Digital Basin Quick Start
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are witnessing a growing gap between the types of skills that are available in the workforce, and those that are required by employers. Researchers have acknowledged that this challenge primarily stems from the failure of workforce development services to keep pace with the increasingly complex and dynamic needs of the modern economy. While many labour market policies and programs are designed and delivered by higher levels of government, effective rural workforce development systems operate largely at the regional level. These shifts require us to embrace change by working collaboratively.
Join this day-long forum to exchange ideas and discuss workforce development opportunities with regional leaders and external experts. The morning session will feature a keynote speaker, an experts panel, and an innovative solutions panel that will highlight economic development, education, industry and local government innovations from within our region. In the afternoon attendees will participate in a hands-on workshop facilitated by the Purdue Centre for Regional Development. This workshop will be structured to advance the priorities identified by the Kootenay Workforce Development Initiative.
Expert Panel
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Greg Halseth
, Professor in the Geography program at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada Research Chair in Rural and Small Town Studies and Director of UNBC’s Community Development Institute. His research examines rural and small town community development, and community strategies for coping with social and economic change, all with a focus upon northern B.C.’s resource-based towns. Dr. Halseth has served on the governing council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues for the Federal Secretary of State for Rural Development, the Community Advisory Committee for the BC Ministry of Forests Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force, and other advisory committees.
Dr. Scott Hutcheson, is a Senior Associate for the Purdue Centre for Regional Development. Dr. Hutcheson helps support the school’s economic development efforts in his current position and works closely with local, regional, state and federal partners in in the areas of economic development strategy, innovation and collaborative leadership. He has worked in community and economic development since 1992. Scott has worked with over 300 local and regional communities in over 30 states and internationally with economic development professionals, higher education administrators and other stakeholders. At the federal level, Scott has extensive experience working with the Economic Development Administration, Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, USDA Rural Development and the White House.
Dr. Keith Culver, Professor of Management and Director of the Okanagan Sustainability Institute at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan. Dr. Culver conducts research at the intersection of sustainability, jurisprudence, and knowledge mobilization for innovation. He taught previously at the University of New Brunswick where he was Professor of Philosophy, and in France where he held the Econoving International Chair in Eco-Innovation in the UniverSud Paris consortium of universities. Recent representative publications include Culver and Giudice, Legality’s Borders (Oxford UP 2010) and Culver and Castle, eds., Aquaculture, Innovation and Social Transformation (Springer, 2008).
Afternoon Workshop
The team from the Purdue Centre for Regional Development will facilitate the afternoon session using a new, network-based model for economic and workforce development emphasizing the strategic value of focused collaboration and open innovation in today’s global economy.
November 5, 9am-4pm
Lunch provided. Registration is free. Seating is limited.
Prestige Resort, Nelson, BC
View Workforce Development Forum Poster.
