2010 Ideas Festival energizes community of leaders in Atlantic Canada
November 24-26, 2010
St. Andrews by-the-sea, NB
St. Andrews, NB - The 2010 21inc ideas Festival brought together Atlantic Canada’s emerging and established leaders for two and a half days of inspiring, action focused dialogue with the people and ideas shaping our world. The Festival tackled many of Canada's big issues – economic recovery and the future of Atlantic Canada, aging population, youth outmigration, open government, urban and rural vitality, energy sustainability and democratic participation.
Hope, leadership, entrepreneurship and collaboration were some of the recurring themes. Each session strongly reinforced the belief that to solve our most complex problems, we need to collaborate and innovate, and we need strong leadership.
"You have to earn leadership every day through your character and actions," said former Clerk of the Privy Council Alex Himelfarb, about the importance of strong, active leaders. He spoke about how experience can sometimes get in the way of good decision-making, acknowledging that "baby boomers don't know when to get out of the way. I'm part of the problem and I'm here to stay. I'm never going to die." Himelfarb quipped. He said that falling back on the same old broken systems will not fix our societal problems.
The 2010 Festival ran from November 24 to 26 and built on the success of the inaugural 2008 Ideas Festival. 21inc was joined by Public Policy Forum, Canada’s leading organization committed to improving the quality of government in Canada, as co-producer, and saw many returning participants and new faces in the crowd.
PPF president David Mitchell declared that the conference was evidence that we as a society should transform discussions into something that demographically resembles a family dinner table, rather than just gatherings of the "grey-hairs or no-hairs," as they were jokingly referred to throughout the two-and-a-half days. "The Ideas Festival was multi-sectoral, multi-regional, and multi-generational; perhaps this should be the model for the future of all policy dialogues," said Mitchell.
Another new addition to this year’s event was the Ideas Marketplace, where participants posted notes outside the main conference room about their ongoing projects and listed required resources. Other participants responded, creating important links and supporting innovation.
