Visioning Nanaimo

A Journey Towards Community

Category

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.)

Conservative Party members vote down resolution to enshrine reality of climate change

Nanaimo News Bulletin. Something to keep in mind during the next federal election. Putting the consequences for O’Toole’s leadership aside, note that the outcome reflects the shrunken world-view of the party membership, itself. As such, it represents the majority perspective… Continue Reading →

We Need Social Science, Not Just Medical Science, to Beat the Pandemic

Scientific American. There are so many crises, local and global, to which we can generalize these lessons. Base responses on tested empirical evidence, not wishful/biased thinking. Favour objectivity over subjectivity, particularly where self-serving options and positions exist. Don’t automatically assume… Continue Reading →

Climate fight ‘is undermined by social media’s toxic reports

The Observer. Contrary to what’s often claimed, getting information is now often harder, not easier, with the development of the Internet. At least that’s true if you define “information” as being reliable, unbiased, fact based knowledge. If large numbers of… Continue Reading →

Coastal Squeeze

The Tyee. Although this story may centre on BC’s Lower Mainland, its dilemma applies equally to every BC coastal community like Nanaimo and to every community everywhere. Will humans learn to make and protect room needed by all species and… Continue Reading →

Trailblazing initiative looks to empower Indigenous women investors

Capital Daily. New paths leading to a future different than the status quo look different from the ones we’ve followed. Some may involve old ways/institutions that are repurposed. Some head in an entirely different direction. But they all have that… Continue Reading →

Is this the end of forests as we’ve known them?

The Guardian. Having grown up in the northern interior of BC, it’s hard to imagine really living not being surrounded by forest. Trees and the forests they create, defined much of who we were and are. I retain that sense… Continue Reading →

Young filmmaker’s fly-fishing short introduces viewers to salmon conservation

National Observer. Benji Britton, who grew up on Quadra Island and attends high school in Campbell River, has produced an award-winning student film on fly fishing-conservation. He is arguably a living example of how engagement with one’s natural surroundings always… Continue Reading →

Eastern Vancouver Island one of nine ‘Ecocrisis regions’ in Canada

Nanaimo News Bulletin. The title says it all. The assets we possess; the valuables we stand to lose. A study by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) ranked 77 regions in the southern Canada by their biodiversity and the risks… Continue Reading →

Will the Canada-U.S. climate meeting accelerate community empowerment?

National Observer. A helpful article that notes the importance of community-level climate action and includes useful links for those wanting to know how to translate climate action into meaningful local initiatives. Acknowledging that federal governments of the US and Canada… Continue Reading →

The Guardian view on women and the pandemic: what happened to building back better?

The Guardian. As a context for International Women’s Day tomorrow, March 8, this editorial is a reminder that recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic is not just about getting businesses and economies restarted. It’s about recovering in a way that removes… Continue Reading →

© 2025 Visioning Nanaimo — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