Arts

Randall Sea Ice Composite P1050352+P1050374

10 Jan 2018

Environmental Awakening Fusing of Science, The Arts and Sea Ice

Even though a life-long environmentalist, my transformative experiences up north in Canada’s Arctic regions onboard Canada C3, moved my environmental consciousness to a whole new level.

My own journey began as a teenager in the 1960s. Being a voracious reader with a strong scientific bent, was a perfect fit for me to embrace the fledging environmental consciousness of that era.

Clearly the changes during the last half century have matured my environmental world view. An early focus on simple industrial pollution was followed by the even more serious concerns about depletion of the Ozone Layer and energy conservation, building into today’s crisis of the growing impact of human-induced Climate Change. What this passage of time, accompanied by deepening adverse impacts, has taught me is that small individual actions can have huge collective impact, and that concerted efforts to change can be successful. Sadly, for many, this simple concept is abstract allowing some to pass the buck on personal action, seeing it as someone else’s responsibility. Economists even have a label for this metaphoric “fiddling while Rome burns”, namely the Tragedy of the Commons.

Many despair that our continued procrastination on mobilizing concerted action around Climate Change. whether based on apathy and misinformation, puts the entire human race at risk. For humanity, there is a huge risk we are too late to reverse the escalating levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Although time is short, I remain committed to immediate action. In an inspiring contrast to this societal apathy, I was immensely privileged to experience the Arctic with an unbelievably diverse and passionate group of change makers last summer.
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The Canada C3 expedition had myriad program elements, including being an ideal platform for science. In all, over 25 major scientific experiments took advantage of circumnavigating Canada’s coastline, the longest in the world, with much of that in Arctic waters. The experiments, a collaboration with major research institutes across Canada, gathered much needed baseline data such as:

detailed monitoring of increasing levels of micro-plastics which are becoming a major component of the biomass in all oceans. Consider the micro-plastics you now potentially ingest when you eat seafood.
DNA testing to determine the range of various ocean species and examine biodiversity.
Sampling plant species range and diversity.
Cataloguing Mites and other insect species.
Studying the emergence of the Pizzly Bear, or Grolar, an unusual hybrid enabled by habit shifts due to climate change.
Studying range and challenges of sea birds, again through climate change and human activity.

While none of these experiments were directly studying atmospheric carbon or climate directly, all exhibit the effects of these huge changes. That the Arctic is disproportionately impacted by climate change was directly visible to all participants. The temperature changes seen in polar regions are 3 times what we experience in the south, with our recent 1°C increase being more like 3°C up north. Thus, the Arctic is a harbinger of our own unmitigated climate future, making the Inuit ideal spokespeople to warn the rest of the world.
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Boris Worm & Heike Lotze, Marine Biologists — Boris Worm&Heike Lotze, Marine Biologists

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One of the great challenges faced by scientists is how share their stories in our modern, digital world in which a cacophony of voices clamber for our finite attention. The scientific method, honed over centuries, demands:

A slow and deliberate process of discovery, given to evaluating conjectures — hence it may take years before the findings of the science projects on Canada C3 can be shared.
A process favouring the probability of truth over certainty — makes it hard for scientists to metaphorically pound the table, which often puts scientific theories at a disadvantage to the general public who have no issue with asserting the truth of their, clearly less informed or even misinformed, statements.

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Thus, in communicating their knowledge, the challenge for scientists isn’t so much that they are the introverts of popular culture nor entirely that the science is perceived as dry and academic. In my many dialogues with scientists, the issue of finding new ways to communicate the important knowledge they possess to a populist audience, was a common lament. Scientists are ever searching to find new ways to help humanity truly understand their most portentous issues, such as Climate Change.

In this video, below, you can see one amazing scientist, Bianca Perren, explaining the tabular iceberg (see photos at the top of this article) that we saw when we came toward land from the Davis Strait. Bianca, being a painter, educator and Zodiac driver on top of her work as a palæoclimatologist and quarternary scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, is sending an emotionally powerful message about the last ice shelfs remaining in the Arctic. By the way, she also makes a cameo appearance in Al Gore’s recent film, An Inconvenient Sequel during work at Swiss Camp in Greenland.

Leveraging the incredible wealth of scientific talent, the wonderfully diverse set of participants helped weave a complex tapestry of knowledge and understanding. For me it was a once in a lifetime chance to participate in a rare melding of scientists working in an environment alive with poets, teachers, journalists, artists, community activists, indigenous and youth ambassadors. The eclectic combination created a magic environment while onboard, but gave some clues as to how to unlock the dilemma about communications with ordinary Canadians, both in planned and chance conversations.

Here is a brief rundown of a few of the remarkable participants just on Leg 7 of Canada C3:

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Lorna Crozier is a Governor-General Award winning poet, and Officer of the Order of Canada, living in Victoria. I was soo impressed by Lorna’s magic ability to help all of us “break through the ice” and reach new levels of understanding, for example with her poem, Polar, uniquely capturing our experience onboard. Phil Irish is a visual artist and teacher based in Elora who was selected to be one of 15 artists, one per Leg, through a fiercely competitive, Canada Council led selection process. Phil, constantly sketching and painting, inspired all of us with his visual perspective on our Leg 7 experience and built on his own environmentally driven recent practice. Likewise, Paul Rogalsi of Rouge Restaurant in Calgary, was one of 15 chefs, selected for Leg 7 from Food Day Canada chefs from coast to coast to coast. Paul was a thoughtful contributor not just gastronomically, but also as an avid environmentalist keen on sustainable living.

