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History of the Vision

mining_the_future

A vision is a rich, clear and inspiring picture of some aspect of the world – of our own life or of our family, company, town or country – at a time in the future.  It expresses our present imagining of what the future could be for us.

In the autumn of 2005, Canmore’s Mayor and Council asked the community to create a vision for the future of the town.  At the heart of the project – named Mining the Future - lay the question:  “What kind of community can we as citizens imagine Canmore becoming in the years ahead?"

The Canmore Vision was created over eight months from the ground up, and as such is much more than the Vision Statement itself.  The 1000-plus Mining the future Participants - including more than 40 neighbourhood groups and community groups - identified:

  • key community values;
  • community principles that guide our actions as Canmorites;
  • goals that we will need to reach to become the community we have imagined;
  • criteria to help us make the decisions that will help us achieve our goals.

Together, the values, principles, goals and criteria constitute the Canmore Vision.  The Vision Statement, is only the peak of the mountain; the Vision’s full value lies in what was learned along the climb.

For an summary of results, read the Mining the Future – Executive Summary.

For a detailed explanation of background, process, and results, read the Mining the Future - Final Report.

Since the adoption of the Mining the Future Vision for Canmore in the Fall of 2006 The Town of Canmore has been working to begin the process of bringing the Vision to life and incorporating it into the ways we provide municipal services.  This is what has been accomplished so far:

The Vision Keepers Group (VKG) was formed in the Spring of 2007. After developing a Code of Conduct, the Group developed the Terms of Reference and Request for Proposals for revising the Town’s Municipal Development Plan.  They are working with the Consultants that the Town hired to ensure that the spirit of Canmore’s Vision is reflected in the revision process.

Town staff have begun to incorporate the Vision into their work. The Vision for Canmore was officially launched to staff at an internal general assembly.  All staff were given a brief introduction to the Vision and encouraged to familiarize themselves with it.

To ensure that the Vision is incorporated into Administrative recommendations, Town staff have added a section to the Staff Reports to Council that includes a section on Vision Alignment.

A number of the Town’s current policies are intended to maintain and enhance the social, economic, fiscal and environmental qualities which make Canmore a desirable place to live, work, and visit.  A Sustainability Screening Report has been developed to assist the Town in making decisions which give due consideration to the community’s goals and the long-term implications of those decisions.

A Community Engagement Policy will soon come before Council.  The 5th goal of the Vision is “Civic Engagement and Leadership."  The new will inform and involve the community in decision-making by providing new opportunities for them to engage in the process of governing, outside of the conventional public hearing process.

Finally, several years ago the Town of Canmore became an official adopter of The Natural Step.  The Natural Step promotes greater understanding and commitment to sustainability and helps to implement sustainable practices in organizations, individual households, and communities. The Town of Canmore became an early adopter and started applying The Natural Step principles before the Mining the Future Vision Process was undertaken. The Town’s work on The Natural Step is not a direct response to the Vision but acts as a complement to the foundational value of Sustainability identified in the Vision for Canmore.

Making the vision a Reality