WHAT IS THE FUTURE YOU WANT TO CREATE
FOR LUNENBURG COUNTY?
Local people leading.
Fall in love with the opportunities of living and working here.
Fall in love with the opportunities of living and working here.
From 2014 - NOW!
Now Lunenburg County! from VisionFire on Vimeo.
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>OUR purpose
The builders of paths toward a vibrant and sustainable Lunenburg County economy that will support a way of life that is cherished by new and old residents. (2018)
>OUR VISION
Prosperity through population growth.
>What we stand for
The nature of doing something innovative is that we are in uncharted territory. We understand we will be building the path as we walk it and deciding next steps based on the
needs that arise. There is no clear end goal or finish line we can identify now. We must create the conditions for people to find a path forward to a better future.. If we want new outcomes we will need new ways to behave. We have identified principles to guide our work:
needs that arise. There is no clear end goal or finish line we can identify now. We must create the conditions for people to find a path forward to a better future.. If we want new outcomes we will need new ways to behave. We have identified principles to guide our work:
- foster a culture of risk taking (ready to fail and learn)
- inspire creative thought
- share what we are learning
- make visible innovation
- make it easier for people to act
- involve people in the design of their future
- have fun
- create trust, confidence, accountability
- celebrate the strengths and value the assets that will propel us forward
- breakdown silos and connect change makers
- attract people who believe change
- activate new opportunities and accelerate ones already underway
>our team
Now Lunenburg County is a self-organized group of business and community leaders who have been meeting since 2014 in response to the Now or Never, Ivany Report. We participate as individual volunteers not as representatives of organizations, businesses or self-interest groups. Our team meets weekly, Wednesday mornings at 7:30 am.
We are an unstructured team and are committed to this new way of working together. We are not a traditional organization or a society, we have no bank account and no formal governance.
We are simply people who have organized ourselves to work together for the betterment of Lunenburg County. Our work has been supported by donations from the Lunenburg County Community Fund with administrative support from the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia, our own businesses and the broader community. We do have a website, we take minutes and we get stuff done.
We are an unstructured team and are committed to this new way of working together. We are not a traditional organization or a society, we have no bank account and no formal governance.
We are simply people who have organized ourselves to work together for the betterment of Lunenburg County. Our work has been supported by donations from the Lunenburg County Community Fund with administrative support from the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia, our own businesses and the broader community. We do have a website, we take minutes and we get stuff done.
>what we've learned so far
Now Lunenburg County is a giant experiment; an experiment in community development and community engagement leading to a better future for Lunenburg County.
>WHAT WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT LEADING CHANGE
- Change requires a small group of truly committed people who are connected in multiple ways to different segments of the community. Their commitment needs to be long –term, we all committed to at least two years from the beginning.
- Using private money allows for a nimble and innovative response.
- Always work with the people who show up, they are the right people.
- Segments of our business community sit on the sidelines only interested in traditional government centric approaches – you’ll need to leave these traditional leaders behind and find the innovators.
- An innovative dynamic approach grabs people attention.
- It’s not about convincing everyone – it’s about convincing just enough people to influence key decision makers and influencers.
- Changing community values and attitudes is a daunting project. It’s lonely work and it’s important to connect people together. They buoy each other when needed.
- Language is important “change” is terrifying for many. Think in terms of possibilities rather than focusing on the need to change; it’s not what we are giving up, rather it is what we can gain.
- People are looking for leadership on important issues. Now Lunenburg County provides a neutral platform for people to use to help them act. – we’ve allowed groups to use our name to add credibility and community to their own efforts – Municipal government reimagined and Citizen engagement in health care.
- Credibility of those leading is very important.
- Transparency of action and decision-making is required in-order-to build and sustain credibility.
- We need to be careful of our own and others’ limiting beliefs. You can’t predetermine what’s an opportunity or a good job or a reason to move for someone else. You can only present the facts and let people decide for themselves, don’t decide for them.
- And finally continue to check-in with the group to determine direction, do not prejudge or presume to know. It’s so easy to fall back into the same old ways – it’s much harder to continue to change your view.