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Tony Dekker, Musician

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Benoit Dupras, Youth Activist

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Peter Poole is a renaissance man who is deeply involved in his community of Banff, Alberta and the larger world. He is a change maker with a deep commitment to conservation and honouring indigenous elders which shine through in all of his endeavours. Through other projects, he is also a very good friend. Tony Dekker is the lead singer and songwriter for Canadian indie-folk group Great Lake Swimmers. Tony is a thoughtful and down to earth musician with a strong interest in nature and relationships. Even at 19 years of age, Benoit Dupras, a Youth Ambassador on Leg 7 from northern Québec, is on a course to change the world. He is indicative of a new generation of Francophone Canadian leaders and, in his case, he aims to be a major force to move Canada, and the world, away from fossil fuels to a green energy future.

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Taivitii (David) Lawson, Inuk Leader

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Joshua Stribbell, Urban Inuk

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Tyler Waboose, Youth Ambassador

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This last group represented Leg 7 participants from Canada’s Indigenous peoples, collectively, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. In a later post, I will more fully explore some of the Reconciliation dialogue from Canada C3.

Taivitii (David) Lawson is an emerging Canadian Inuit leader originally from traditional lands near Pangnirtung and now living in Iqaluit. David was in the RCMP for 15 years and just prior to the Expedition, was about to embark on training to be a lawyer to “be an advocate for the Inuit people.” David has been an activist in a number of community issues, including suicide prevention through Embrace Life Council. Because David was a last minute replacement, there isn’t a bio on the C3 website. Joshua Stribbell is President, National Urban Inuit Youth Council and runs a program for Inuit youth in Toronto called Torontomiutaujugut. He grew up in Southern Ontario because his mother was adopted out in the Sixties Scoop. He has only recently started to re-connect with his Inuit heritage. A Youth Ambassador and member of the Matawa First Nation, born and raised in the urban setting of Thunder Bay, Tyler Waboose also aimed to re-connect with his ancestral heritage in the northern Canadian Arctic. Tyler is active in Roots to Harvest, engaging youth with agriculture and cultivating heathy communities.

Our onboard dialogues were both planned and an by chance encounter. We had an onboard, Hollywood level “Comms Team” of 6 people constantly shooting and producing amazing content to share with Canada and the world. As mentioned, the goal was to reach over 20 million Canadians, which I believe was handily achieved in channels as diverse as Facebook Live to traditional print journalism. As a result, even thought the participant base was limited, the majority of Canadian participated to greater or lesser degrees in the education and conversation about our future. I also committed to share in various ways, including writing a series of blog posts (like this one!).

One particularly important session was organized by very thoughtful participant Peter Poole. He had several scientists, youth, artists, indigenous people and other present their thoughts on what Climate Change meant to them both personally and professionally. Being involved in my own work to “reboot the narrative around climate change”, this particular session inspired and motivated me to carry on the conversations that Peter started. While there will be more on my initiative as it evolves, it was clear that this session got many to commit to being ongoing ambassadors and champions of the unique Climate Change perspectives from the north. Also, now in 2018, watch out for various more formalized Canada C3 Legacy Projects as they are unveiled during this year.

While I could go on endlessly about Canada C3 and the environment, hopefully this does give you a taste. Collectively, I can only give a small glimpse of how the Canada C3 expedition was a life-changing one for me and all participants. The learnings weren’t so much the hard science, but instead the storytelling and narrative challenges standing in the way of getting us all onboard.

To wrap up, just as Chef Paul Rogalski always reminded us that “The foundation of great food starts with the ingredients…’, so too does making the world better start with great people. I will leave the last word to none other than that master of words, Lorna Crozier. I love the picture she paints tying in so well, and viscerally, to the earlier words of scientists like Bianca Perren who has dedicated her life to Polar Climate Science. What action will you take in response.

5 Dec 2017

Canada – A Nation Built by (Extra) Ordinary People

In a previous post, I spoke about my involvement with Canada 150 and also the Canada C3 signature project. The latter is an epic journey divided into 15 “Legs”, on a former Canadian Coast Guard Ice Breaker vessel (the MV Polar Prince, ca 1958) refitted to sail from coast to coast to coast for 150 days, and provide an ideal platform for connections and conversations. As a participant, I can only say I was profoundly changed, inspired, enlightened and mobilized by my time.

At our 150th birthday in 2017, Canada is at a crossroads as it strives to outgrow its colonial past, to find its rôle and place in a new world order and to respond to the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on the mis-treatment of our Indigenous Peoples in Residential Schools.

Compared to the celebration of our history that was the focus of Canada’s Centennial in 1967, Canada C3 responded directly to such challenges and sought to contribute to a new sense of nation building in our country. The ambitious goal was to engage over 20 million Canadians and contribute to a Legacy for our nation as it looks forward to our bicentennial in 2067 and beyond.

