The Latest

Tamarack: Open Letter from Integral City Beyond Resilient Beyond Smart

Dear Tamarack,

I was last with you in your Vancouver 2017 Conference, sharing my second book, Inquiry & Action, Designing Impact for the Human Hive. Earlier that year, I was with you in Kitchener/Waterloo exploring Placecaring and Placemaking in your Collective Impact Conference.

This letter is to renew and continue an inspiring partnership – and to invite you to join me in Findhorn, Scotland, this April and May 2019 for 2 Integral City courses:

Read More

Ending Chronic Homelessness in Kawartha and Haliburton

Significant progress has been made in the City of Kawartha and County of Haliburton in ending chronic homelessness. A new report shows that to date, they have reduced chronic homelessness by 51%.

Housing and Homelessness is a key priority of Kawartha-Haliburton’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The poverty reduction effort is a joint initiative between the City of Kawartha and County of Haliburton, and is comprised of:

Read More

Waiting at the Intersection of ABCD and Collective Impact

I recently received an email question from a colleague curious about the different approaches identified in the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and collective impact frameworks.  They commented that ABCD seemed to be more grassroots driven while collective impact seemed to be more top down driven.  This question led me to consider our approach at Tamarack to understanding and incorporating different organizing frameworks into our thinking and training. I thought I would share my response with everyone. 

Read More

From Presence to Citizenship to Community

"In order to promote meaningful inclusion, we need to build communities that welcome the gifts and contributions of all their members."

Recently, I took part in the From Presence to Citizenship Learning Exchange in Toronto. To be honest, I didn’t want to go because I often find these “developmental services sector” conferences a bit frustrating – they’re full of big ideas and aspirational language, but does it lead to improvement in the lives of the people we support? However, since L’Arche needs to be part of this dialogue, I needed to be there.

Read More

Remembering Joe Schaeffer

Joe…that’s what we all call him, even though he is a wildly successful academic with a PhD, Joe is my friend, as he is to the many people he impacted in the field of community development and change. Joe is kind with a gentle spirit. He gave tirelessly to his students and treated us as real people. I know Joe had difficulties in relationships (we talked about this), but I and his students seldom saw that side of Joe. He was always one of us, and he made us feel special.

Read More

Insights into the Work of Authentic Community Engagement

The value and necessity of engaging multiple sectors to work collaboratively to address complex issues is now a widely accepted practice. As recognition of the value and importance of engaging the wisdom and knowledge of “context experts” in Collective Impact initiatives has grown, it has also contributed to a heightened interest in better understanding how to embed authentic engagement as a practice in community change efforts.

Read More