MQ

Our city was hit with an amazing influx of ideas and energy last week – the Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities conference was in town.  Over 750 registrants (the biggest GG ever) and a resounding success in terms of ideas exchanged, emotions stirred and actions at the top of mind. Sad for me, I missed a great [...]

Yesterday at the Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities conference Mayor Gregor Robertson welcomed over 750 participants and took the opportunity to give them a sneak peek at Vancouver 2020:  A Bright Green Future, the 10-year plan which is the result of almost a year’s work by the Mayor’s Greenest City Action Team (GCAT).  The report includes 10 [...]

The cab driver test – you know how it goes.  You get in the cab and you ask them a burning question – like “what do you think about this whole climate change deal?”  And you get a response that is totally anecdotal but always interesting.  Terry Tamminen started this session with his own story [...]

The Obama administration was present in full force at the Summit.  Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and principal policy advisor to President Obama emphasized the importance of research leadership – the Carbon Capture Research Initiative, China-US collaborations and also Australia-US partnerships developing on the research front.  I wondered where [...]

The experience of LA is still overwhelmingly one of cars, cars and more cars.  On a previous trip, with Jane Bird, CEO of Canada Line leading the way, we took transit to the airport – actually it didn’t quite make it to the airport – there was a transfer to a shuttle bus from the [...]

Innovation and BC’s 2020 Economy.  A great topic and well-covered by the third session — a panel discussion entitled:  Tomorrow’s Technology Today:  Innovation and BC’s 2020 Economy. The final panel of the summit was well moderated by a pro — Dr. David Turpin, President of the University of Victoria.   Dr. Turpin started off the [...]

It’s all about people — how we educate them, value them and motivate them to learn, re-tool and learn again.  The second session at the Chapter Two Summit was entitled:  In Training for Prosperity:  Education and the Real Value of BC’s Human Capital. Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO of Vancity Credit Union was a superb [...]

What will BC’s next economy look like? Chapter Two of the BC Business Council’s Outlook 2020 series is entitled: Foundations for the Future:  Innovation, Human Capital and BC’s Next Economy. Yesterday morning we were in the Pan Pacific “Crystal” Ballroom (you know the one with all the ceiling of solid little hanging crystal pendants — [...]