Accordingly, the key themes for Canada C3 were crafted to help in this nation building:

Reconciliation with our Indigenous People, namely First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
Environment: and in particular the challenges of climate change as well as specific challenges facing our coastline and northern regions. A little known fact is that Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. Issues include species loss, micro plastics in our oceans, effects of higher sea levels and much more. See my post here: “Environmental Awakening Fusing of Science, The Arts and Sea Ice”
Diversity and Inclusion: Canada’s cultural mosaic includes people from all over the world which is a reflection of Canada’s admirable openness and welcoming nature. Although we have always been a country of newcomers. our society still has a way to go to be completely inclusive to: visible minorities, women, LGBT and those with disabilities.
Youth Engagement: As a baby boomer who was a teenager in 1967, I feel that my generation has proactively shaped the Canada we know today. Our generation has achieved much that is good but there are many areas to address. This is always a work in progress. Similarly, today’s youth must lead our quest for the Canada of 2067 and Canada C3 provided a great vehicle from them to learn,
share, contribute and ultimately act to help us build a future civil society that is just and open.

I was honoured and privileged to be a Participant on Leg 7 of Canada C3, from Iqaluit to Qikiqtarjuaq on the east coast of Baffin Island in our newest Territory. Note that I will write posts on most, if not all, of the above four themes through my eyes always amplified by and learning from the amazing people onboard and in the local communities. As I’ve learned, in any human endeavour, it is extraordinary people who shape Canada, and ignite me with a huge optimism about our future. The expedition organizers did an wonderful job in curating a massively diverse group of exceptional people, some of whom might too modestly consider themselves ordinary. In this post, and the following ones, I will try to share my thoughts as shaped by these extraordinary Canadians. I have also learned that, simply by convening conversations, powerful and transformative change can be unleassed.

To illustrate this, the ship had about 60 people onboard at any one time, as follows:

14 crew – from the amazing Captain Stephan Guy who also made the best bread I’ve had in a long time, and a group of hard working marine experts who worked hard 24/7 to ensure we progressed safely and on time,
20 staff – The staff was led by the world’s most innovative outdoor educator, Geoff Green, CM, expedition leader. The staff complement included onboard scientists conducting 25 experiments along the coast of Canada, Zodiac drivers and interpreters; bear guard[ians]; hospitality and cooking; onboard physician; and a Hollywood grade “comms” team of six (2 nationally leading photographers, a videographer, a drone operator and two prolific video and content editors who seemed to work around the clock), and
24 participants, for each of the 15 Legs or 360 for the entire expedition, selected in myriad ways, from invitation, partnership and application, including:
- journalists from across Canada
- a chef – each leg had one chef, part of Food Day Canada that celebrates food and food sustainability across Canada from coast to coast to coast
- a visual artist, one per leg, chosen by a Canada Council adjudicated jury
- a writer – ours was an Order of Canada poet who is a national treasure
- a musician
- educators – who could take the conversations back to our schools
- indigenous people – Leg 7 had 2 Inuit leaders and a youth ambassador from our First Nations
- youth ambassadors – we had 3 young people, already showing tremendous leadership and passion. I believe that, at their young age, this journey will be most transformational for them,
- partners, including from Canada Council, Apathy is Boring, etc
- business people,
- and many, many more.

Through my posts, pictures, and videos, you will meet some of the above people, but my focus for this post will be in the communities we visited on our journey. Since it was impossible for each and every Canadian to participate, I hope these posts can help people share and savour even a small portion of what I experienced.

While the backdrop of our journey, the east coast of Baffin Island, represents some of the most spectacular scenery on our planet, it only provided the context for our discussions and learning. Make no mistake, for those who are connoisseurs of art from the Arctic, the sense of lighting and colours seems alien to our more southern eyes, yet addictively beautiful. Compare the colours and textures of the iconic Inuit Artist Jessie Ooonark, Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, and a Brit bewitched by the north Ted Harrison to the real thing:

In posts that will follow, I will focus more on the people onboardCanada C3. For this post, I thought I’d talk about people encounters in the two main communities we visited, first Iqaluit, and our terminus in Qikiqtarjuaq.

Jenna in Iqaluit

Our first activity as a group was lunch and a hike in Sylvia Grinnel Territorial Park, which introduced us to the unique foliage north of the tree line. The park also contains archaeological sites of the ancient Dorset and Thule peoples. While there, we met a very engaging young Inuk named Jenna, shown here hamming it up for the camera. She was with her family fishing near Sylvia Grinnel Falls.

I was chatting with fellow participant, Lorna Crozier, when Jenna approached us and offered to sing a song

Lorna Crozier in Fjord

I soon learned that this friendly engagement, even with strangers, is a common part of Inuit culture. When, expecting to learn about some local singer celebrity, I asked her what her favourite singer was, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised that she answered “Katie Perry”.

Later our group toured the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, in the former Hudson’s Bay Company store, travelling there by our trusty yellow school bus.

There I saw a man whole seemed interested in our group, so I stopped and chatted with him. The video below explains why the talented artist was in Iqaluit. Jenna, riding her bike, was in the background of this interview, but got removed in editing. Charlie “C5” Johnston was definitely worth interviewing and, was it synchronicity for a person who brands himself “C5” to meet and interact with the “C3” group?

Later in Iqaluit, we got to meet many local people, including the scientists at Nunavut Research Institute, local artists, and kayak building at the local high school.

Days later, at the end of Leg 7 in Qikiqtarjuaq, most of our group climbed the hill overlooking the hamlet and the Canada C3 vessel, and we had a number of amazing encounters.

