Please view the following presentation about the Heart of the Continent Partnership’s development of its 2011 program, the International Community Congress. Contact [email protected] if you are interested in getting involved!
What people are saying
Participants at the July 2010 HOCP meeting in Grand Portage, MN were asked, “What do you like about this idea of a International Community Congress, that gets local communities to work together with public lands managers, to the benefit of both the public lands and community economies?” Here are a couple responses:
- “Seems like right now, judges make decisions, which creates winners or losers. That works against the idea of working together on an outcome that work for all of us. We need to find a way to work on what we share in common rather than focusing on our differences. Right now, each group has it’s own management plan, it’s own way of doing things. This is a chance to start building a bigger picture, a more inclusive plan, together. Even the most contrary group adds value by providing checks and balances to the process.”
- “This provides an opportunity to solve problems and build quality of life together. Another way to put that is to build a sense of community beyond a certain location, into a sense of involvement, belonging, and taking personal initiative to make a positive difference. People don’t just comment on someone else’s proposal; they can build proposals together. And the agencies don’t run the show; they’re just one more player at the table, looking for ways to contribute to the larger goals of healthy people, healthy communities, and healthy landscapes. This effort provides a forum for people to build community in the very best sense of the word, at the local level, between communities, and within the larger region of Heart of the Continent.”
Photos
The Sustainable Community Initiative Design Team met in Thunder Bay, Ontario on October 6, 2010.
