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Free seminar makes case for sustainable future and the collaboration it requires

'We can create an integrated economy that benefits people, profit, and the planet,' said Rosalyn Morrison, chairperson of the Institute of Southern Georgian Bay
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Rosalyn Morrison is the chairperson for the Institute for Southern Georgian Bay.

A local group is encouraging boundary-crossing and competitor collaboration for the purposes of running forward into a sustainable future. 

The Institute of Southern Georgian Bay is hosting a series of open discussions and keynote speakers with the aim of building a case for a sustainable future. 

Institute chairperson Rosalyn Morrison said the volunteer-run group is hoping the discussions will help bring individual sectors and communities together for more leverage and faster change. 

She said the group offers a neutral platform for regional discussions that cross municipal boundaries and involve private and public sector players. Such collaboration, she said, isn’t happening anywhere else. 

“We were compelled by the pandemic to think about not only, ‘how do we get through this together?’ … not only through the pandemic but very much beyond the pandemic,” said Morrison. “Here’s our opportunity to reset, to learn together.” 

The institute is hosting the first session tomorrow, Feb. 10, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The online event will feature four speakers including Collingwood Mayor Brian Saunderson, CAO Sonya Skinner, The Blue Mountains CAO Shawn Everitt, and Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, Elizabeth Dowdeswell. 

Each of the four will be sharing various aspects of their approach to sustainability. 

“Anything we’re doing now should not impede the needs of future generations, that’s sustainability,” said Morrison. “We can create an integrated economy that benefits people, profit, and the planet.” 

Collingwood’s mayor and CAO will include information about the UN Habitat in Towns world summit hosted last year and how to get the resolutions from that summit to actionable items the region can be part of. 

“No one municipality or sector can address these issues by itself,” said Morrison. 

The institute’s “Our Sustainable Future” series suggests the Southern Georgian Bay region do away with “fragmented and siloed practices,” in the interest of “accelerating change.” 

To register for tomorrow’s free event, click here.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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