philanthropy. See photos on CFGB Facebook page.

May events for you

On May 26, our partner, the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts (BMFA) is presenting Art with Heart in support of Home Horizon/Barbara Weider House and BMFA. Over 60 artists are involved and there will be a special performance by Craig Ashton, high tea and cocktails. Tickets are available at  https://www.bmfa.on.ca

The BMFA plays an important role in our region’s Arts and Culture infrastructure. We are collaborating on an exciting panel discussion on September 19 about creating a regional arts and culture strategy – mark your calendar now and stay tuned to June’s newsletter for all the details!

Brain Gain

May 30 – Brain Gain: Build a Community of the Future by Attracting Leaders of Tomorrow

Brain Gain is a natural follow-up to the very successful Vital Focus on Youth Day last month. On May 30, Robert Barnard will speak about the Youthful Cities organization, Youthful Cities Index, and how we can create youthful infrastructure to retain talent and attract more. Tickets are available here.

Brain Gain

Given the importance of Georgian Bay to our region, the Institute is partnering on the Canadian Water Summit (CWS). Normally held in larger municipalities, in 2019 this important Summit will be held at Blue Mountain Village.

The Institute is particularly interested in supporting the May 30 panel, Progress Through Partnerships: Advancing on the Sustainable Development Goals. Click here for more information on the SDGs.