We are excited to introduce Tina Hennigar as our new Community Advocate. Tina has extensive experience in marketing, helping to promote and grow local business and most recently working as a Development Officer to raise funds and awareness for the local hospital. She has an abundance of knowledge of the South Shore but even more enthusiasm for it.  

NOW Lunenburg County has learned many things since beginning their work in 2014. Many community meetings have been hosted leading to projects that have solved, and continue to solve real problems in our community, and now, they’ve hired a community advocate to help do the work; the work of growing the population and the business community and working with the community ensure that we’re meeting the needs of newcomers and locals alike.

In the coming weeks you’ll be hearing and learning more about the work of NOW Lunenburg County.  You can help us build a sustainable, engaged community through population growth.  Tina will be reaching out to stakeholders but in the meantime she would love to hear from you. Contact her at tina@nowlunenburgcounty.com or call her at 902-523-5725.

In working to develop a strategy to help grow Lunenburg County, we sent a survey out to our network and members of our community that have moved to the area.  What better way to find out the decision making process for moving to Lunenburg County than to ask the actual people who have moved here. 

We were fortunate enough to have 74 respondents (54 from Lunenburg County) to our survey. Below is a quick list of interesting results from the survey:

• We asked respondents to identify their top three priorities for moving to Nova Scotia.  Pace of life, cost of living and employment opportunities were the three major priorities in the decision to move to Lunenburg County. These top priorities had quite a large margin over education, recreation, and culture.  Diversity was the lowest ranked priority.
• 51 of respondents had lived in more than 2 other places prior to moving to Nova Scotia.  This may be an indication of the more globally connected society we live in, but it was refreshing to see that the majority of respondents have lived in Nova Scotia for over 5 years, which hopefully means that some roots are taking place in our beautiful province.
• There tended to be a theme of three major challenges faced by new arrivals to Nova Scotia; finding employment, gaining acceptance into the community, and working through red tape, for example getting a driver’s license or health card.
• All but 7 of the respondents have recommended to someone else that he/she should consider moving to Nova Scotia. For those not recommending Nova Scotia, the primary concern focused on the lack of employment opportunities in the area.

This survey was short and the sample size is relative but we were looking to gather information quickly as we continue to work through our focus on population growth in Lunenburg County.  Respondents provided us with excellent and thoughtful answers to our questions. This information will inform us as we continue our work.

Taking Action: community tools to support youth, newcomers & innovation

Inspired Conversations is the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia’s annual initiative that brings together business leaders, community builders, and philanthropists from across the province to discuss the evolving role of philanthropy and the exciting opportunities it can create in rural communities.

This year we've teamed up with the Nebraska Community Foundation to learn from their unique and inspiring model that uses philanthropy as an effective tool for rural revitalization. It's the perfect time to start adapting some of these tools in Nova Scotia and we want you to share in the learning.  

Join us for a webinar on August 23rd, 2016 @ 12:30pm (AST) you will hear from Jeff Yost, President & CEO of the Nebraska Community Foundation as he sets the stage for how community funds have sparked economic development, kept/attracted youth and dramatically changed even the smallest of communities in Nebraska. Register now to reserve your spot for this FREE Webinar. 

This is the kick-off to our 2016 Inspired Conversations Series which continues in September with 3 community work-sessions and a panel discussion in Sydney, Antigonish and Lunenburg.

If you want to continue the discussion, join us in person on September 21st at the Mahone Bay Centre for a morning workshop. Reserve your seat today! It's going to be an inspiring conversation that you won't want to miss! 

For more information visit the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia.

In our final instalment on the Georgetown Conference we hear from two Lunenburg County participants, Bernice Theriault, Communications and Events Coordinator with the Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation and Michelle Greek, a representative from the New Germany Area Promotion Society.

Watch Lunenburg County's Andrew Button present at the 20 x 20 speaker series at Georgetown 2.0

The final day of the Georgetown conference brought participants together to work on action plans on issues they want to move forward. 

