Teeny Tiny Summit

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

“Engage and Energize – Empowering Teeny Tiny Places.”

Join us for an exciting day spent with passionate, like-minded folks that will both inspire and energize you.

Keynote: "Growing a Sense of Community as Your Community Grows"

Peter Kenyon will explore how to grow the sense of community by exploring how we can engage, energize, and empower through locally-driven development actions. His presentation will focus on these seven actions, providing community builders with the necessary principles, frameworks, and tools to drive community change.

1. Continually growing and diversifying local leadership and capacity.
2. Fostering a positive and can-do mindset.
3. Actively encouraging healthy community behaviours related to inclusion, conversation, engagement and collaboration.
4. Encouraging asset, idea and opportunity obsession.
5. Developing community wow-factor.
6. Enhancing lifestyle options related to housing, childcare, recreation, education, health, retail services and staying local.
7. Creating an environment that supports local-based employment, enterprise and economic development.

Peter Kenyon, Director of the Bank of IDEAS, has more than 40 years of experience in community and economic transformation. Peter is passionate about small rural town reinvention and has worked with more than 2,000 rural communities to spark their own ideas and invest in building sustainable economic futures. He has hosted the National Rural Aid ‘Small Town Reinvention’ webinar program, lectured in graduate ‘Rural Entrepreneurial Development’ units, coordinated the “Community Builders” grassroots leadership program across Australia, formulated 200+ small town ‘Community Action Plans,’ and authored 25+ publications in the fields of community, enterprise, and youth development.

Plenary: "Getting to Rural Affordable Housing"

Featuring: Terrilee Kelford, National Alliance to End Rural & Remote Homelessness; Fay Martin, Places for People Haliburton; Prince Edward County Councillor Phil St-Jean.

The plenary will be followed by a quick session on tools and tactics to promote YIMBYism in your community, led by Prince Edward County Affordbale Housing Supervisor Elis Ziegler. 

Breakout Panels (please help us manage participation by selecting one session in the list above)

1. Nourishing Neighborhoods: Ensuring Food Security in Small Towns

An insightful panel discussion featuring individuals at the forefront of addressing food security in smaller places. This session will delve into the unique challenges faced by rural food security programs, and explore innovative strategies to scale initiatives for smaller communities.

Our panelists include:

Pauline Cripps, Arrell Food Institute sharing her firsthand experience running food banks and food rescue programs in small places.
Lionhearts Kingston, a leading food rescue and redistribution organization, discussing the logistics and impact of their work.
Jodie Jenkins from Gleaners Food Bank (Quinte)/Tri-County Warehouse, providing insights into the day-to-day operations and community engagement.
Robyn Cakebread, who coordinates the PEC Fresh Good Food Market, highlighting the importance of affordable fresh produce in rural areas.

Together, they will share their stories, challenges and successes, offering valuable lessons and practical solutions for enhancing food security in small towns. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from those making a real difference in their communities. 

2. Downtown Dynamics: Breathing Life into Small Town Centers

Discover innovative approaches to revitalizing downtown areas in small towns through this engaging panel discussion. Our panel will share their experiences and insights on transforming main streets into vibrant community hubs.

Panelists include:

Dug Stevenson, Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board, discussing effective Main Street marketing strategies and the impact of event grants.
Krista Dalby, Department of Illumination, whose artistic company creates dynamic community events, showcasing creativity, music and more.
Alex Currie & Erynn Ahern, Radiator Collective, a grassroots artist collective creating events and exhibitions that bring people together.
Mark Rose, Picton Business Improvement Area (BIA), sharing how an active Board and a positive business group can create events (and a night market!) that attracted thousands of people to shop.

Join us to explore practical solutions and inspiring stories that demonstrate how small towns can activate their downtowns, fostering community engagement and economic growth.

3. Cultural Chronicles: The Role of Storytelling in Attracting Visitors

Explore the transformative power of storytelling in placemaking and tourism. Our panel will share their efforts to create compelling experiences that attract and resonate with visitors while fostering community pride and engagement.

Panelists include:

Dianna Brant-Winkler, Business Development Officer at the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, is working to build a visitor center and create events to share her community's history and culture. She'll discuss the challenges and opportunities of welcoming visitors while balancing community needs.
Trevor Norris, Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board, helps tourism operators translate what makes them unique into immersive experiences that engage travelers in activities that allow them to live like locals, participate in traditions, and create lasting memories.
Andrea Dawes, County Arts, will share how the arts organization created the Art at the Heart of Picton program. Learn how to identify and build on your community's assets, and get insights into funding and implementing similar plans.
Join us to discover how storytelling can be a powerful tool for placemaking and tourism, fostering vibrant and welcoming communities.

4. Listening as Leadership

Listening to the community is crucial in building strong, thriving towns. This breakout session will offer inspiring examples for elected officials and community leaders of how engaging residents directly can lead to innovative solutions and community-driven success. You'll learn ways to move from the mindset of "to community" and "for community" to a leadership style of "with community" and "by community."

Background

Teeny Tiny Summits started in 2016 as a forum to discuss scale-appropriate economic development strategies for Ontario’s smallest communities. Teeny Tiny Summits share practical examples, lessons learned and community economic development tactics. Since inception, the summits have been hosted in every region of the province and attracted more than 3,000 attendees both in person and virtually.

The Teeny Tiny Summit is delivered in partnership the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA), which provides funding for the keynote speaker, and the Ministry of Rural Affairs.

NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY Photographers and/or news media may be present at this event. By participating and being present during the event, you give The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Rural Ontario Municipal Association the right to use photographs or video/audio recordings taken of you during the event for educational or promotional purposes and for sharing with external news media. 

Event Link: More Info