You’ve shared how you feel about the quality of  life in Guelph and you told us how you think we can improve the well-being of people, neighbourhoods and the city as a whole.  Now you can help us create Guelph’s Community Wellbeing Plan.  Join a team Choose a subject that matters to you. Eight different […]

Last week, I hosted a Telephone Town Hall to talk about the Community Wellbeing Initiative – listen to it here. I was really pleased with this tool, which we’ve never used before. More than 700 people participated in the call – far more than we would ever get at a traditional public meeting. There’s a big convenience factor: […]

Last one but an important one…. See previous posts: Basic Building Blocks, Basic Building Blocks – Roles and Responsibilities, Basic Building Blocks – Roles and Responsibilities) on this topic. The Community elects Council.  The Community provides taxes to City Hall to deliver services.  Does it end there?               Guelph is […]

There was a piece in the Saturday Globe and Mail about the recently released World Happiness Report 2012. Turns out the Danes are the happiest. Canada came 5th (with a nod to Quebeckers who boost our score). I have been stumbling across a lot of work on happiness in my readings on wellbeing.  We are […]

I attended the Exhibition Opening of the Photovoice Project in Old Quebec Street. I encourge you to visit the exhibition over the next couple of days or view their work on line.  Members of several Neighbourhood Groups were trained in research techniques and photography.  These Community Researchers volunteered to document and interpert their community through […]

There is a lot being written about wellbeing as we launch our Community Wellbeing Initiative. Based a study of more than 150 countries, representing 98% of the world’s population by Gallup, five essential elements of life were identified.  These elements transcend countries, faiths, and cultures: Career Wellbeing: How you occupy your time/liking what you do each […]

I am often asked “what is the Community Well Being Plan about?”  It is a tough thing to sum up in a few words especially since we are only just beginning to engage our community in its development over the next few years.  However, I was recently sent a link to this video which helps […]

The decision to move forward with a Community Well Being Plan evolved from dozens of discussions with community leaders, service providers, front-line staff, consumers of services and their advocates, the experience of other municipalities and our own. The principles to guide the development of the Plan were recently approved by Council: Engaging residents Balancing planning […]

Apparently, it’s not so easy to have a conversation these days, let alone challenge the status quo. According to the Guelph Tribune, MPP Sandals believes the vision for Guelph is “flawed”.  Respectfully, I think it’s a little too early to be jumping to that conclusion.  The Community Well Being Plan did not just flip off […]