Initially I was surprised that the girl, shown above with her sister, had such a pro camera. Later, I learned that a journal and fellow participant Caroline G Murphy, had sportingly lent her camera. For more background on this budding young photographer, read Caroline’s article in Le Journal de Montréal J’ai Prêté ma Caméra a une Jeune Inuite de 9 Ans …

Jim Kyte

And, for those unable to read in French, our discussions on Diversity and Inclusion did encompass the original “Two Solitudes” in Canada, namely French and English. While Google can do a great job translating the article, the photos with the eye of a precocious 9 year old totally transcend traditional cultural divides.

David Lawson

Our final community encounter during Leg 7 was at a ceremony in Qikiqtarjuaq where we gave hockey sticks to the local children, who seem to have a passion for hockey that transcends even southern Canada’s hockey crazy intensity. Leading the presentation was Jim Kyte, fellow participant and the first legally deaf NHL hockey player. Jim is an inspirational leader I was happy to get to know who has overcome challenges that most would shy away from. Today he serves as Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Jim was joined by last minute participant, David Lawson, an Inuk leader who just resigned after 15 years serving his community in the RCMP. I am sure we will hear much more from David who just started a law degree in order to better advocate for his people. For example, he is Board President of Embrace Life Council, an Iqaluit-based suicide prevention organization. In a separate post, I will write more about my journey of learning about the Inuit people and their journey to become a vital part of the fabric of our Canadian nation.

Canada C3 made for some wonderful encounters and conversations. I can only wish that every Canadian was able to share my experiences with the wonderful diversity that is Canada. Even I took a long time to process this life changing experience. In the end, I had my understanding of my own country transformed both by the special world that is Canada’s Arctic regions, but even more so by people who now have a life long bond that will lead to action. These conversations were far from superficial and already, many of us are taking action. As we enter 2018, you will start to learn more about the Canada C3 Legacy Programs which will keep the torch of this remarkable nation building alive and further spreading that light in the form of action and education.

10 Sep 2015

Middlebrook Prize on the Move

The Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators has named Adam Barbu as its third winner and is moving up to a whole new level. Founded in 2012 by John Kissick and me, with initial investments from Middlebrook Social Innovation Fund, to support and mobilize Canadian creative talent, the Prize aims to inspire positive social change through creativity and connectedness in a time of unprecedented economic, environmental, social, and cultural challenges.

In our 3rd year, some exciting changes are afoot as we see our vision for the Prize unfold.

First of all, the Prize has a new home in our partner gallery, the recently re-branded Art Gallery of Guelph. Led by Dawn Owen, the gallery provides a compelling new venue to host the Prize exhibition and to mentor the winner.

Secondly, the Prize now has a physical form and a visual identity as befits an increasingly important Canadian cultural icon. Designed by the immensely talented and award winning creative director, Chris Duchaine, our new visual identity reflects the knowledge integration inherent in modern curating interpreted with the most modern design principles. Paying homage to the “White Cube” abstraction of the idealized art gallery, it also references the forces that are breaking down that cube and moving curation firmly into the future, perhaps embracing new ideas like the Ultra Contemporary Art Movement.

Hear Chris discuss his design:

To accompany the design, Chris selected the recently designed LL Circular font by Laurenz Brunner from Lineto in Switzerland. The font manages to be “geometric without being cold” and timeless while modern.

And, finally, the Prize now has a permanent online home with a website at MiddlebrookPrize.ca to properly highlight the accomplishments of this growing group of young opinion leaders in the arts world. To acknowledge that growing influence, the winners comprise an expert centre, using the cloud-based service ExpertFile to highlight the developing oeuvre of our cadre of winners. To further encourage the growth of this network of leaders, Katherine Dennis, the 2013 Middlebrook Prize winner, was a member of the selection jury for the 2015 Prize. We extend a special thanks to Kendra Martin for managing the design and implementation of our web presence.

In keeping with 6 words in the Prize name, (hence the “cube” in the visual design), we’ve chosen a playfully “cubic” hashtag of #MPfYCC. Stay tuned for more exciting developments, but do check out Adam’s exhibition opening on September 17th and the Middlebrook Prize Award Day on October 24th.

3 Apr 2012

Social Innovation – Can Social Sector Learn from Tech Startups?

It is notable that much of the recent trend towards Social Innovation has come from people who began their careers in technology startups, in Silicon Valley or other technology clusters. Some notable examples include:

Bill Gates, partly at the instigation of Warren Buffet who added his personal fortune to that of Gates, left Microsoft, the company he built, to dedicate his life to innovative solutions to large world issues such as global health and world literacy through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Started by Paul Brainerd, Seattle-based Social Venture Partners International is innovating at the intersection of technology and venture capital, with Venture Philanthropy. Paul sold Aldus Corporation (an innovator in desktop publishing applications, including Pagemaker) to Adobe in the mid 1990s. In his mid-40’s at the time of the Adobe acquisition, he was young enough to seek a significant and active social purpose in his life.

Jeffrey Skoll, a Canadian-born billionaire living in Los Angeles and an early employee of eBay, has numerous activities aimed at Social Innovation including Skoll Foundation, Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Most of his initiatives are aimed at empowering the individual Social Entrepreneurs who are fuelling a new generation of Social Innovation.

