In This Newsletter:
- Keep the momentum going! Appeal for 2024/ 2025 Program Support
- Community Survey: GeoPark
- Business Survey: Escarpment Cooridor Alliance
- Meaford International Film Festival is back!
Appeal for 2024/ 2025 Program Support
Thank you for your steadfast support of The Institute of Southern Georgian Bay. Your contributions have been instrumental in building a resilient, equitable, and sustainable future for our community. As we look towards 2024, we are excited to share how your previous program support has driven significant progress and to invite you to continue this journey with us.
Last year alone, we achieved remarkable milestones outlined here in our 2023 Annual Report. Here are some of those report highlights:
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Formed a robust team of volunteers and stakeholders to create the TISGB Affordable Housing Toolkit, providing real solutions for local residents to live and work in the same community.
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Convened thought leaders to push forward ideas that foster a thriving, climate-friendly economy.
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Highlighted innovative solutions across Canada that inspire practical actions in closing our regional housing affordability gap.
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Strengthened connections within our creative sectors, empowering artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to succeed.
Our vision is clear: a resilient, equitable, and sustainable region. To achieve this, we have developed a comprehensive strategy focused on three key areas: housing affordability, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability.
Your ongoing support in 2024 will be crucial as we continue to address our region’s most pressing challenges through community-led solutions. With your assistance, we will be poised to:
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Finalize a community action plan for affordable housing at a fall event, building on the groundwork laid in the 2024 Housing Affordability Report Back.
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Launch the Green Economy Hub Pilot Project, with a commitment of $15,000 from our flow-through fund to support local businesses in adopting sustainable practices and creating green jobs.
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Explore and enhance the role of philanthropy in multi-sector projects, ensuring broad-based participation and impact.
Your program support is vital in turning these plans into realities, and we hope you will consider renewing your commitment to help us propel Southern Georgian Bay toward an even brighter and more collaborative future.
Thank you for being an essential part of our community’s growth and success. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful difference.
Support Our Work to Advance TISGB’s Growing Impact
A UNESCO Geopark Designation For Georgian Bay?
The voices of the community are needed for an important survey.
By Robert Wong, MA, MCIP, CAIP, FCRIC, Principal at RMCG Inc.
A team of volunteers is working to create a UNESCO Geopark for all of Georgian Bay and the lands that drain into the Bay. Our small group of volunteer scientists, cartographers, tourism experts and engineers have gained strong and positive reaction from the towns and villages, municipal councils, indigenous leaders, tourist groups and environmental organizations for a UNESCO Geopark designation for Georgian Bay.
Once launched the Geopark objective are to:
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educate all on the natural heritage and geology of the bay
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demonstrate the bays geodiversity and cultural history
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inspire geotourism principles and actions that would sustain or enhance the distinctive characteristics of Georgian Bay for all of us who love and use the Bay.
This is our invitation to residents and visitors of Georgian Bay to weigh in with their own views and attitudes regarding the environment and tourism and importantly, how they and their family use the Bay throughout the year.
The Georgian Bay Institute board has agreed share this invitation to members to share their opinions. We are asking you to invest 10 minutes to respond to the survey. The survey has been distributed to many other organizations that consider our precious bay important in their work and to their mission? If our Georgian Bay Geopark proposal is approved by UNESCO it will become the largest Geopark in the world.
Escarpment Corridor Alliance Business Survey 2024
By Martin Rydlo, Board of Directors, Escarpment Corridor Alliance
For many years the importance of South Georgian Bay’s natural assets to the region’s businesses and economy has been debated. But data from the businesses and organizations that are the heartbeat of South Georgian Bay was lacking…until now. The Escarpment Corridor Alliance is conducting the first business survey focused on understanding the importance of natural assets (ie. forests, fields, escarpment areas, watersheds, shorelines, biodiversity, pollinators, etc.) on the success of businesses and organizations that operate in the region.
We are conducting a survey to understand your reliance on the environment, nature, outdoor activities, the escarpment, and water bodies in the communities around South Georgian Bay. Your responses will help assess the importance of these natural assets on your businesses and define strategies that public and private organizations can focus on to help YOUR business thrive in South Georgian Bay.
Owners or leadership/ management team members of private and public businesses and organizations are encouraged to complete the survey. All individual answers will be kept strictly confidential.
Complete the survey by 11:59 EST August 18, 2024 and get entered into a draw for a free pair of tickets to the Nature Corridor Summit on October 25.
The Escarpment Corridor Alliance will release the results of the survey in Fall 2024 as part of the South Georgian Bay Conservation Economy Report. This report will help the community and governments better understand the needs of businesses like yours to continue to thrive in the South Georgian Bay region.
Thank you for your participation.
Complete The Business Survey Now!
Tickets are now available for the 2024 Meaford International Film Festival!
By Rob Uhrig, MCF Secretary, Meaford Councillor
Meaford Hall, built in 1908, stands proudly in the heart of Meaford as a symbol of arts, culture, and commerce. Once a multifunctional municipal building, it featured a Town Hall, police station, courtroom, library, ballroom, and, most notably, a second-floor Opera House. This magnificent performance space hosted countless musical shows, plays, concerts, and famous speakers.
By the early 2000s, the building was in disrepair, and its future was uncertain. In 2003, Meaford secured a Superbuild grant to restore and renovate the hall. Thanks to the Meaford Hall Board of Management and dedicated volunteers, a $6 million renovation was completed in 2006, transforming it into the Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre.
The Meaford Culture Foundation (MCF), established in 2006, has since raised over $1 million for arts and culture initiatives and hall refurbishments. Key fundraising events include the annual Meaford International Film Festival (MIFF), which showcases award-winning films and hosts grand gala events.
Meaford Hall hosts over 150 shows annually, boosting the local economy by attracting visitors who frequent nearby restaurants and businesses. This historic venue continues to be a cultural cornerstone and an economic asset for the community.
Support Meaford Hall and the Meaford Culture Foundation. Get your tickets now for MIFF this September and experience the magic of Meaford Hall firsthand.
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