As part of our 2005 learning theme, Tamarack hosted twelve seminars focusing on "Communities Collaborating." We spoke with six thinkers, or experts, on collaboration and also six practitioners. On this page you'll find links to material on each of our twelve seminars.

Click on a seminar below to learn more!

Thinker Series

Practitioner Series

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Place-Based Approaches to Reducing Poverty

Sherri Torjman, Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, speaks about place-based approaches and how they are increasingly being applied to complex community issues such as poverty.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Enough Talk: The Toronto City Summit Alliance

As the head of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, David Pecaut has galvanized prominent Toronto citizens to take action on ideas to strengthen the city - ideas such as expanding the knowledge-based industry, reversing the decaying infrastructure of the city and creating affordable housing.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Collaboration: The New Leadership

David D. Chrislip, principal of Skillful Means, has spent twenty-five years helping people develop their leadership capacities and create visions and strategies for their organizations and communities. The broader purpose of this work, which focuses on civic leadership development, collaboratively addressing complex community issues and organizational strategy and development is to build civil society.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Calgary Urban Aboriginal Initiative

Coming together to effect positive change for Calgary’s Aboriginal population. That's the vision for the Calgary Urban Aboriginal Initiative (CUAI) which strives to provide a home for ongoing discussion, coordinated and informed action in support of Calgary Urban Aboriginal issues and initiatives.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Movements for Change - Part I & II

Each year at Tamarack we spend the summer researching an area of interest. This year we’re looking at Movements for Change – what is a movement? How does one develop? How can we work together to develop movements that create positive change in our communities?

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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The Saltwater Network

The Saltwater Network is a unique cross-border organization created by and for community-based organizations around the Gulf of Maine. Arthur Bull, director of the Network, joined us to share the Network’s story of collaboration.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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How can we move our communities from visioning to solutions? How can we ensure that we achieve relevant outcomes? And what role does collaboration play in achieving community visions, community solutions?

Jay Connor, Founder & CEO of the Collaboratory for Community Support joined us in a tele-learning seminar that focused on Community Visions, Community Solutions.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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City Centre Education Project

Colin Inglis, Co-ordinator of the City Centre Education Project in Edmonton, joined us to share the story of this groundbreaking collaboration of seven inner city schools that have come together to create a positive learning environment.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Comprehensive Collaborations

Anne Kubisch, Co-Director of the Roundtable on Community Change at the Aspen Institute shared the US experience with Comprehensive Community Initiatives.

The Roundtable on Community Change was established in 1992 as a forum in which people engaged in the field of comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs)-including foundation sponsors, directors, technical assistance providers, evaluators, and public sector officials-could meet to discuss the lessons that are being learned by initiatives across the country and to work on common problems they are facing.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council

Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director, and Elizabeth McIsaac, Project Manager, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) joined us to share lessons and learnings from this unique multi-stakeholder council that is working to improve access to employment for immigrants in the Toronto region, so they are better able to use the skills, education and experience they bring with them to Canada.

Established in September 2003, TRIEC’s primary goal is to find and implement local solutions that lead to more effective and efficient labour market integration of immigrants in the Toronto Region. To achieve this goal, the council is focusing on three objectives:

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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Investment in Collaboration

As President and CEO of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Tim Brodhead leads one of Canada’s largest and most progressive foundations. The McConnell Foundation recently announced a growing commitment to the work of citizen engagement, resilience and community collaboration. In this tele-learning seminar, Tim shared why the Foundation chose to make this commitment and why they have invested in Vibrant Communities, a bold, national collaboration.

Find a summary of the seminar, plus audio recordings HERE.

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About Tamarack`s Tele-learning Seminars

Tamarack’s Tele-learning Seminar Series runs once every month at 12:00 p.m. ET so that people can participate from coast-to-coast. Tele-learning events are designed to highlight either an area of work in which Tamarack is currently involved (through its various projects) or to highlight the work of people and organizations we admire.

Tele-learning seminars are via telephone conference and are free (though long distance charges will apply). When you register for a seminar we send you dial-in information and preliminary material for you to review. Post-seminar, we provide you with links and further resources for learning.

People often connect on their own, while others use the opportunity to gather a group of community members to learn and explore the theme together.

Register today for our next tele-learning seminar! Learn more about tele-learning and upcoming events here!

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