Waterloo’s own Mike Lazaridis aims to transform our understanding of the universe itself by investing hundreds of millions of dollars into Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physicsn and Institute for Quantum Computing, effectively innovating a new mechanism of education and discovery. Notable is that this area of investment is one that may well take years, possibly decades, to show what breakthroughs, if any, are discovered.

Whether or not always attributtable to this connection with technology entrepreneurs, increasingly Social Sector organizations are starting to become much more like the entrepreneurial startups so familiar in the world of high technology. I’ve personally witnessed some of this change, and would like to suggest, that while there remain big differences, the parallels are strengthening over time. The following concepts represent just a small sampling of the key areas of similarity:

1. Founders Versus Artists

Stories are legion of smart, brash (and even mercurial) technology company founders who transform a business sector through the sheer strength of their wills. Many of these founders are “control freaks” and might find employment in conventional jobs a difficult proposition. Venture capital and angel investors have learned to be wary of such founders, citing numerous examples of founderitis – in which uncoachable founders, in a case of “my way or the highway” would rather maintain control than bend to ideas from often more experienced mentors, board members and investors.

Such personalities also exist in the Social Sector. For example, many arts organizations are founded by bright and innovative artistic directors. And yet, many of these same organizations come unravelled by the same mercurial nature that prevents the organization from being properly governed and accountable to funders (investors). With my background on both sides of this divide, the parallels are hauntingly striking.

Since such founders strengths can also be their undoing (or that of their organization), a conscious Board level assessment of such situations is always wise.

2. Running on Empty

Notwithstanding the media coverage of a few lucky technology startups such as Facebook or Google, most technology startups run of little or no significant funding. Many seek to change the world with very small amounts of capital, sometimes no more than several million dollars. The recent trend towards building such small capitalization organizations is called the Lean Startup movement. The challenges inherent in their undercapitalization is often the top complaint of such startups. However, Sergy Brin, the Google co-founder has insightfully observed that “constraints breed creativity” to describe how an underfunded state has led to the discovery of innovative ways to build companies and deliver their products.

Likewise, from my experience the vast majority of charities and nonprofits complain about being undercapitalized, and the reality is that most are. It is a fact of life in the social sector. Only now are we starting to see the emergence of social ventures, which by stealing a page from underfunded technology startups are exploring new business models and ways to deliver social change, often leveraging IT or a different process to vastly reduce costs of program delivery.

3. Technology Changes Everything

We’ve seen the emergence of a world where all information is stored in digital form and people are connected, even while mobile, the role of the web and technology can’t be underestimated. Technology-based startups, because they are small and start from scratch, often approach traditional problems in very non-traditional ways. Revenue and funding models change, as do fundamental ways to organize a business or social enterprise. Social media allows ideas to spread in a viral fashion. We have already seen how organizations like Avaaz can mobilize hundreds of thousands or even millions of supporters globally for both local and international issues of social injustices and poverty. This is a direct analogue to how many people now rely on Twitter or Facebook, rather than a printed newspaper, for much of their news and information.

4. Mission Creep – or the path forward

Technology startups have come to learn that success depends on laser sharp focus, attention to detail and execution of a “pure play” strategy (ie. only do one thing well). Thatparticular discipline has time and time again proven to be effective in a sector where technology change is moving rapidly and most startups are generally considered to be underfunded.

Likewise, Social Enterprises must adopt similar approaches to deal with underfunding and change. Even in today’s more fluid and fast-changing environment, to avoid deadly Mission Creep, Board and management must have developed a complete Theory of Change roadmap to enable Manage to Outcomes.

5 May 2009

A “Rare” Tasting Menu by R Murray Shafer

“Dawn itself is the most neglected masterpiece of the modern world.” – R Murray Shafer

For those who don’t already know him, R Murray Shafer is the legendary superstar of the Canadian Musical avant garde – a great thinker, teacher, composer and all round renaissance man.

Having been a fan for over 30 years but with little local exposure, it was great to see his Harbingers of Spring: a rare soundwalk presented last week in Waterloo Region. I’ve had the great fortune to have experienced many of his masterworks, especially those from his ambitious, 12 part Patria series, including The Princess of the Stars, Ra and The Enchanted Forest. Each concert is a one of a kind, tour de force combining music, theatre, philosophy many times based on classic mythologies and almost always set in the natural environment.

The soundwalk event was really a set of mini-concerts stitched together during a 3 hour walk through the breathtaking, almost 1000 acre rare property at the confluence of the Speed and the Grand Rivers in Cambridge. First and foremost, a brilliant thought leader and writer, Shafer opened with some great concepts:

Sounds and music, never originated in the sterile, acoustically engineered, concert hall. Their natural habitat is outdoors.
Most early cultures could hear both nearby sounds, such as birds or the trees, but also far off sounds, (maybe even 20-30 km) by “putting their ear to the ground”.
Being acutely atuned to ambient sounds wasn’t just an aesthetic sense, it was also essential to survival.
It is possible to hear even the sound of “trees growing in the woods”. This isn’t just the lovely sound of wind in leaves, but also the sound of sap rushing through the trees. Each species of tree has its own distinctive sound (music?) both in growing and in the way it interacts with the wind.
Sadly, our modern, urban population has lost its ability to hear more than the most immediate sounds – the white noise of traffic, car horns and the ubiquitous music such as in Starbucks drown out any ability to hear anything further afield. Along with this, perhaps we have lost our ability to “hear” the very ecosystem we inhabit.

