GETTING AHEAD OF THE WAVE: At Seminar #2 in the 2009 Comox Valley Series, Eric Bonham set the context with an inspirational message about “Mission Possible: Convening for action on Vancouver Island to create our future”
Eric Bonham connects the dots between John Muir in 1903 and CAVI in 2009
Eric Bonham was the keynote speaker for the second seminar in the 2009 Comox Valley Learning Lunch Series. He opened by connecting the dots between CAVI – Convening for Action on Vancouver Island and the keynote address by Paul Hawken at the Resilient Cities Conference, held in Vancouver two weeks earlier.
Resilient Cities context
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author. Starting at age 20, he has dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He is the author of six books including The Next Economy, Growing a Business, and The Ecology of Commerce.
“At Resilient Cities, Paul Hawken gave three underlying commentaries,” stated Eric Bonham. “We need to re-engage our relationship with each other; we need to see the world as a single system….in our case, we are talking about Vancouver Island; and we need a transcendent movement.”
“His last point is really important because this is what we are trying to do through CAVI: get out of our silos, cross the boundaries and take a collaborative approach to our future on Vancouver Island.”
John Muir context
Eric Bonham then told an anecdote about John Muir, the Scottish-born visionary who was responsible for the national parks system in the United States in the late 19th century.
“I wanted to give some history to give context for where we are at on Vancouver Island. So, when I say…CAVI, Mission Possible…I am using the context of John Muir, one voice, and what can be accomplished when a visionary and a decision maker come together with a shared vision.”
“I used the John Muir example because I want to ground this discussion about what we can do on Vancouver Island. John Muir said when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. This is the approach that we are taking with CAVI. We are trying to connect people…up and down Vancouver Island…we are talking about creating our future.”
Link to You Tube Video:
To view the complete presentation by Eric Bonham, click on Mission Possible: We can create our future (9:55) Note to the viewer: While the lighting is poor, the audio is clear and captures the flavour of the moment.
Link to PowerPoint Presentation:
To view the set of slides that accompany the commentary by Eric Bonham, click on Mission Possible: Convening for Action on Vancouver Island PDF
