Yes! It’s Time To Partner
The first ever Rural Islands Economic Forum marked a sea change for Rural Islands Advocacy! The gathering, on Pender Island, Tsawout Nation, November 7-8, 2019, brought together 110 attendees including rural island community builders, representatives of Indigenous communities with traditional land on rural islands, local entrepreneurs, leaders in green and clean tech, tourism, plus rural islands service providers including government at the federal, provincial and local level.
Throughout the 2-day event, attendees affirmed the importance of building a permanent organization upon the foundation of the Forum. All agreed it is a critical time now, especially in the face of climate change, to develop a collaborative path forward towards achieving long-term community economic health, through the advancement of innovative initiatives that promote rural islands economic resilience.
The Rural Islands Economic Partnership (RIEP) will launch in January 2020
RIEP will seek to build an enduring organization that engages the rural island communities of the Northern & Southern Gulf Islands and Howe Sound, along with the coastal Indigenous Communities, who have traditional or reserve land on these rural islands.
To learn more about plans to collaboratively address these challenges, read more in our “Next Steps”.
“We will act locally more effectively, and achieve goals regionally, when we address shared challenges collaboratively –after all, in the face of climate change –
no one island can be ‘resilient alone’.”
— RIEF, ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 2019