Finally, Shafer concludes with his vision that re-connecting people with their audible environment might well be essential to the very survival of our environmentally challenged planet.

Including premieres and works inspired by Shafer’s engaging, nay idiosyncratic, style, some of the pieces included:

Radio Rare Woods (world premier) by Ellen and Michael Waterman, including first a live performance of the Nocturne for Solo Flute from Shafer’s Wolf Music, composed in 1996, followed by echoes played over several dozen radio receivers strategically arrayed thoughout the wood walk. Certainly, a juxtaposition of the urban and natural environments.
From the Bow a poem by Rae Crossman, set to clarinet music written by Murray Shafer.
Excerpts from The Enchanted Forest and Aubade for Solo Voice by Murray Shafer is a wonderful example of the music coming to life in the setting of a forest. The music elicits a live response from birds and other wildlife in a way that is more alive than anything seen in any concert hall. It was truly awe inspiring.
Transportation Transoformation in Shades of Rust (world premier) by Annette Urbschat and Todd Harrop presented an improvisation using a quintessential 20th century intruder, in the shape of a wrecked car, which acts both as set and source of musical instruments.
The Acoustic Locator (world premier) by Nina Leo was a large ear horn that could swivel through an entire 360 degree rotation enabling each audience member to connect with the audible landscape in a very intimate way indeed.

In closing, kudos to the organizers for their sense of promoting the power of partnership in the arts. Just like in for profit businesses, this kind of pairing can build a powerful gestalt where the sum is greater thant the parts.

The Soundwalk was presented as part of the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, which is an electic mix spanning avant garde to classical and electroacoustics to sound installations. The festival is a “spin-out” of the KW Symphony Orchestra under Artistic Director Peter Hatch and produced jointly with NUMUS. What was exciting was that this event was produced with a charitable natural reserve decicated to research. Like R Murray Shafer, the event was a fusion of togetherness of the arts and environment in Waterloo Region. This is exactly the kind of “big tent” strength through partnership envisaged by the September 2008 Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region: Task Force on Creative Enterprise.

15 Feb 2009

Getting Creative – “Yes We Can” or “Mind the Gap”?

In today’s challenging economic times, it is extra important for governments, academics and individuals to plan our future economic prosperity. Thus, it is timely that Richard Florida and Roger Martin from the Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto this month published Ontario in the Creative Age, which provides a detailed future-oriented policy blueprint.

It sets a policy agenda to help us unleash our full potential in the Twenty-first Century where economic success is increasingly coming from creatively-oriented enterprise versus our traditional strength in routine physical and routine service occupations. The report is backed by research which highlights both our existing strengths and weaknesses including those in education, income and even the gap in our creative/routine job mix compared to our peers. Starting from the base of today, the agenda suggests four main focus areas to drive future prosperity:

“Harness the creative potential of Ontarians”, including businesses’ role in changing job mix, education and even marketing of our capabilities,
“Broaden our talent base”, focused on significant increases to our post secondary educational levels and broadening managerial capabilities,
“Establish new social safety nets”, including early childhood development, better utilization our key immigrant resource and retraining of older workers from declining occupational groups, and
“Build province-wide geographic advantage” which strengthens connections (physical and otherwise) within and beyond the mega-region spanning Waterloo-Toronto-Ottawa-Hamilton-Niagara-Rochester.

Having read this paper, it is encouraging to see such a forward thinking analysis that will certainly drive future governmental, business and economic decision and policy making. With that in mind, and being of an optimistic “yes we can” mentality, I was, however, struck by how very little attention was paid to the biggest gap of all — Funding this agenda.

Without proper funding, our ability to transform our economy in these wise and necessary ways, will go unfulfilled. I’ve written about this “funding gap” numerous times and from different perspectives:

as part of my series on government policy aimed at preparing us for the Digital Age: Digital Policy #3: Startup Investment and Taxes
our recent Federal Budget was chock full of stimulus measures, but seemed totally blind to the creative transformation. For example, I discussed potential green technology initiatives in A Bright Green Federal Budgetary Stimulus Opportunity
much social enterprise, particularly that most creative sector – the Arts, is hurting badly: Another One Bites the Dust – and You Thought Business Was in Crisis Mode

I’m certainly not alone in this concern. Many others in positions of thought leadership have raised the issue of funding of investment, some with very specific policy proposals and others just highlighting the gap:

Avvey Peters from Waterloo’s Communitech blogged about Magic Words: Economic Stimulus right before the Canada’s Januaray federal budget, and her post contains some very specific policy measures.
Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS Discovery District, a leading Ontario driver of research and commercialization, provided a well-researched analysis of the major institutional and venture funding gaps of Canada compared to other jurisdictions in their latest newsletter.
Alec Saunders, CEO of one of Canada’s most promising web/mobile startups, Iotum, addressed the tech startup funding gap in the context of the proposed federal stimulus in his blog post Tech in Canada: Can We Do More Than Play Hockey? Also, a number of international discussions of technology competitiveness have been hosted on their innovative Calliflower service.
Peter Childs, an Ottawa social media strategist and tech luminary, has laid out a framework Tech in Canada: Peter Child’s Framework for Stimulus

Make no mistake, having surveyed funding sources for startups and social enterprise, Ontario (and Canada) significantly lags most regions in the US and Western Europe — our primary OECD comparables. The reasons for this are numerous and will be discussed in a separate posting, but this funding gap is our extra hurdle before we can be successful in driving the Florida/Martin challenge to transform Ontario to a creative economy.

