This year, OMAFRA will be partnering with communities across Ontario to host five Teeny Tiny Summits. The summits are dedicated to fostering community economic development in Ontario’s smallest places. These opportunities will provide rural communities with access to a world-class community development expert, Peter Kenyon, who will discuss how communities can apply strategies.
Each summit will begin with a keynote address from Peter Kenyon, who will be giving his “Big Ideas for Small Places” talk. Next, there will be various panels focusing on how small communities have an impact in Ontario, followed by mentorship tables, Teeny Tiny Success stories and closing remarks.
The “Teeny Tiny Places” initiative began in 2015 in response to an observed lack of participation among very small communities in economic development programs. The summits provide participants with examples and relevant tools that will help while inspire and motive the work they do in their own community.
To date, over 800 municipal staff, community volunteers and supporting businesses have participated in Teeny Tiny Summits. Feedback from previous summits has resulted in communities across the province showing an interested in hosting a Summit of their own.
These are common characteristics of Teeny Tiny Places:
- they have a rural geography
- they are villages or hamlets with populations under 1000
- they don’t have economic development staff
- there are no strong drivers of economic growth
- they have a stable or declining population
This year, summits will take place in these locations across Ontario:
Teeny Tiny Summits can make a significant impact on Ontario’s broader policy goals such as aging in place, environmental protection, community hubs, brownfield development, walkability, affordable housing and more.
For more information and to register for a session, click here.
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