Shawnigan All-Basin Symposium 2012

Shawnigan is a very diverse community with distinct sub-regions with greatly differing interests.  One thing that binds them all is that they are all contained within a single watershed that must be managed for our long-term water supply.  Another common interest is the state of development of our landscape, where the pressures of the day may be taking us and what kind of overall governance we may wish to create to help shape our future.  Another is the long-term development of our core and satellite villages.  Alongside such larger issues lie the many community building and public service initiatives sponsored by civic minded groups concerned about the welfare of our citizens, support of arts and culture, management of our parkland, sharing of our lake, sponsorship of celebratory and sports events and development of our business community.  There is a great deal of civic energy going into all of these matters but not everyone is aware of the work being done by others.  Holding an “All-Basin Symposium” is a way to gather our diverse interests and enterprises into our common understanding of what Shawnigan is and what it should become.

The symposium plan would be to invite representatives from all quarters of the community to present their concerns, aspirations and initiatives for all to see and hear.  The purpose would not only be to celebrate what we are collectively doing now, but also to think out loud about where we are going.  The gathering would talk about what things are going well, what common purposes are being sought among the many civic groups, what issues face us where improvements need to be made and how to organize to address the community building work that we can agree needs to be tackled. 

Such a large-scale community conversation will take some time to organize, but late Spring of 2012 seems a likely target date.  I will be establishing a launch group to begin the process and seeking seed funds to support the event.  The agenda and the means of gathering Shawnigan people for both the planning process and the event will be the responsibility of the launch group and will be widely communicated as the work proceeds.