Summer was a time of reflection and strategy. We reviewed the wealth of ideas and recommendations shared by community members through our consultation process over the past year, and sifted through the research on best practices in other communities actively improving their quality of life. The end result was a 3 year strategy to engage our communities in taking action on the core ideas outlined in our HCIA Building Momentum Report.

Over the next year, we will focus our efforts on 2 key projects:

• Developing a Community Report Card
• Establishing a Headwaters Trails Network

Throughout our community consultations, considerable support was given to the concept of our communities making a more concerted effort to work together to plan for the future. People recognized that the complex issues facing us today would not be solved within the isolation of any single community, nor through fragmented problem solving or action. Community members identified a regional community planning process as a critical element in successfully building a vibrant economy, strengthening our social and health services, and enhancing our environmental viability.

In exploring the role that Headwaters Communities in Action could play in supporting action towards a regional planning process, we learned about the community report card.
Regional community report cards:

• measure key quality of life indicators over time
• provide concrete, synthesized data for identifying the key strengths and challenges facing communities
• are useful in galvanizing support across sectors and municipal boundaries to find innovative solutions to shared challenges

Our next step is to strike a community report card working group that will establish the process for completing a report card for the Headwaters Region. The responsibilities of this group include:

• to develop a work plan and budget for completing a community report card for the Headwaters area
• to design a process for identifying the indicators that will be measured in the community report card
• to act as ambassadors within the community to involve key stakeholders in the process

Please contact us if you have information, resources, or a desire to get involved in this exciting project!

The trails of the Headwaters area are a recognized local treasure that is currently underutilized. In our community consultations, considerable energy was generated by the concept of developing area trails for its impact on encouraging physical activity, drawing tourism and increasing appreciation for our ecology.

With this in mind, Headwaters Communities in Action partnered with the Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association to support the creation of a Headwaters Trails Network. We envision a Headwaters Trails Network creating and implementing a coordinated strategy to develop and promote area trails. Learn more about this new initiative under our Community Stories section.

Interest in Headwaters Communities in Action is growing! We were invited as guest lecturers to Wilfred Laurier University and the University of Guelph to speak about our project. We have been interviewed for stories in “Sideroads of Dufferin County”, the Orangeville Banner, and the Orangeville Citizen. And traffic on our website continues to grow, with over 300 unique visits since its launch in July, and new registrants to our contact list every month.

We are thankful for the strong leadership provided by our current Steering Committee members who have strategically set a solid direction and faithfully supported project activities over the past few years. In reviewing project activities over the past few years, significant achievements have been made in developing a solid structure to support the project, in engaging our community, in developing strategic partnerships, and in setting a project strategy for the next few years. Congratulations to our team! As we move into implementing our 3 year strategy, we will be striking a new mandate for our leadership team, and expanding membership.

We look forward to working with Cam Ballantyne and Mark Ostrowski who are both joining the Steering Committee in November 2006.

Cam is a retired business owner from Orangeville with an interest in youth and trails. He is currently involved in a number of volunteer activities and, with his leadership and business experience, is eager to continue to contribute to the growth and quality of life in this community.

Mark is a local businessman and farmer near Laurel, Ontario, just west of Orangeville. He operates a field nursery for ornamental trees and manages the rest of the property as woodlot, conservation forest and wetland habitat. He is also a management consultant. He and his partners specialize in strategic planning and business development for clients in the food, agriculture and environmental service industries. Mark is a graduate of the University of Guelph and completed a Masters degree in International Business at York University. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce and is Vice President of the Dufferin Federation of Agriculture. Mark volunteers as an advisor to small business both in the community and abroad through CESO International Services.

In presenting our HCIA Building Momentum Report to community leaders on June 22, 2006, we were strongly recommended to support the development of a Regional Trails Network as one of our core projects over the next year. We have agreed to convene this project because it impacts all three pillars of focus within our vision.
It promises to:

• impact the economy by becoming a significant tourism and recreation magnet for the Headwaters area
• impact community health by encouraging physical activity and recreation
• impact environmental well being by increasing appreciation for our natural assets and working towards maintaining them

On Wednesday, November 22, 2006, HCIA and Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association will convene a meeting with local trail leaders to create a shared vision for trails development and promotion, and to strike a working team to support the achievement of the vision.
At this event, participants will:

• Develop a shared understanding of the current state of trails throughout the Headwaters Region
• Learn from other jurisdictions about what’s needed to build and promote a strong trails network
• Learn about utilizing trails as an economic and tourist demand generator
• Create a long-term, shared vision for trails development and promotion throughout the Headwaters Region
• Identify the first steps needed to move such a vision forward

Look to future newsletters to learn what evolved out of this meeting, and how this initiative progresses. If you have information that will support the success of a Regional Trails Network, or want to get involved, please contact us.

We are very interested in hearing from you!
Do you have information to share about community report cards or Regional trail Networks? Do you want to get involved? Reply to this email, or complete our Contact Form.