UPDATE: High Ground 2020 Cancelled
High Ground 2020, our annual civic governance forum, was scheduled to be held at the Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel in Vancouver, BC from 1pm on Friday, March 27 to 4:30pm on Saturday, March 28. The theme for the 2020 forum was “Committed to Action,” and featured plenaries on UNDRIP, Public Education and Privatization, and the Climate Emergency.
The event was postponed on March 12 due to conditions around the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hope was to reschedule the event in the fall or early winter. Given the outlook provided by public health officials, as well as the state of uncertainty around public gatherings of 50 or more, we decided to cancel the 2020 event.
Due to Covid 19, we won’t be holding our annual evening reception during this year’s Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Victoria, BC.
On Tuesday, October 29, we held our third fundraising dinner – a celebration of the invaluable contribution of Charley Beresford, our former Executive Director for twelve years – for her commitment to nurturing leadership of sustainable, equitable, and inclusive communities across Canada.
Held at Heritage Hall in Vancouver, the event included a delicious buffet dinner, cash bar, silent auction, raffle, and mingling with friends who care about the communities we live in. Photos from the event can be found here.
Special thanks to our sponsors — Health Sciences Association of BC (Supporting), Vancity, United Steelworkers, BC Federation of Labour, and Hands-on Publications — who helped make this event possible.
The Columbia Institute will hold its annual Centre for Civic Governance Forum at the Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel in Vancouver, BC from Friday, March 27 to Saturday, March 28. Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, take a look at last year’s program here
The Columbia Institute held a wine-tasting reception to jump start UBCM-Whistler in September.
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Friday, March 29 & Saturday, March 30, 2019
We held our 2019 civic governance forum in Harrison Hot Springs from March 29-30. To view presentation slide decks from the event, please email us at info@columbiainstitute.eco.
On the occasion of High Ground 2018, we presented the first public screening of the documentary Women Bending the Curve on Climate Change in Vancouver on Thursday, March 22. Set in the context of the Paris climate change agreements, the new film tells the stories of climate change leaders from Canada’s West Coast working in renewable energy, city government, energy conservation, community engagement, sustainable food, finance and indigenous land stewardship. Their inspiring stories explore how climate science, meaningful action and women’s collaborative leadership intersect to bend the curve on climate change.
The sold out screening was followed by a discussion with the filmmaker Dr. Joanna Ashworth, Tzeporah Bergman and Tessica Truong, as well as Irene Lanzinger. Charley Beresford facilitated the discussion.
We held our 2018 civic governance forum — High Ground 2018: Communities for All — from March 23-24 at the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel. To view presentation slide decks from the event, please email us at info@columbiainstitute.eco.
We held our second Columbia Cafe on its latest report "Canada Infrastructure Bank and The Public's Right to Know!" on October 17, 2017 at the People's Law School in Vancouver. Report author Keith Reynolds presented highlights of the report, which are captured below.
We held our annual Columbia Institute Reception at the YWCA-Downton on Tuesday, September 26.
We held our annual Columbia Institute Reception during FCM on Thursday, June 1 in Ottawa. The event featured a Report Card on Top Asks for Climate Action: Ramping-Up Low Carbon Communities.
We held our 2017 civic governance forum from March 31 to April 1 in Vancouver, BC. To view presentation slide decks from the event, please email us at info@columbiainstitute.eco.