Visioning Nanaimo

A Journey Towards Community

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Viewpoints

A frequently held – and often mistaken – assumption is that local issues exist only locally and are exclusive to ourselves. More accurately, similar experiences and challenges are also occurring or have occurred elsewhere and have resulted in other perspectives being published and available online. Accessing this material might provide helpful information and contribute to a broader than purely local view.

Similarly, reading one perspective on how a cited article might inform our views on local issues could trigger our own analysis. For this reason, each post begins with my thoughts on why the item found elsewhere could have local relevance. The wish is to provide a context. Because the found article is the viewpoint on which each item rests, each post in “Viewpoints” ends with the link and source information for the cited article, itself.

Items are grouped into five topics that can be accessed through the drop-down menu in this page’s header. Articles frequently appear in more than one sub-category as their topics often overlap. (WordPress also shows all posts in all sub-categories on this page sorted only by date.)

A Healthy Environment as a Human Right

Scientific American. Given the interest for and against what’s now happening at Fairy Creek on the west coast of Vancouver Island, this article seems especially timely. It recognizes that human rights may be also reside in and be preserved indirectly… Continue Reading →

What’s happening to Vancouver Island’s local food supply?

Capital Daily. Have you noticed how “development” seems to be running backwards lately, at least when it is defined in terms like “globalization”? More small local solutions, over which we feel we have more control and influence, are now appearing… Continue Reading →

France to ban some domestic flights where train available

The Guardian. Off the top, this story seems not to have a lot of relevance for Nanaimo. But if you take the principle of legislating use of the most efficient forms of transportation, it’s connections to Vancouver Island begin swimming… Continue Reading →

Are Your Illegal Drugs Pure? New Zealand Will Check Them for You

NY Times.  Few dispute the many ways the opioid crisis has impacted Canadian (and other) communities in terms of medical and social costs. If anything is demonstrated by our history of street drug use in the past decades, it’s that… Continue Reading →

The rice of the sea: how a tiny grain could change the way humanity eats

The Guardian. No one has spent a half hour on a BC beach without being aware of eelgrass. Consequently, this story from Spain may be highly relevant for BC’s marine aquaculture industry. Yes, there’s good reason to be gun-shy. The… Continue Reading →

Venice’s ban on cruise ships is a vital step towards saving the city from disaster

The Guardian. With a city administration and local Port Authority together touting the rewards possible from expansion of Nanaimo’s cruise ship industry, it is easier to see the recent about-face in Venice’s aspirations as a cautionary tale. It is relevant,… Continue Reading →

Women reach 40 and hit their stride … only to be cruelly shoved aside at work

The Guardian. Not all hierarchies are patriarchies, but it seems the reverse is pretty much the case. All patriarchies rank individuals one above the other according to their relative status, power, or authority – AND their gender. That means in… Continue Reading →

Ecosystems biologist to tell all about Nanaimo’s painted turtles

Nanaimo News Bulletin. This is where it begins: with a turtle in a local ecosystem. Can we help it if we have a local species that’s been declared endangered? Anyone who has walked the perimeter path of Buttertubs Marsh has… Continue Reading →

‘Salmon Nation’ Is Linking Builders of a Healthy Economy

The Tyee. Andrew Nikiforuk is almost always a good read, and in today’s column he provides a metaphor that we can adapt and use everywhere we want change to happen. “Salmon Nation” fosters local initiatives that promote “regenerative development” in… Continue Reading →

Community has got Britain through the pandemic. How can we create more of it?

The Guardian. There are so many factors vital to and springing from community identified in this article that it represents an item not only to read, but to ponder in the days ahead. In essence, “community” is the antithesis of… Continue Reading →

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