THRIVE symposium

A day of building connections and sharing knowledge

Hundreds of community members gathered at PECI on Saturday to learn about how collective actions could be used to build a brighter future for Prince Edward County. The one-day symposium was organized by Thrive PEC, a group that engages the wider community to develop a collaborative vision for the future of the County. It uses the concept of Asset- Based Community Development by looking at the existing cultural, financial, organizational and economic assets and using them to chart a path for the future. Thrive PEC began work almost a year ago by hosting a number of events to encourage community conversations and asking residents about their vision for the future of PEC. A number of common themes emerged from those conversations which broadly included concerns about the affordability of living here, climate change action and investing for the future with a diverse economy. With those themes in mind, Karen Palmer took a leadership role in finding a set of interesting and motivated speakers to share their knowledge and stories and provide inspiration in a one-day symposium. Katy McIntyre, Community Activator for Thrive PEC, said there were three main goals for the symposium. “The first was to inspire the community to learn about some of the challenges we’re facing and some of the solutions we might be able to pursue. The second goal was to connect residents— people from different sectors or industries, new County residents, generational County residents. And the third goal was to catalyze our collective action for the future. Building a bright and inclusive future for Prince Edward County takes all of us, and we all have a role to play.

We’re hoping to show people how they themselves can be active participants and leaders in this wonderful future we want to build.”

Nearly 200 people filled the PECI gymnasium for the start of the symposium on Saturday morning after a meet-and-greet in the Connections Café that was set up in the main hallway, where representatives from a number of PEC organizations were on hand to provide information about their services. The Greater Than Youth Collective opened the session by providing a picture of what today’s County youth are facing, and their hopes for a safe and welcoming future where they can thrive. Keynote speaker Lanrick Bennett Jr. then spoke about a “Yes, and…” approach to community development. He shared several stories about how this approach leads to a greater awareness of a community’s needs and how to meet those needs in a way that everyone benefits. He gave the example of the Bike Brigade that began as a way to bring food from food banks to those people who really needed it during the pandemic lockdowns, and has since continued with now more than 900 volunteer cyclists. “We were carrying ‘precious cargo’ and getting to see first-hand people who really needed help. It was a lifeline to many people, and brought a lot of joy to their lives. Saying ‘Yes, and…’ is a way of wanting to be part of the solution to make the community better,” he said. That was followed by a panel discussion on whose stories are being told through local history. The focus is now shifting to a more inclusive telling of the stories of a particular place, making room for Indigenous peoples’ stories and heritage. County Museum curator Jessica Chase said the museum will be presenting an exhibit of Indigenous stories and art later this fall.

There were a number of workshops following the lunch break. One workshop looked at ways to spur investment in the community to provide affordable or attainable housing, and ways to preserve the environment. Kathy Kennedy, Executive Director of the Prince Edward Learning Centre, said the lack of affordable housing is the biggest driver of poverty in the County. “We can’t leave housing to the market. Poverty is very expensive to maintain, in terms of social wellbeing and health care. It is too expensive to keep people in that situation,” she said. One other workshop explored the concept of creating a circular food economy where everyone has access to the healthy nutritious food they need. The symposium ended with a final session on the power and benefit of human connection. Presenter Pete Bombaci, founder of the GenWell Project, said that despite being in this time of instant digital communication, many people are in fact disconnected from their community, resulting in an epidemic of loneliness. He encouraged symposium attendees to be more intentional about building and maintaining personal face-toface connections. “We build empathy and compassion by spending time together,” he said.

Katy McIntyre was overjoyed by the success of the symposium. “It was a day where everyone came away with not just new resources and new ideas to tackle some of these questions, but people really felt bonded to each other and to this greater idea of community. There are new perspectives and this will galvanize a lot of support for those people with a passion and a fire for the community,” she said. The conversations will be continuing. There are two sessions planned. One on April 4 at the North Marysburgh Town Hall and one on April 5 at the Ameliasburgh Town Hall, which will focus on hearing perspectives from long-time and generational County residents. Youth engagement sessions are also in the works. “One thing that we really saw at the symposium was that we are a community and there’s enough love and enough projects for all of us,” said McIntyre. “We really encourage anybody, if you’ve got a passion, if you’ve got a perspective, then get involved. We are here to support, and everyone needs to be part of this project to build a bright vision for the future of Prince Edward County.” For more information, please visit thrivepec.ca.