Yearly Archives: 2011

Each year David Mitchell President of Public Policy Forum asks a number of Canadians what they will be reading over the holidays.  This year the results were published in the Books section of the Globe and Mail (Saturday December 17). … Read More

"The physical design of cities and their economic functions are secondary to their relationship to the natural environment and to the spiritual values of human community." Lewis Mumford Half the world's population of 7 billion live in cities.  Another 2 … Read More

The capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest meaning and significance. Pablo Casals The slide-deck for my webinar, Natural Care – It’s In our Nature, is now available on line. I offer some definitions. Natural freely given … Read More

I liken Donald MacPherson to Thomas Clarkson the original community organizer.  Clarkson was the unassuming, tireless workhorse behind the successful 18th century campaign to end the British slave trade.  Donald is the legendary community organizer behind the 4 Pillars Drug … Read More

Pop music helps resist oppression.  Change, protest and movements are usually accompanied by songtracks. We Shall Overcome was introduced to Martin Luther King by Pete Seeger and it became an anthem for those resisting racist oppression in the 60's.  I … Read More

Natural care is heart work, accompanied by joy, grace, and tenderness.  It can also be messy, unyielding and decidedly unglamorous.  And it is playing teeter totter with an elephant. Natural care is the topic of a webinar I will be … Read More

Together: Respecting the Future is now on-line. https://socialinnovationbc.ca/ You can access and comment on the draft report using Google Docs. To download a full copy of the Draft Recommendations click here. This draft report represents the current thinking of members … Read More

I've always been partial to imagination as opposed to dreams.  Imagination has an element of intentionality, of agency. Dreams start too far back in the unconscious for me. Bold leaps of imagination inspire bold actions. This sense of purpose and … Read More

I became aware of Tom Kent a seminal figure in the development of Canadian social policy just after I moved to Halifax in the 1970's.  At the time he chaired the Cape Breton Development Corporation establishing the model of regional … Read More