I spent a couple of days last week in Niagara Falls, ON, presenting at the Toronto School Administrators’ Association’s annual conference. The theme of the conference was technology in education, and I was invited to speak to principals and vice-principals about Microsoft’s Kinect.

Kinect was launched in late 2010 as an accessory to the Xbox 360. Connected by a USB plug, Kinect offers voice and gesture-based controls. Since its launch, many people have been inspired by Kinect, and have found amazing uses for it – in health care, law enforcement, education and more.

There are a ton of amazing examples (head over to YouTube and search “Kinect”, “Kinect education” or “Kinect hacks” to see some serious ingenuity). Here’s an example from University of Washington Bothell, who have found a way to use Kinect to teach high school students about velocity:

What a day! We spent yesterday focusing on the big changes, challenges and opportunities diversity offers. I was amazed by the depth of conversation in the sessions and between them – the coffee chats I overheard, the conversation on Twitter, the comments of folks who sought me out.

Today we shifted gears toward best practices. The day was filled with case studies and workshops and recommendations based on successful practices. We heard from Waterfront Toronto, Civic Action and United Way of Peel Region on how they identify, reach out to and engage community leaders. Taylor Gunn (Student Vote), Paul Martin (City of Toronto), Jessica Yee (Native Youth Sexual Health Network) and Immanuel Giulea (Macdonald-Cartier Society) took part in a conversation moderated by Jeff Good (Goodworld Consulting) on how they are helping to teach, support and learn from young leaders to build the leadership who will take Canada forward. CBC Radio, Aruna Papp and Naila Butt shared their successful Town Hall on South Asian-Canadian family violence and how they built a network of stakeholders and an environment of openness which enabled them to have an previously impossible conversation…  This is just a taste of the practices and insight that was shared.

Here’s what stuck with me:

- Best practices can come from anywhere. They can come from ‘invited spaces’ where government or their agents invite people to take part, or from ‘created spaces’ where citizens come together to address an issue or concern. In either scenario, we must allow people to share experiences before we can get problem-solve.

- Marketers know a thing or two. Segmenting on demographics isn’t always useful; look at psychograpics, life stage and attitudes to get to the heart of what drives people.

- Consultation, at its heart, should be quite simple: ask the people affected by the decision about their needs and priorities.

- We need extroverts. So many of the most successful practices we heard about were sparked and maintained by people who went out of their way to speak to other people.  Who’s not in the room or at the table? Go find them.

Of course, this is harder that it sounds. This “engagement stuff” requires work, dedication and deep thinking. We need to know why we want to engage, and then be willing to take our hands off the wheel and let someone else steer.  This is incredibly hard, but the benefits are immense.

I am, of course, exhausted, but will be putting together thoughts, notes and ideas. If you’re on Twitter, follow the hashtag #RM2030 for notes from the past two days, and keep your eyes peeled for notes we post on the website www.roadmap2030.com

The first day of Roadmap: 2030 is done. The presenters and sponsors are at home (I think!) and the organizing team has just left dinner. It was an incredible day of insight, ideas and tough conversations.

I’m tired and have to get up early for our second day, so here are my thoughts (in no particular order):

- population change will be dramatic in Canada. it’s coming and we’re not prepared. we need to more swiftly to engage diverse populations in addressing the needs of a changing Canada

- the labour shortage is real: 30 years ago, we had 5 workers for each retiree; now, we have 3. our labour replacement is coming from immigration, and we are still projected to face a 2m worker shortage in the coming years. this is massive and we need to deal with it immediately. our immigration policies must match our labour needs and set Canada up for success in a competitive global economy

- faith communities are growing… but not Judeo-Christians. these communities are increasingly bringing faith into public debate. how do we manage, and use faith as a positive driver in public policy, rather than a wedge issue or one to be avoided?

- as our diversity increases, so does the potential for conflict. we need a framework to balance competing rights, and the guts to have hard conversations.

- our identity as Canadians is still up for debate. this awesome. our story isn’t written yet; let’s write it together.

To get a flavour for the day, hop on Twitter and check out @Roadmap2030 and #RM2030

This is Citizenship Week in Canada, which is being marked by events across our great nation. This week gives us all a chance to “reflect on the value of citizenship, what it means to be Canadian, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship” according to the federal government’s website (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/celebrate/citweek.asp).

