Calgary on Purpose hosts discussions with as many Calgarians as possible to build our shared story.

OUR PROCESS

Through Phase 1, we identified a range of key groups and sought input from citizens who are members of or are deeply familiar with these groups. This gave us our starting point to shape our next phase of community consultation in Fall 2020. Starting with one-on-one discussions, Calgary on Purpose spoke with 36 Calgarians to start building a narrative.

Five themes emerged from these discussions:

Being at a crossroads
Our western heritage
Being in things together
Being a space of opportunity
Economics on our mind

Using these themes as a starting point for further discussion, Calgary on Purpose hosted 25 small online group discussions with almost 300 Calgarians throughout the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. Participants were asked how these themes fit or do not fit with their story of Calgary, what it means to be Calgarian and to describe their future vision of Calgary. What we heard was captured and summarized in our 2021 Report. We invite you to read it through the button below.

“We’re good with the wolf at the door, not so much with the termites in the basement.”

Read the 2021 Report

We heard stories that shared dimensions like relationships, community, participation, being safe and comfortable, and commitment. Things like transition, quality of life, leadership, overcoming divisiveness and negativity, and optimism and hope.

“A lot of tension. Where do we want to go? And how fast and how hard? And who gets to drive?”

The findings aren’t meant to speak for all Calgarians, but we hope that you will resonate with some of the pieces found here. We want to catalyze more courageous conversations, to refine and build on these initial ideas to better inform action and policy work—the “how” that supports the future Calgarians desire.

“If you have a good enough vision, and you have a good enough product, you can source money anywhere in the world. Money goes where there’s an opportunity. So we need to start thinking about ourselves as part of this global community. And how do we leverage that to Calgary’s advantage?”