On Oct. 14 and 15, the Town of Creston and the Whistler Centre for Sustainability facilitated round 2 of Cultivating Creston action planning at Kootenay Employment Services (KES). Four innovative workshops were held over two days to reconvene partner organizations and community members. The intent was to review and build on the actions identified two years ago in the Cultivating Creston Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP), also known as Cultivating Creston.
Over 30 local and regional partners from many sectors came together to identify and prioritize actions that could move the town and the Creston Valley toward the shared vision of a healthy, vibrant and sustainable community. Partners that were involved included social service providers, local businesses, local farmers, the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition, the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce, KES, the Creston and District Community Centre, the College of the Rockies and the Creston Museum.
The workshops were composed of four groups; the first group was broadly focused on building sustainable communities, while the remaining groups were targeted to specific local themes including age-friendliness, local economy, and food security and agriculture. The workshops used the success indicators created for Cultivating Creston to evaluate and measure whether these desired outcomes are being achieved.
The workshops revealed that there have already been significant achievements made in each area. Examples include the launch of the Cultivating Creston brand, completion of the planning study for the farmers’ market, food waste pilot and the launch of the Water Smart program, as well as the Valley Community Services Better at Home program.
Following the review, measurements were then used to create a set of revised priority actions that will be captured in a companion report. The report will be used to help guide the partner organizations in the months and years ahead. Once the report has been completed, it will be shared with community partners and made publically available.
For more information on Cultivating Creston visit www.creston.ca, www.facebook.com/CultivatingCreston or twitter.com/CultivatingCres.
—TOWN OF CRESTON