Zita Cobb reflecting on Joe Clark's metaphor of Canada as a 'community of communities'.
Credit: Canadian Urban Institute
“We created the Shorefast Institute because the work ahead is larger than any one community, government, or market actor. The Institute serves as necessary connective tissue: building community capacity, supporting practitioners, and translating lived experience into usable frameworks that span governments, markets, and communities of all sizes and descriptions. ”
— Zita Cobb, Founder & CEO, Shorefast
Shorefast Institute at Canadian Urban Institute Summit
The Canadian Urban Institute’s annual “State of Canada’s Cities” took place in Ottawa during the first week of December, bringing together policymakers, community leaders and researchers around the theme of “Better Places for a Better Canada: Leveraging the Local.” While our team has been working behind the scenes all year, running pilots and testing our methodology, this event marked the official public launch of The Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies. Founder and CEO Zita Cobb formally introduced the Institute to over 300 attendees, on Day One, while the Institute team led a sold-out workshop series on place-based economies the second day. The reception and message were clear, Canadians are ready for a new way of economic thinking, Canadians are ready to focus on place.
Credit: Canadian Urban Institute
A challenge for the Canadian economy
Shorefast CEO Zita Cobb’s keynote presentation challenged Summit participants to ground economic development in place. She described how the Canadian economy is currently optimized for institutions, not places. Our economy, Cobb argued, does not draw on the potential of the assets that lie "inactive” in communities across the country. Drawing on the work of economist Raghuram Rajan, Cobb argued that the economy rests on the three pillars of government, markets, and community. She explained,
“Our systems have lost their orientation in place and therefore lost their ability to support intrinsic value...the Community is hollowed out, in many places to the point of dysfunction.”
Cobb went on to discuss the difference between the real economy and the financial economy. “The financial economy has over-fed itself and is now more than five times larger than the real economy. It has become ‘the product’ and forgotten that it’s supposed to facilitate the real economy.”
While acknowledging the real challenges and threats to our communities, Cobb went on to discuss the potential of rebalancing the pillars through place-based investment. By strengthening the community pillar, we can get the economy working for more people in more places.
The Shorefast Institute Team in Action
The day wrapped up with a networking session where the Shorefast team hosted a table to answer questions and chat with Summit participants. The demand was high, with community practitioners, investors, government employees and academics visiting our table, eager to learn more about the Shorefast model.
Putting Economic Stewardship Principles in Practice
“Shorefast is offering real scaffolding for economies rooted in land, culture, relationship, and long-term care for place — not theory, but structure."
— Brian Smith, Boann Capital
Gwen Patrick presenting Shorefast’s groundbreaking approach to Economic Nutrition.
On Day Two of the Summit, the Shorefast Institute hosted three workshops to give participants a chance to explore these ideas in practice.
The first workshop explored Economic Nutrition™, a new framework that helps organizations understand where money goes and who benefits from procurement decisions. Participants examined how “Buy Canadian” policies can evolve into deeper place-based procurement practices. Shorefast’s Financial Innovation Lead, Gwen Patrick, walked through Shorefast’s Economic Nutrition certification process, answering multiple questions about implementation for place-based businesses and organizations.
The second workshop introduced Shorefast’s approach to Asset-Based Community Development for the Economy (ABCDE), which incorporates the economic angle in the methodology. Zita Cobb grounded the session in the background of ABCD on Fogo Island and our guiding questions about what communities have, know, love, and miss, and what they can do about it. Participants had a chance to think closely about their own communities, and consider how local strengths can be transformed into meaningful economic opportunities.
The final workshop focused on collaboration and the importance of building “connective tissue” across Canada. Drawing from the Community Economies Pilot and the first Shorenet Cohort, participants explored what it would take to build a national network of communities working together on place-based economic development. We call this Shorenet.
Eoin Callan of Bloom Capital and Community Futures Canada testified to the impact and potential of Shorefast’s approach in Prince Edward County.
These full-house sessions showcased how the new Shorefast Institute can catalyze our place-based philosophy into practical tools and resources for communities across Canada. As Zita Cobb illustrated:
“Life happens in places, and our human systems must serve life.”
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