Hope. That is the resounding sentiment from my recent experience at an event in the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland that featured the people, their enterprises, and their community impact.
As an ecosystem builder, focused on community capital, I was invited to participate in a unique event held in the Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland, hosted by the community and the Purposeful Group. The event gathered those of us in the broader social finance/social enterprise ecosystem to share an experience of discovery alongside the local community members who have made the community what it is now. I heard the story of a community that has created change in an economically devastated region by seeing their community capital differently and making those capital assets benefit community; capital assets like puffin nesting grounds and buildings unique to the area. This is a story of how they re-imagined themselves, and the capital assets in their community, and how they took action to change the local economy and improve well-being. I see this as an inspiring example of building the synergies of hardy, independent folk for long-term, community-wide benefit.
Hope is the starting point; these are journeys fueled by vision and possibility.
Along that journey, two mindsets help when overcoming the seemingly insurmountable barriers: “No one is going to show up to save us” and “we are enough.” I heard and saw how hope, self-reliance and resilience have created historic beauty from abandoned buildings. It helped to have champions with the energy to be there for the long term, but champions have emerged and added the energy that drives this change. Champions are both long-term local community leaders and “come from aways”, all contributing to the collective vision.
In the Bonavista peninsula, scattered with several fishing outpost communities, we learned how the town of Bonavista and other towns in the area have recreated themselves over recent decades. From the collapse of the cod fishery economy in the early 1990s, with the forced cod fishing moratorium, these communities have emerged as thriving places with economies that have helped to increase local populations, reduce poverty and attract international attention and visitors.
These are communities that envision themselves by what they have, and it turns out they have so much more than cod fish. Bonavista community attracts people to their natural environment featuring whales, icebergs, dramatic landscapes and a growing number of historic buildings. While the whales and icebergs are seasonal, the emergent local industry is creating their unique built infrastructure of shops, houses and community buildings in the traditional ways. Newly built and rescued dilapidated homes and businesses have been recreated to exacting historic standards inside and out. The traditional look and feel of the buildings, nestled among intertwining streets, have become an attraction in itself. Even the windows are locally crafted to replicate those in the original structure, featuring thick single-pane glass set in decorative frames, with small air intake vents in place of screens.
The community of Ellison, just down the road from the town of Bonavista, identified a unique asset: puffins (which nest on a rocky outcrop close to shore) and a significant sealing history and the stories that follow from that history. Also distinguishing the community are the 130 root cellars, making it the “Root Cellar Capital of the World.” The community is making investments to make all the root cellars safe to visit and open for touring; about half are already there.
Further down the road is the birthplace of unions in Canada, in Port Union. Well established as a UNESCO geopark for its fossil site, the community is focused now on the work of rescuing housing and commercial buildings that tell the story of the birth of the fishery union at the fish processing plant that dominates the harbour shoreline still. Although no longer used for fish processing, it anchors the town and provides an opportunity to experience this important Canadian history. Old homes in the area are being converted to affordable housing, and the original union building is now a museum. The community is ensuring that the historic look and feel is preserved.
How do these actions change the local economy? Some of the businesses are social enterprises that provide local people with good jobs while being responsive to local needs. The private businesses sprang up to fill the needs of seasonal visitors. There are also community-owned organizations, like Bonavista’s Townscape, that own and run the old theatre space, The Garrick. This space has become a community hub, with food and bar service and events for locals and others year-round. It has been a journey of working from what is there, like the whales and puffins, but also the abandoned buildings, to reimagine what those things can mean for the community and how they can increase revenue for the community.
Important to the local economy is not just the jobs created; it is also the financial investment now attracted to the community. People and families who have been there for generations have attracted financial capital to restore homes and open inns, and people have ‘come from away’ bringing new investments in homes and community spaces. This includes a world-renowned wallpaper designer, Kate Golding, who recently settled in Bonavista from her native England. She now runs her global business from Bonavista and is restoring her newly acquired home to the exacting historic standards set by the town’s administration. Capital investment has come from a variety of sources, including governments and investment agencies. That investment is working because it is directed by the community for the community.
The Bonavista municipal budget reflects changes resulting from these investments too: the number of commercial properties almost doubled in the past decade (185 to 351), and the number of properties of no significant value is less than half what it was (400 to 196). While the property tax rate has been reduced, property tax revenue has almost doubled. This tells the story of a transformed local economy.
Over this period of reimagining itself, Bonavista’s population remains fairly stable, but unemployment has decreased (https://www.city-data.com/canada/Bonavista-Town.html), and more people are working https://www.areavibes.com/bonavista-nl/employment/). That means more than just increased income in this community-centred town: The owner of a local Inn and Tea room told me that this year he will take his dozen or so employees who have been with his business for more than a decade to Cuba for a beach holiday in gratitude for their contribution to the successful business.
Now thriving and beautiful, a place uniquely situated, with unique built infrastructure and hardy people. Finding hardy people anywhere in rural Canada is not challenging; working with them to reimagine and inspire hope is the beginning stage to creating community benefit with community capital.