If you want to learn more about these conversations, visit the Georgetown Conference 2.0 Facebook page
to view the notes from the conversations under photos, (Action Project Templates).

Thank you for reading our series on Georgetown 2.0. If you have any comments or insights, please post them below in our comments section or connect with us at nowlunenburgcounty@gmail.com

From the opening 20/20 sessions to the final wrap up the Georgetown Conference 2.0 was both an empowering and challenging conference. It opened with the compelling, and in some cases heartbreaking, personal stories of people leading change in this area.
 
Bassem Alataalah a newcomer to PEI from Syria was a highlight for me. Bassem had the courage to educate all of us on what Syria was before the conflict and the damage the conflict has inflicted. He reminded us that he didn’t choose to leave a good life and that all he’s asking for from us is a chance at a new one. Bassem’s revelation that it takes 365 days to get a driver’s license in PEI, where little or no public transportation makes driving a necessity, was just one example of the significant challenges newcomers face.
 
I was surprised and heartened by the many conversations around municipal government change and amalgamation. Our whole region is struggling with this. Municipal leaders, who understand the unsustainability of the current system, are working on how to engage the public so they too will understand the needs and benefits of working together. We were incredibly lucky to have a number of people from Pictou County attempt who could help us understand what went wrong and to learn from their mistakes.
 
My only disappointment came from speaker Doug Griffiths. While Mr Griffiths book, “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” is a great read, in his presentation, even after attending Bassem’s presentation, Mr. Griffiths continued to perpetuate the myth that our newcomers should just be grateful to be here - when really we should be grateful for the opportunity to welcome them.
 
Overall – The big message was we’re all struggling with the same issues, people don’t want to change anywhere, attitudes are a problem throughout the region and we’re not alone.

You couldn’t help but be inspired by this room full of change makers. Even those from Pictou County who arrived defeated gained strength from the room to begin talking about next steps and how to move forward in spite of their setback.
 
The issues and problems we face across this region are the same – more importantly though there is a growing group of people willing and dedicated to making the change needed to move us to prosperity.

Watch the presentations from Bassem Alataalah, a Syrian refugee living in rural PEI and Amanda Hill from Pictou County.  Both participated in the 20 x 20 Speaker Series on the first day of the conference. 

The second day of the conference began with a keynote from Chef Michael Smith.  Michael lives in PEI and is one of Canada’s best-known chefs. He is a passionate advocate for simple, sustainable home cooking and an inspiration for families creating their own healthy food lifestyle. He’s also the host of Chef Michael’s Kitchen, Chef at Home and Chef Abroad seen on Food Network Canada.

He spoke to the group about challenges and opportunities on leading change in the region and asked the group these five key questions: 

• Are you setting the bar high enough?
• ​Are you telling it like it is?
• Are you acting authentically?
• What restraints do you have in your world?

• Are you embracing them head on?

Participants then led the conference by holding conversations that were important to them.
​What courageous conversations now will improve our solutions moving forward? 

If you want to learn more about these conversations, visit the Georgetown Conference 2.0 Facebook page
to view the notes from the conversations under photos. 

The day ended with the second keynote speaker, Doug Griffths. Doug has two degrees but he has long said the best education he ever received was growing up on the farm.  It taught him practical lessons about life and built in him a strong work ethic.

Concerned about the future of rural communities, he ran and won his first election to become the sixth youngest person to ever serve in the Alberta Legislature. 

Doug took the group through the steps of his book, 13 Ways to Kill a Community. He told the group if you do not deal with these issues in your community it will become obsolete. 

1. Don’t have quality water.
2. Don’t attract business.
3. Ignore your youth.
4. Deceive yourself about your real needs or values.
5. Shop elsewhere.
6. Don’t paint.
7. Don’t cooperate.
8. Live in the past.
9. Ignore your seniors.
10. Reject everything new.
11. Ignore outsiders.
12. Become complacent.
13. Don’t take responsibility.

