{"id":8456,"date":"2020-02-08T15:16:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T20:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=8456"},"modified":"2020-11-18T15:24:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T20:24:41","slug":"from-cibata-to-cceda-changing-faces-of-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/from-cibata-to-cceda-changing-faces-of-development\/","title":{"rendered":"From CIBATA to CCEDA: Changing faces of development"},"content":{"rendered":"

By De Clarke<\/p>\n

On February 8th 2020, Cortes Currents was pleased to welcome Adam McKenty of\u00a0CCEDA\u00a0<\/a>as the first guest on our new monthly live talk show component. CCEDA (Cortes Community Economic Development Association) is the new name for the organisation formerly known as\u00a0CIBATA\u00a0<\/a>(Cortes Island Business and Tourism Association). Its 6-member board includes three members from prior CIBATA boards.<\/p>\n

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CCEDA is a member organisation registered as a BC Non Profit Society. Its goal, according to Adam, is to put community well-being at the centre of economic development. \u201cCommunity Economic Development is an existing thing, a concept that is already out there under that name,\u201d says Adam. What\u2019s the idea? to focus\u00a0first\u00a0<\/em>on well-being and happiness in the community, then figure out what economic activities enhance that well-being while also generating revenue, jobs, etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a reframing of what economic development is for and what it looks like\u2026 If we can develop local business and industries so that we actually have the ability to hire people on the island doing things that folks want to do for a livelihood, and at a level where it\u2019s possible to afford housing and a decent lifestyle here\u2026 then that changes the equation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adam emphasises that CCEDA doesn\u2019t see its role as telling Cortes Island what it should do, but as \u201cidentifying needs,\u201d\u00a0asking\u00a0<\/em>the community what its priorities are,\u00a0asking\u00a0<\/em>business owners what resources would help them\u2013and also networking with other island communities, to find out what has been tried in other places and worked (or didn\u2019t). He spoke with enthusiasm of the\u00a0Rural Island Economic Forum<\/a>\u00a0recently held on Pender Island (Nov 7-8 2019), which was attended by six Cortes Islanders including himself. \u201cMany other places are way ahead of us,\u201d so there is much that we can learn from their experience.<\/p>\n

Clearly the new name of the organisation (CCEDA) doesn\u2019t include \u201ctourism\u201d, so the focus has shifted. So we discuss tourism \u2014 clearly it\u2019s important, but are there limits? how can we manage tourism so that it doesn\u2019t end up damaging the very qualities that the tourists are hoping to find here? Other topics covered include<\/p>\n