Northern CommunitiesTransitioning to Resilience

Before we start voting, David, I think we need to take a step back and reflect for a moment on our Letter of Intent and what we are trying to achieve with this proposal....

In my view (and I have on rare occasions been mistaken), every one of the projects that we identified and proposed in the Letter of Intent is a part of "northern ontario communities transitioning to resilience:  Policy and practice towards a post-carbon era" - some of the key words in our title are "transitioning" and "towards" - we are not there yet, but that's what's exciting about our proposal - we are moving towards it - and quite possibly we'll have 5 years of work ahead of us to move the effort forward.

yes, our efforts may appear small at the moment - but that is often how change and movements happen.

our letter of intent was crafted to illustrate that northern communities have something to offer and contribute - and that solving our problems will come from made-in-northern-ontario solutions, not from policy-makers - or experts - from afar.  (Much as we would like some of their dollars perhaps to help us on our way!)

I think the partnership we have forged through this effort is part of that stepping towards the transition - so is this process of sharing ideas/experience/knowledge.  Communities without resources, and institutions disconnected from communities will certainly not be able to transition to resiliency.  But when communities can access institutional resources, and institutions respond to communities needs/issues/cultures, then a great step forward can be taken.

now I'm going to work on my corner of the vision.....