In this newsletter:
Celebrating our 2022 Local Sustainable Economies series with the LIVE December event: Multi-sector partnerships and the role of philanthropy
“Positioning arts and culture as an integral piece of a municipal economic development plan”. A blog by Rob Uhrug, Councillor, Municipality of Meaford. Read the full piece HERE
Catch the Replay HERE of “The Role of the Arts – strengthening local economies and creativity”, hosted on November 16, 2022
Multi Sector Partnerships and the Role of Philanthropy
Multi Sector Partnerships and the Role of PhilanthropyHosted at the Simcoe Street Theatre on Saturday, December 3rd
Multisector Partnerships and the Role of Philanthropy marked the final event in 2022’s 6-part series on Local Sustainable Economies. This series brought together business, nonprofit, government, philanthropic leaders, and residents from across the region to work together to create integrated, resilient, and equitable transformations towards sustainability.
On Saturday, December 3rd, our extraordinary speakers shared stories about how they are helping to make great things happen through their philanthropy. Our speakers are passionate about the arts, our environment, social enterprises, and innovation and offered insights into why multi-sector partnerships are important to the future of our local sustainable economies.
“This is all emerging work helping to address major issues in an increasingly complex time – the learning curve is straight up for us all, and we need to work together as we have never done before” (Rosalyn Morrison). If you were not able to attend last Saturday, here are a few highlights from the event:
We celebrated our $35,000 (and growing) Endowment Fund, which generated our first grants to the Blue Mountains Foundation for the Arts/South Georgian Bay Arts Network and to the Collingwood Climate Action Team, for expanding the Carbon Footprint Challenge across the region.
Liz Rykert spoke about how the SGB Arts Network came about; through community conversations with artists, arts organizations, businesses, municipal councilors, and philanthropists to talk about how we could leverage up all the artistic talent we have and develop a stronger ecosystem of support. Liz not only contributed her time and extraordinary talent in the field of network development, but she also invested philanthropic dollars to hire an SGB Arts Network Coordinator.
Dale Biddell spoke about the Institute’s work, why she became involved and announced her $50,000 investment in the Institute’s priority areas of a Green Economy and Social Finance and Affordable Housing – investments will be made in our collaborative work to explore the feasibility of a Green Economy Hub for our region, as well as our tool-kit for municipalities developed by our Social Finance and Housing Group.
Tony Cobb shared a simple, yet powerful take on how we can develop Local Sustainable Economies in a meaningful way. He shared lessons learned from Fogo Island, Newfoundland, and the work of the Shorefast Foundation.
Last, but certainly not least, Larry and Barb Hall announced their latest initiative in a long line of community building philanthropic work. Larry announced the new $1,000,000 South Georgian Bay Innovation Fund, and how $50,000 will be available in 2023 to support the work of social entrepreneurs.
We will be sure to share the video recap as soon as it becomes available, so stay tuned! We also want to thank Julie Card from mycollingwood.ca for capturing this important event! Check out more photos from our event here!
“Positioning arts and culture as an integral piece of a municipal economic development plan”
Blog written by Rob Uhrig, Councillor, Municipality of Meaford
Councillor Uhrig begins:
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Role of the Arts: Strengthening Local Economies and Creativity forum. I strongly believe that arts and culture can be the foundation that the Southern Georgian Bay region can build on to create a mutually beneficial economic development strategy.
The Institute identified five relevant points, and I hope to add some perspective from the always-exciting political angle, so please bear with me as I address these topics through a municipal lens.
- Integration of the arts and tourism sectors: I would add a third puzzle piece, the political sector…
To read Rob’s full blog post, click here!
The Role of the Arts: strengthening local economies and creativity
Catch the replay from November 16th’s virtual event!
On November 16th, we hosted a vibrant discussion on the topic of The Role of the Arts: strengthening our local economies and creativity! Our speakers shared their thoughts on how the arts and culture community is uniquely positioned as a significant tourism driver, making a significant impact on the local economies within the SGB region. At this event, speakers also gave suggestions on how to strengthen our connection with the tourism industry and shared tips to advocate for the growth of the sector across the region. We encourage you to catch the replay and access the presenter slides from this event!
We believe Southern Georgian Bay can meet today’s pressing needs of the planet, its people, and economic vitality, while ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.
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