“It opened our eyes to what needs to happen in our community”
- Wendy Walter
Creston & Area Economic Development Society, BC
"The tools provide important benchmarks and are measurable – something communities need. Besides that, the processes are fun, easy to understand and engaging.”
- Mike Dalmau
High Country Management Enterprises, Acheron, Australia
CIEL - What We Do
Our collaborations with communities typically use unique web-accessible questionnaires, simple graphic reports, and short, engaging community meetings that generate action. CIEL recognizes that many communities are worn out by long consultation processes and complicated research reports, so we have purposely sharpened our tools and services for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
Our work is centred around providing custom expertise, a community leadership training program, and a growing range of engaging assessment/action tools:
Assessing Community Readiness:
- The Communities Matrix describes four phases (11 stages) of community development, with guidelines on how to move to the next phase. The one-page Matrix is used as a resource by communities on every continent (except Antarctica). It is simple, free, and downloadable from our web-site. For more info click here.
- The Community Check-Up is a questionnaire that determines which Community Matrix phase a community occupies. It also determines strengths and weaknesses in key areas like leadership, strategic capacity and community connections. For more info click here.
- The Green Light Check-Up is a first step in sustainability planning measuring a community’s readiness for sustainability planning in important areas like economic, social, cultural, leadership/governance and environmental sustainability. For more info click here.
Improving Business Friendliness
- The Business Vitality Initiative (BVI) measures business-friendliness in a community and helps the community focus their limited time and energy to make its own decisions about how to improve. The BVI has helped improve the business friendliness and competitiveness of dozens of communities in Canada and Australia. For more info click here.
Improving Quality of Life
- The Community Check-Up is a questionnaire that determines which Community Matrix phase a community occupies. It also determines strengths and weaknesses in key areas like leadership, strategic capacity and community connections. For more info click here.
- The Community Vitality Initiative (CVI) measures quality of life in a community and provides a structured process for the community to make its own decisions about how to improve. The CVI has been used effectively in groups of communities in Ontario, BC and Quebec. For more info click here.
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CIEL begins with the Communities Matrix, a simple one page conceptual tool that can assist in determining community readiness and the correct 'insertion' point, a tool or intervention. We also offer tools that take the assessment to the next level (Green Light or Community Check-up), that are quick and easy to administer, often using web-based surveys. Finally CIEL offers comprehensive in-community interventions that begin with an ASSESSMENT, but also facilitate FOCUS and ACTION phases (BVI, CVI, and CSI). CIEL has a high success rate in linking planning with action. CIEL offers the choice of:
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Improving Leadership
- Leading Communities is an innovative, hands-on training course for community leaders. It takes place over a several weekends focusing on a new model of collaborative leadership skills. Leading Communities was recently piloted in a group of communities across B.C., to rave reviews. For more info click here.
Becoming More Sustainable
- The Green Light Check-Up is a first step in sustainability planning measuring a community’s readiness for sustainability planning in important areas like economic, social, cultural, leadership/governance and environmental sustainability. For more info click here.
- Community Sustainability Initiative (CSI) is a comprehensive process that engages the community through energizing activities, forums and assessments. The process produces an actionable ‘Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP)’ that can guide the community for years to come.
What CIEL Brings to the Table
Led by Executive Director Mike Stolte, the CIEL team brings a rich variety of experience and expertise to our work with our clients. Our approach is an effective combination of research and practical experience. CIEL uses knowledgeable core staff and a network of associates and skilled facilitators and trainers.
The CIEL team bases its work on the following principles and ideas:
- An entrepreneurial mindset and a spirit of innovation are essential for communities. They can be learned and nurtured.
- Strong, responsive community leadership can also be learned and fostered. It need not be left to chance or to “old boys” networks.
- Community-building is a long-term process—there are no easy answers.
- It is most often futile for a community to hope for rescue from a senior government or a new industry. Solutions need to come from inside.
- Quality of life is about much more than economics or jobs—it is a holistic array of many social, economic and cultural factors.
- Communities are often not aware of their own potential. They sometimes need the stimulation of a fresh perspective.
- Different communities function at different stages of maturity. Solutions need to be tailored to where the community is at.
- The positive attributes of the community are an important basis for action and change—at least as much as the perceived deficiencies.
Where we have worked
CIEL has done work in eight Canadian provinces, the US, New Zealand and Australia (see the client list and speaking engagements). We have worked with local and regional governments, community groups and NGOs, and provincial/state and national governments. We have been able to apply the best cutting-edge research, influence policy, and most importantly, practically apply what we have learned to strengthen communities. Mike Stolte, CIEL’s Executive Director, is the current president of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF), a respected 20-year-old Canadian institution that builds rural capacity and co-ordinates the National Rural Research Network (NRRN) of Canada.
Why are CIEL’s Services the Right Choice for Small and Rural Communities?
Small and rural communities are part of a dynamic and changing marketplace. Traditionally thought of as a vast, resource-based economy, rural life is undergoing a business metamorphosis. Recent research suggests that entrepreneurship is becoming an increasingly important part of the economic solution in North America, responsible for creating 60-80% of new jobs in the last decade. This represents a startling transformation, an entirely new conception of rural business practices. With four out of five new jobs likely to be created by small business, the fate of rural communities will increasingly be tied to stimulating entrepreneurs and creating an innovative environment within communities.
In addition, the global economy means that more and more jobs can be done anywhere. As a result, people starting families and businesses will look for a community they like, rather than a place where there are lots of jobs. CIEL’s tools and services help communities decide how to make their community more vibrant and attractive to potential new residents.
*Listen to CBC's Shelagh Rogers interview CIEL's Mike Stolte on 'Sounds Like Canada' December 12, 2006 (15.5 MB mp3)