The idea of citizenship – what it means, who it includes, what the responsibilities and rights of citizens are and how we express our citizenship – is a major theme at this year’s Roadmap: 2030 event (www.roadmap2030.com). In fact, the question of citizenship is the underlying question of the entire initiative. What does it mean to be Canadian? What does active citizenship mean and demand of us? How can we ensure that all Canadians are included and involved and able to express their citizenship?

Our first panel session of the event is called, appropriately, “Diversity, Citizenship & Canada” and features Uzma Shakir (City of Toronto), Hamlin Grange (DiversiPro), John Monahan (Mosaic Institute), Karen Campbell (Assembly of First Nations), Phil Triadafilopoulos (U of T) and Gillian Hewitt Smith (Institute for Canadian Citizenship). Together, they will dive into how we define (redefine?) citizenship for a diverse Canada.

I’m really looking forward to this session, because it will get us to think about things we don’t often consider: why citizenship is important and how we can broaden our definition to include diverse communities and perspectives. These are questions that we must consider, especially in light of the changes we face in our population. If we don’t know what citizenship means and how it is evolving, how can we ensure that present and future Canadians act as active citizens, in ways that build cohesion in our society and enable us to meet the changing needs and priorities  of our population?

Canada faces some big challenges. Only committed, active citizens will meet and overcome them.

Note: “Diversity, Citizenship & Canada” takes place at 9:40am on October 25th at Roadmap: 2030. www.roadmap2030.com

I recently read an article about effective note-taking at events and conferences. The author suggested that attendees keep two types of notes: wisdom (inspiration you pick up) and action (best practices).  This brought a smile to my face, because this is how I’ve structured Roadmap: 2030 this year.

If you haven’t seen the killer line-up on sessions and speakers, go visit http://www.roadmap2030.com  then go register at http://roadmap2030.eventbrite.com.  It’s ok; I’ll wait.

Welcome back! Isn’t it awesome?! I’m confident that you’re as jazzed about it as I am.

When building the schedule, I followed a motto I ripped off a friend “inspiration must precede action” and built October 25th to be a day of understanding, wisdom and inspiration. Diversity isn’t easy; it poses challenges and opportunities we didn’t have to think about 5 or 15 or 25 years ago. For example, I never thought the issue of prayer in public school would rear its head again, once the Lord’s Prayer was banned from schools in the late 80s. And yet, here I sit, as a debate rages about a school in Don Mills offering space for prayer sessions to students during class time. I used to think of accessibility in terms of ramps, braille and big door-opening buttons, but now I see it as an issue that affects TV reporting (describing the visuals) and technology (website accessibility) and will grow as the Boomers age.  These are only two examples… there are so many more issues that crop up as an increasingly diverse population live, work and grow together, and try to figure out how to involve everyone and make room for differences.  On October 25th Roadmap: 2030 will dive right into the heart of the opportunities and challenges that diversity brings, and will try to impart a bit of wisdom about how to navigate through these issues. Thank God that it’s not a dinner party, because we’re covering rights, faith and politics in one day!

Having spent one day focused on understanding the issues, gaining wisdom and inspiration, we move to action. October 26th will focus on best practices from a range of perspectives, organizations and sectors that will help your diversity and community engagement practice. From ways to support young leaders to tips on using social and online communications to reach and engage communities to identifying thought-leaders and influencers and navigating the rocky terrain of competing views and agendas, Roadmap: 2030 will present innovative ideas and practices from people who are doing it. This isn’t theory — this is the knowledge you only get by doing it.

October 26th will also pull back the curtain on two recent highly successful community engagement initiatives: CBC Radio will share their insight into working with communities around tough, “dirty laundry” types of issues. In their case, the issue of family violence in Toronto’s South Asian communities from their recent Town Hall program on the issue. We will also have the people behind Ontario’s Accessibility Standards Act – the Minister who introduced the bill, the Asst. Deputy Minister who runs the file, the chair of the community advisory council who had to advise the government while balancing competing and sometimes contradictory views from disability communities, and a university who has implemented the Customer Service Standard early and is living the “how policy becomes practice” story.

By the end of the two days, participants will have a greater understanding of the complex issues at play, and the tools needed to bring their community engagement and diversity work up to a new level.

I hope you’ll join us.