Stay tuned next week for our final instalment on Georgetown. We will learn about the action projects participants are working on coming out of the conference.

Two years ago the Georgetown Conference, held in Georgetown, Prince Edward Island was the catalyst for many Atlantic Canadian communities to jumpstart grassroots efforts at tackling the demographic and economic challenges impacting rural sustainability.

The follow up, Georgetown 2.0, Solutions, was held this past June 2-4, 2016. Passionate and inspiring leaders from across the Atlantic Region attended to identify and work through real issues in their communities. 
 
NOWLC will be presenting a three-week series  highlighting the conversations and learning coming out of Georgetown 2.0, including stories from those who attended from Luneneburg County. 
 
We hope you enjoy the series and send your thoughts and comments along via the comment section at the bottom of this blog or to our email address at nowluenburgcounty@gmail.com

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE - Elspeth McLean-Wile

Georgetown 2.0 was a good opportunity to recharge the batteries by surrounding oneself with enthusiastic people committed to working to improve the prosperity of communities across Atlantic Canada. 
At every opportunity I was able to easily slip into rich conversations with other participants who were involved in business or community projects that are or can contribute to a more vibrant economy… the couple from Newfoundland starting up a 400 head sheep farm.  Step #1, clear 80 acres of forest to create pasture land! 

​ In the world of agriculture today, there are not many starting at this significant size.  Their backgrounds are not agriculture – food service and business!  They will bring a very different perspective to the farming community.
Then there was the young man from eastern PEI who is dreams of opening a microbrewery and restaurant by May 2017.  He needs a financing package valued at $1.5 million.  He asked the group on options for financing and how he can get community investors.  He got lots of ideas and input.

I could not help but sympathize with the folks from Pictou County who arrived just days after the plebiscite on amalgamation of four municipal units in the county.  Three young women, the MacConnell sisters, shared their experiences working on the “YES” campaign.  Lisa MacDougall, the Chief Operating Officer for New Glasgow, shared stories of hostile public meetings.  Residents were pitted against each other in ways many had never seen before.

I was most interested in learning why there was such hostility around a realistic and inevitable discussion.  What lessons can our community learn about how we approach these discussions and how to include public input that contributes to improving the outcomes?  Clearly, the broad community needs to be party to all aspects of amalgamation proposal building.  These discussions need to start at the grassroots with citizens and build up.  Many of our elected officials appear afraid to bring these discussions to open forums and take the time to insure public understanding and knowledge of the implications of amalgamation.  The public meetings in Pictou County appear to have come too late in the process to allay the fear of higher taxes, loss of representation and community identity.   There reis plenty for the residents of Lunenburg County to consider as our councillors toy with the notion of amalgamation.

Rural communities across the region share many similar experiences with depopulation, loss of infrastructure and challenging economics.  There were lots of conversations about the inability of government to change the “tide of demise”; that tide will only turn when ordinary citizens lead the change, community by community.

The conference this year had a strong focus on participant participation. This became evident on day one, when the conference began with the 20 x 20 speaker series.  A showcase of participants from across the region sharing their stories of triumphs and challenges of getting change done. One of the participant speakers was Darrin Mitchell of Trout River Industries. He tells his remarkable story of starting up a business in rural PEI that now has global reach. "I told people we were awesome and then had to prove it!" Check out the video below

The group identified forces impacting their solution building.  

Day one closed with the questions summarizing people's current reality.  

Click on the images below to enlarge

Stay tuned next week when we share highlights from Chef Michael Smith's keynote address and hear more from the conversations at Georgetown. 

We understand we need to attract and retain new people to our area.  Where do we start? Here is a general resource, Attracting & Retaining Immigrants: A Tool Box of Ideas for Smaller Centers by the National Working Group on Small Centre Strategies.  The document lists tips, checklists and identifies possible barriers.