	Mike Stolte Executive Director, Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership President, Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation British Columbia, Canada

	Clare Wasteneys Program Lead Community Economic Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ontario, Canada

	Peter Kenyon Director Bank of I.D.E.A.S. (Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Actions & Strategies) Kalamunda, Western Australia

Vibrant and enterprising communities and local economies require innovation, entrepreneurship and strong local leadership. This interactive, one-day workshop is an opportunity for those wanting to create vibrant communities to learn about and apply some practical tools developed by internationally acclaimed community and economic development practitioners These tools have been created not for ‘the outside professional expert’, but community entrepreneurs and enthusiasts – local people with the passion and commitment to take responsibility for their community’s future and ‘windows of opportunity’.

These Workshops are being held in conjunction with, or the support of, the following organisations


Orana Area Consultative Committee, NSW	Riverina Area Consultative Committee, NSW

Municipal Association of Victoria, VIC	City of Playford, SA

Who Should Attend

Regional development organisations

Tourism development groups

Area Consultative Committees

Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations

Business Enterprise Centres

Retail and Traders Associations

Local Government

Community development organisations

State and Federal Government Departments

Community enthusiasts

Time	Event
9.00 am	Registration, coffee and Workshop overview (Peter Kenyon, Director, Bank of I.D.E.A.S.)
10.00 am	Tools to Help Realise Your Potential – the Business Vitality Initiative and Community Vitality Initiative. (Mike Stolte, Executive Director, Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership, British Columbia, Canada)
10.50 am	Morning Tea
11.20 am	Creating Community Appeal through the First Impressions Community Exchange Program” (Clare Wasteneys, Program Lead, Community Economic Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada)”
12.00 noon	Creating a Business CARE (Creating, Attracting, Retention and Expansion) Strategy (Peter Kenyon)
12.30 pm	Lunch
1.15 pm	Workshop 1 *
2.15 pm	Afternoon Tea
2.45 pm	Workshop 2 *
3.45 pm	Workshop reflections and three other useful tools for the Community and Economic Development Toolbox. (Mike Stolte)
4.30 pm	Close
* Workshops will provide the opportunity to explore in depth the application of two of three tools – The Business and Community Vitality Initiatives, The First Impressions Community Exchange and Business Retention and Expansion Program.

Tools

Each tool introduced and illustrated throughout the Workshop represent mirrors to enable local community entrepreneurs and enthusiasts to better understand the assets, capacities and opportunities of their community and local economy, and subsequently provide direction to set and implement directions and action plans based on their perceptions, new insights and resources.

The Business Vitality Initiative (BVI)

The BVI is a unique assessment and action process that measures the community and business friendliness of a community across 100 key indicators, and then utilises the results to build community entrepreneurship.

The Community Vitality Initiative (CVI)

The CVI enables a community to measure its quality of life across a range of indicators utilising a system of online surveys, questionnaires, live meetings, focus groups and statistics. The resulting information is utilised to develop and implement a community enhancement plan.

First Impressions Community Exchange

This community exchange program helps participating communities to discover the impression they convey to outsiders, including tourists, potential investors or people looking to relocate their home or business. The exchange provides valuable Insights for community revitalisation and builds relationships with other communities.

Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) Program

The BR+E Program through the use of community volunteers and a structured interview process enables a community to learn and respond to the perceptions, concerns and ideas of the local business community.

Workshop Facilitators

Mike Stolte

Mike is the Executive Director of the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL – www.theCIEL.com), an organisation devoted to finding innovative solutions for communities across Canada. CIEL is based out of beautiful Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. Mike is a community development specialist and has personally created a range of community and economic development tools. He is a popular international conference / workshop presenter. He is currently developing a Rural Leadership Program for British Columbia.

Clare Wasteneys

For the past two decades, Clare has been facilitating local community capacity workshops in North America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Since 1999, she has led the development of a range of practical and engaging tools and resources to enhance economic development efforts in rural communities in Ontario, Canada. Her focus is on building the capacity of local residents to make strategic decisions for community revitalisation, business development and environmental sustainability.

Peter Kenyon

Peter is convinced that you can not build communities from the ‘top down’ and ‘outside in’. He is committed to strategies that build communities and their economies from ‘the inside out’. Thus his passion for tools and strategies that enable local residents to create their preferred futures and implement actions. Peter created the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. (Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Actions and Strategies) (www.bankofideas.com.au) in 1990 to help facilitate this approach. Since then, Peter has worked with over 1000 communities and undertaken facilitation work in 48 countries.