And to be clear, this transition to the creative economy needs to be driven by the competitive, market economy. That implies that it will not the primary role of governments to provide the major funding for our transformation. Fundamentally, governments should not be picking winners and losers, but simply equiping market forces to go to work. And, given our long history and culture of relying on governments for answers, it is important to clarify that point. With the right framework in place, businesses and individuals will compete to drive the path to our future.

Thus, as their primary task, it is imperative that our federal and provincial governments develop a strong and co-ordinated policy framework, dealing with taxation, security regulation, and the like, to encourage the private sector to make such investments. And, in our current times of economic stimulus, the extra icing on the cake should be to channel some of those near term stimulus dollars toward growing the creative sector that is so essential to our future economic prosperity.

13 Jan 2009

Another One Bites the Dust – and You Thought Business Was in Crisis Mode

“Another one bites the dust.
How do you think I’m going to get along,
Without you, when you’re gone”
Queen

This is a call to action where individual citizens can make a huge difference.

The recent loss of a local cultural gem, namely King Street Theatre:

Curtain Closes on Another Local Local Theatre

and the near death experience of the 87 year old cultural gem the Grand Philharmonic Choir, from cash flow challenges, has shone a spotlight on how the financial meltdown is already impacting the Waterloo area arts and cultural scene. As one who supported King Street Theatre’s original capital campaign, I feel this loss personally. Further, I am optimistic that many in our community share this sense of loss.

Many of the key funders who directly invest in our cultural sector, such as local foundations and individual donors, have seen their financial investments tank along with the rest of us. Given that 2009 contributions will largely be determined by 2008 investment returns, we are probably just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

The media cites lack of citizen interest or poor attendance as the root cause. Many business people working with social enterprises observe that many organizations lack the right management to deliver better results. While all true, I would posit that the challenges of the cultural sector are much more complex. I’m as much a believer in economic Darwinism, which dictates that in order to have real success, you also need to have failures. In fact, my recent post Playing the Lottery after the Meltdown underscores this notion in regard to the recent government led auto sector bail outs. Mark McArdle’s post What I Didn’t Get for Christmas makes an even stronger case for economic Darwinism.

That being said, much of the social sector, including arts, culture, the environment and many other social causes, have long operated in a marginal and underfunded state. This, for most organizations, trumps the above concerns about attendance or management quality. It is fortunate indeed that many community leaders met last September at the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region: Task Force on Creative Enterprise to begin to put together a comprehensive, strategic initiative to invest in and develop our overall capabilities in the Creative and Cultural sphere. While from an early 2009 perspective, this might not at first appear to be the ideal time to launch such a big idea, we need to remember that such initiatives are long term and may need a number of years to properly gestate. Ideally, need to be ready so that our collective efforts can bear fruit in time for the next economic boom in the Waterloo area.

Meanwhile, I would call all citizens who care about the cultural future of the Waterloo area to respond with their support. While each of us may favour different organizations and ways to provide that support, we all need to do our part. The great community we live in depends on each of us to personally help to nurture and invest in its future.

26 Sep 2008

Guest Post by David Craig: Stephen Harper Provides an Ironic Twist to Arts Investment

In an ironic turn of events, the same day as almost 150 very senior business, educational and municipal leaders in Waterloo Region rallied around dramatically enhanced arts and culture investment at the Task Force on Creative Enterprise, Stephen Harper was quoted by the Toronto Star as saying “that ordinary Canadians do not support nor care about art or artists in this country.”

Not surprisingly for a country populated by extraordinary people, the response has been swift and and widespread. See the rapidly growing Facebook group Ordinary Canadians DO SUPPORT the Arts, Mr. Harper. You are dead wrong.

It is fitting that our first, of many, guest posts, which follows directly, is a view from the front lines of theatre penned by David Craig, Artistic Director of Roseneath Theatre, Roseneath is a fabulous and, typical of Canadian arts organizations, undercapitalized, gem providing professional theatre for young audiences. I am volunteer Treasurer and Board member of Roseneath Theatre.

Credit: Diana Hamblyn, Facebook

Credit: Garnet Hertz (Facebook)

26 Sep 2008

Rosebud (Citizen Harper)

David Craig is Artistic Director of Roseneath Theatre, which is Ontario’s largest professional (Canadian Actors Equity) touring theatre, as well as Ontario’s largest disseminator of Theatre to Young Audiences. David resides in Toronto. This note was a direct response to the Harper arts funding cuts and proclamation that “ordinary Canadians do not support nor care about art or artists in this country.”

Much is being said about Prime Minister’s Harper’s comments depicting artists attending “galas” on taxpayers money, whining about their grants. I don’t know what artists Mr Harper is referring to.

Astrid Van Wieren, who is playing Louise in Danny King of the Basement is 43 and is being paid $700 for a 50 hour week. She says she loves acting. She describes it as the air she needs to breathe.

Young Zarrin Martin Darnell, who is playing Penelope, has just graduated from the National Theatre School and has a $13,000 student loan. She was in the hospital last night, but is performing the play this morning. She loves playing Penelope and is excited to have her first professional job.

