A Vital Conversation in Calgary

An infectious desire to make this city the best it can be.

Diverse opinions reached a common goal when The Calgary Foundation held the first of a series of Vital Conversations, on the topic of “sustainable city,” in late January.

Vital Conversations are public dialogue events that have become TCF’s way to engage citizens in the development of Calgary’s Vital Signs Report. Each discussion is centred around a key-issue area presented in our report, and the latest was hosted in partnership with the Calgary Public Library and the new Office of Sustainability at the City of Calgary.

The event exceeded our expectations. We had to limit the attendees to 150 people, experienced a full turn-out, had to brew extra coffee and saw every last appetizer eaten. Through planned partnerships, we were able to provide ‘farm-to-fork’ appetizers from a sustainable catering company, Forage, and were supplied with organic, free-trade coffee from a local roasterie.

The early-evening event and reception was held at the downtown branch of the Calgary Public Library, with a casual and energetic tone. After a few short introductory presentations, participants formed break-out discussion groups of 7 to 8 people. The groups were led by volunteers who were equipped  with three rounds of questions, ranging from “What possibilities have the power to transform our city and would most inspire you?” to “What in your view are the top three challenges standing in the way of a more sustainable Calgary?” Each group was assigned a scribe who recorded the discussion on a master sheet – soon to be compiled and posted on our website.

Throughout the event, we incorporated ‘live-tweeting,’ a successful experiment that resulted in more than 30 live tweets that brought out highlights, expressed comments and pointed out who was in attendance. Examples of live-tweets were:

•  Sustainability is more than the environment. It’s about building a great city for everyone forever. #yycf
• Ideas for sustainability seem to revolve around community & means of social interaction & connection. #yycf
• Sounds like all on the same page. Is that b/c of demographics of ppl there? Why so difficult to do these things? #yycf  

By the end of the night, there was a powerful sense of camaraderie as group leaders ran up to the stage for a quick recap, making incredibly inspiring one-minute statements. It was interesting to see how 17 groups from a very diverse crowd managed to come up with very similar discussion highlights – there was a consistent theme of connecting with our neighbours and our community, the need for more public space, community activities, community gardens, collaboration, self-organized events, and teamwork.

One representative came up to the podium to say, “The first step towards building a sustainable city is to go get to know your neighbour. We may not often have much time or resources, but each and every one of you can go out this weekend and meet your neighbour.”

The evening could be summarized in one leader’s presentation: “A diversity of opinions, but a commonality in one goal – an infectious desire to make this city the best it can be.”

We look forward to hosting three more Vital Conversations on other key-issue areas, at different library branches. If you would like more details, please visit www.thecalgaryfoundation.org.
 
Teri Shortreed is Communications Assistant with The Calgary Foundation