The Westin Bayshore
1601 Bayshore Dr.

Successful land management and economic development initiatives are key to building healthy, thriving First Nations communities.  Links to Learning is an annual technical training forum which provide a range of learning opportunities for First Nations Economic Development Officers and Lands Management Officers.

Links to Learning 2018 is a partnership between Cando, the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association and Indigenous Services Canada.

Register for BC Links to Learning

The following organizations provided training for the 2017 Links to Learning: Alderhill Planning Inc., ANTCO, TACC, VanCity, Aboriginal Tourism BC, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, British Columbia Economic Development Association, Clean Energy Association of BC, Indigenous Business and Investment Council, Lands Advisory Board, NRCan, Geoscience BC, National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development at University of Victoria, and New Relationship Trust.

Registration will open in September.  Please contact Svitlana Konoval at skonoval@edo.ca for more information.

The Laurel Packinghouse

Join other community and sector leaders in beautiful Kelowna, BC for an event which is first of its kind in BC. Through inspiring speakers, engaging workshops, cross-sector dialogue, we will explore practical strategies and deepen knowledge, skills and tools for collaborative action.

What if working collaboratively to respond to climate change can increase health, well-being and community resilience?
Using BC’s Interior Region as a case study, we will draw out learnings and action opportunities for the rest of BC and beyond to building community resilience to climate change while increasing health and wellbeing.

Register for Making The Links 2018

Join us to:

LEARN about the major health impacts of climate change and who is being most affected in BC and beyond

ENGAGE with community experiences, examples and stories of how climate change is currently impacting health and well-being and how communities are taking action to become more resilient.

TRANSLATE KNOWLEDGE INTO COLLABORATIVE ACTION on issues such as extreme heat, flooding, wildfires, water and drought, healthy built environments, active transportation, sustainable food systems, mental well-being, and emergency preparedness;

STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION & LEADERSHIP to advance cross-sector climate and health solutions in policy, planning and practice.

Making the Links is about just that – making the links across issues, sectors and disciplines. You’ll be part of engaged learning community of people and organizations from different levels of government, health sector, community non-governmental organizations, indigenous communities, academics and business leaders, among others. Together, we’ll map out strategies for collaborative action for real impact on the issues and opportunities facing our communities.

5:30pm to 8:30pm
Groundswell Clubhouse
268 Keefer Street, Unit #421

At Groundswell's alternative business school, women make up 60% of our students and 70% of our active membership. We are recognizing more and more that women are bringing a powerfully different perspective to entrepreneurship and the local economy, which we want to celebrate and amplify with this event.

These women are reworking the fabric of this city. They are opening doors and pulling up invisible communities into the visible. They are talking about things many people feel scared to talk about. They mean business - and they’re doing business.

What does it mean to get paid as a woman? What does it mean to hold power as a woman? What challenges and advantages do women have in building a new social economy? Five unique voices share stories of doing business while female. Read more about the four panelists and Groundswell host below.

Register for Doing it Differently

We are so grateful to have these four female instigators in our community. These wise women are doing it differently: come talk, listen and learn as they share stories from their journey in creating a new social economy.

Stay after the talk and dive deeper into conversation with one of our long table community potlucks! 
Bring a dish to share or contribute $10 to the pot when you RSVP and we'll add something to the table on your behalf.

Featuring Groundswell advisors:

• Catherine Ludgate, Barrier breaking banker and social justice advocate. Manager of Community Investments, Vancity.
• Melanie Matining, Queer pinay activist, social justice change catalyst. Founder of Denim Vest.
• Madeleine Shaw, Feminist social entrepreneur. Founder of Lunapads, G Day and Nestworks

And Groundswell alum:

• Cass King: Maker, performer, sex advocate. Founder of Mojo Emporium.

Hosted by: Paola Qualizza, Managing Director of Groundswell.

Why do we call them instigators?

Because whatever they touch looks different than anything that came before. These women operate differently, putting their values ahead of the status quo, challenging themselves and those around them to think differently about how business, lifestyle, love, and livelihoods should work in the world - and activate that thinking by using business as a tool for real, on the ground change.

3:00pm - 4:00pm Eastern Time 

What role can collective impact play in helping communities achieve systems change? 

Join us on July 10 from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET for the next Collective Impact Forum Virtual Coffee, Achieving Systems Change in Collective Impact.

We’ll be talking with FSG’s John Kania, coauthor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review article “Collective Impact” (2011) and the recent article “The Water of Systems Change” (2018), to discuss how one can tackle the concepts and conditions involved with systems change work.

Register for Achieving Systems Change in Collective Impact

Can't make the actual virtual coffee time? Registering also means you'll be notified when the recording is uploaded to the Collective Impact Forum resource library. 

Come join the discussion on July 10!