The biggest supporter of the arts are the artists. Their output represents 7.4% of the gross national product, none of which can be outsourced. All of us here are disappointed that the Prime Minister is so out of touch with these realities.

On the bright side, at our preview performance last Friday, a teacher said Danny King of the Basement was the best presentation he had seen in thirty years of teaching.

Have a great weekend. As ever, David

24 Sep 2008

Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region: Task Force on Creative Enterprise

Earlier today, a much heralded conference took on the heady task of defining the future cultural landscape of the Waterloo area. Called “Creative Dimensions in Prosperity”, it was a major milestone for the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region which is an initiative of Communitech, Canada’s Technology Triangle and the Chambers of Kitchener/Waterloo and Cambridge.

Over the last few decades, the Waterloo area has, quietly but spectacularly, taken a quantum leap in economic stature and quality of life by:

leading the charge with a world class technology cluster with companies like Google, RIM, COM DEV, Open Text, Descartes, Dalsa, Desire2Learn, MKS and Christie Digital;
investing heavily in post-secondary education at University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Guelph and Conestoga College, not to mention the new life sciences campus and major research parks in Waterloo and Guelph;
delivering over $300 million in capital spending on healthcare (which was admittedly catch up for past under-investment), including the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, St. Mary’s Regional Cardiac Centre and Mental Health Centre and
development of major public institutions such as Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, The Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

It is in this context that we are overdue for a strategy, driven by significant injections of capital investment, to move our creative (artistic and cultural) sector to the next level as well. The conference was both about educating community leaders on what this entails, but more importantly setting the wheels in motion to make it happen. For me, personally, harnessing the entrepreneurial energy of our Region more strongly to our arts and culture sector is an exciting prospect, indeed. With about 150 invited community leaders, it was a good size to balance influence with the efficiency of achieving real, tangible results.

The format, which mixed presentations of research into other model communities with small group workshops sandwiched between a number of local and national keynotes, was quite effective. I kept notes in the millenial way, namely by propagating some of the key comments and concepts out to the Twittosphere. Thus, here are a few observations of the speakers, which of course don’t begin to capture the knowledge and energy at Whistle Bear.

Gerry Remers, CEO of Christie Digital, kicked things off with his thoughtful and energetic take on:

“intersections of arts and business”
“profound arts experience that can turn even Conservatives into human beings?”, then went on to
“… contrast known arts investment multiplier effect with contentious $45 Million Tory arts spending cuts”
He proudly talked about the “Christie Digital sale of 150 projectors to IOC for Beijing Olympics – a $6.5 million deal!”
although we pat ourselves on the back, in truth “… Waterloo Region still has underdeveloped arts and culture sector”

Gerry, in particular, was a great choice both because of his personal passion and global knowledge in this area, but also because his company, Christie Digital, is an excellent exemplar to the audience, positioned as it is right on the boundary of the high-tech for profit area and the creative industries.

One of the two consultants, Janet Meredith, talked about 7 different “model” communities, including Austin, Calgary, Denver, Dublin, Edmonton, Glasgow and Portland. One observation was that there is “stiff competition for top talent. Creative community values are a key differentiater in winning this battle. Waterloo needs to look at other global creative clusters for inspiration”. The other consultant, Liz Westerfield, mentioned that “… Denver Art Gallery gets $5 million annually from city sales tax levy”, out of an approximate total payout of $40 million per annum, funded by a 0.1% city sales tax.

During a panel, co-chair Tim Jackson made the significant observation that “arts underfunding leaves no latitude to innovate, take risks or make mistakes.” Like the for profit sector, risk taking and competition are key to a vibrant arts and culture ecosystem.

After the breakouts and lunch, William Thorsell, CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum, gave an insightful keynote delivered with the voice of deep experience in exactly what our own initiative needs to achieve. As such, he outlined how in a very short window of time, Toronto has invested in 10 arts and culture megaprojects, totalling $1.5 billion, including Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Four Seasons Opera Centre, etc.

He councilled the group to clearly understand their strategic antecedents, surprisingly citing that the southern “German car cluster (BMW & Mercedes) only happened there because of Roman occupation 2000 years ago.”
Strongly reinforced the notion that “competition in philanthropy is a key success factor” which helped the audience underestand the dynamic betwen having loads of “bottom up” initiatives balanced with a strong top down strategy. Perhaps because of its existing size and stature, there seemed little need to have an overall strategy driving the 10 Toronto Arts and Culture megaprojects.

David Johnston, President of University of Waterloo (aka “Mr. Book”) gave a learned and inspiring talk providing both historical context and insights to help us shape the parameters of today’s discussion:

David noted that to “prosper is to grow well (thoughts on name Prosperity council)”
“individuals do make a difference and leadership is key to building the future”,
So much so, in fact, that the best results happen when there is a “cluster effect of great leaders working with other great leaders to make eagles soar”
David defined “Social Capital as intelligent people interacting with each other”

Overall, it was a great agenda. Kudos to the organizers for the wisdom to balance education with initiative. This is definitely a “big tent” strategic agenda. It will take time, leadership, competition and, above all, major investment to bring it about. It speaks volumes about the entrepreneurial spirit of our Region that we are even considering embarking upon this journey.

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