By Emily Stonehouse
During her presentation for the Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project, civic facilitator Jessica Slade made reference to a recipe for success: citizens with ideas, councils with authority, staff with expertise, and volunteers with time and energy.
A four part collaboration that sets a community up for success.
She nailed it. That abstract thought around gaps and struggles and momentum and movement.
It all comes down to this recipe.
And while the concept is simplified and structurally articulated in plain black and white, this recipe may be significantly easier said than done.
I’ve watched many, many ideas take shape over the years, only to flounder and fail because all the pieces of the recipe are not accounted for. Sometimes they have staff with expertise, but not council support. Other times there are big ideas, but no capacity for volunteers.
On a rare occasion, there is unwavering council support, but the idea fizzles out when the citizens lose momentum.
The same way you need sugar for cookies to be sweet, eggs to bind them together, flour to allow them to rise – you need each and every part of civic engagement to be running on all cylinders in order to move forward with a dream.
The root messaging at the heart of the Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project is to get people involved, in some capacity, in their community. Whether that be boards, committees, not-for-profits, school councils, our volunteerism, there are opportunities and avenues to use your voice, to find your platform.
And you have to walk the talk. In an age of swirling social media messages, this is the time to move from those forums and apply your cares, your considerations, your causes, directly to the betterment of your community.
No, Facebook does not count as a platform with which tangible change can be implemented. You have to show up, you have to be real, you have to dedicate time and effort and money and energy towards your beliefs.
Then, and only then, will you see change.
It all comes down to the recipe: citizens with ideas, councils with authority, staff with expertise, and volunteers with time and energy.
And honestly, I do believe we are set up as a community to succeed. There are countless groups of doers and dreamers, movers and shakers. There are dedicated staff who have committed their careers to bettering our towns. While there is a population of volunteers aging out of the scene, many seem to be taking the eager hands of generations below them, and showing them the ropes.
And last but not least, we have a council with authority; with the ability to implement meaningful regulations, and the opportunity to choose to move forwards instead of back.
I think it’s time to get this recipe in place. We’re hungry for change.
