CURA: Activating Policy Change for Community Food Security Gathering 2010

To kick off a five year research project to Activate Policy Change for Community Food Security a gathering was held over three days at Windhorse Farm in New Germany, Nova Scotia.
Windhorse was chosen as the meeting space for our gathering, as it reflects many of the values and principles that we agreed upon in this project, including a deep connection to
sustainable food.

The purpose of this gathering was to:

• Develop a shared vision;
• Clarify how we work together;
• Celebrate and start the project;•
• Build capacity and an orientation to participatory approaches;
• Build a shared ownership; and•Network and build relationships.

We took a participatory leadership approach to working together. It is a systems thinking approach to leadership, where the entire group works together to set an agenda. Communication is driven by asking questions and working as a group to find answers, actions and solutions. The emphasis is not only on what we want to change, but offers us the chance to transform how we work together, improving our results.

This video highlights key decisions, conversations and the outcomes of the three day gathering.

Tim Merry, a change leader, spoken word poet, and host for the event, spontaneously captured the group’s collectively developed vision of community food security.