Fall 2023 & 2024
Whistler's VitalConversations
How might we challenge the way things are?
In October 2024, we held our final conversation related to the 2023 Vital Signs A Community Check up. Titled “Do we have a sustainable future?”, we offered up engaging prompts that pertained to community resilience in the face of climate change, Indigenous relations, and biodiversity and nature. This was a dialogue, World Cafe style event and had nearly 40 community members in attendance.
What is dialogue?
Dialogue brings together many voices, stories, perspectives, and experiences to increase mutual understanding and identify shared solutions. Instead of arguing for what you already know, dialogue is entered into with a spirit of curiosity and an openness to be changed. Instead of a conversation with sides, dialogue has a centre.
– SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
Updates coming soon!
We are compiling the results of the three dialogue sessions:
- “Is our community livable?”
- “Is everyone thriving?”
- “Do we have a sustainable future?”
Sign up to our newsletter for results of the dialogue sessions and to receive more information about Whistler’s Vital Signs.
VitalConversations events are a guided discovery of the issues Whistler faces and the intersecting themes those issues present.
Everyone is Welcome! And together, we will be:
RAISING collective consciousness about the issues Whistler’s community members experience.
BUILDING relationships across differences by learning, experiencing, and enjoying being in community.
STRENGTHENING individual and collective capacities and abilities to support and promote social justice.
Event Agreements: In concerted effort to offer a welcoming and thoughtful space for everyone, event attendees will be required to accept the VitalConversations Agreements in the spirit of raising, building and strengthening our community.
Stay updated on Whistler's Vital Signs
Whistler's Community-Driven Data Program
Whistler’s Vital Signs uses local knowledge to measure the vitality of our community and support action.
Local data gathered through the program is used to support evidence-based, locally relevant solutions to improve the quality of life at the community level.
Whistler’s Vital Signs aims to inspire civic engagement, to provide focus for public debate, and to help a range of actors take action and direct resources where they will have the greatest impact.
Locally Relevant Solutions Through a Global Looking Glass
In 2017, Community Foundations of Canada started to align national data sets with Agenda 2030, the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG framework allows Whistler to measure local data against common global indicators.
Resources:
Launched Friday, March 3, 2023
Whistler's Vital Signs: A Community Check Up
Inside this latest report, released in March of 2023, our team asks 3 critical questions:
- Do we have a sustainable future?
- Is our community livable?
- Is everyone thriving?
The answers are shared in the form of indicators collected from Statistics Canada and reports available around the community. We as a community can now see important data that impacts decision making. More data remains available to everyone, and this report merely scratches the surface of each theme.
For more information and events through Whistler Community Foundation’s Newsletter or if you work with a non-profit connect with us through the Non-profit Network Newsletter.
Vital Signs Around The World
First started by Toronto Foundation in 2001, Vital Signs is now a global program that has engaged more than 100 communities in Canada and around the world to mobilize the power of community knowledge for greater local impact.
Community foundations use the knowledge gained through Vital Signs to lead on impact in their community. Priorities identified by Vital Signs are often incorporated into the strategic direction of the foundation and guide decision-making as a community leader and funder. As a result, community foundations are able to move the needle on the most pressing issues.
Whistler’s Vital Signs Reports
Whistler’s Vital Signs is led by local people and used by neighbours, businesses, non-profit organizations, community groups and civic leaders to learn more about Whistler’s community-based needs. The report is helpful in defining action and directing resources where it will have the greatest impact.
