Contributors

Mary Beckie is an associate professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Extension, where she conducts teaching and research in sustainable community development, municipal sustainability planning, local and regional food systems, the social economy, and community-university engagement.

Randy Bell works with the ‘Namgis First Nation and lives in Alert Bay.

Marena Brinkhurst holds an MA from the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University.

Kailey Cannon is a graduate of the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. She was formerly a research assistant with the BALTA project.

Sean Connelly is a lecturer in geography at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and a research associate with the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University. His teaching and research interests include human-environment relations, urban geography, planning, and sustainable community development. His post-doctoral research with BALTA focused on local food movements as a bridge between sustainability and the social economy. He is a provisional member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. His doctoral dissertation explored the role of community mobilization in the implementation of sustainability initiatives in urban, rural, and aboriginal communities in Canada. In 2002, he worked for ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability, preparing for and participating in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. He holds an MA in international studies from the University of Northern BC and a PhD in geography from Simon Fraser University.

Mike Gismondi is a professor of sociology and global studies at Athabasca University in the Centre for Social Sciences. He has been a member of the BALTA steering committee since 2006. His research interests include environmental sociology, grassroots sustainability, socio-ecological transition, the political ecology of natural resource extraction, and global development. Gismondi is co-lead for Scaling Innovation in Sustainability, a SSHRC-funded research partnership exploring the transition to sustainability (www.balta-sis.ca).

Lillian Hunt is a member of the ‘Namgis and Ma’amtagila First Nations. She has been directly involved in protecting the cultural heritage of her people since the first cultural tourism training program was initiated by U’mista Cultural Centre in 1999. The recognition that tour operators from around the world were making substantial money based on the culture and territories of the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples prompted the U’mista Cultural Society to direct staff to develop and market their product. With the society’s support, Hunt connected with regional tourism associations, and she now serves on the boards of Tourism Vancouver Island, the Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia, and Go2 British Columbia. She is also on the Vancouver Island North Tourism Advisory Committee, which works with the Regional District of Mount Waddington (RDMW) to develop a regional marketing plan for Northern Vancouver Island. Hunt held the tourism portfolio while serving two terms on the Alert Bay Municipal Council. Her tenure as director with the RDMW provided valuable insight on working with community leaders in office.

Noel Keough is a co-founder of Sustainable Calgary Society and CivicCamp Calgary. He is also an assistant professor of sustainable design in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.

Freya Kristensen is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University and a researcher with the SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development. Her work examines how international municipal sustainability networks influence policy learning around sustainability, focusing particularly on the social dimension of sustainability. Prior to starting her PhD, she spent almost two years with the Columbia Institute’s Centre for Civic Governance, a non-profit organization that works to engage locally elected officials around social and environmental issues.

Celia Lee holds a Master of Environmental Design from the University of Calgary and is currently research and community liaison at Vibrant Communities Calgary. She won the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award from the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research in 2011 for her thesis, “Growing a Social Economy: A Case Study of Hillhurst-Sunnyside,” which was based on research she did for BALTA on mapping social enterprise in the area.

Mike Lewis is executive director of the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal, lead investigator with BALTA, and co-author, with Pat Conaty, of The Resilience Imperative: Cooperative Transitions to a Steady-State Economy (New Society Publishers, 2012).

Julie L. MacArthur teaches political science at Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University and is a lecturer in political studies and public policy at the University of Auckland. Her political economy research on human security, sustainability, and community energy ownership has appeared in a number of publications, including Monthly Review, International Journal, and i4.

Terri MacDonald, Selkirk College’s BC Regional Innovation Chair in Rural Economic Development, holds a PhD in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia and an MA in Policy and Administration from the University of Calgary. Dr. MacDonald has worked for over 10 years in economic development across British Columbia, primarily in the Kootenay region.

Sean Markey is an associate professor with the Simon Fraser University School of Resource and Environmental Management and an associate with the SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development. His research focuses on issues of local and regional economic development, rural and small-town development, community sustainability, and sustainable infrastructure. Markey works with municipalities, non-profit organizations, Aboriginal communities, and the business community to promote and develop sustainable forms of community economic development. He serves as co-chair on the Board of Directors with the Vancity Community Foundation.

Juanita Marois is a research assistant at Athabasca University and is working on the Unleashing Local Capital project and the BALTA mapping project. She is the former executive director of the Métis Crossing Cultural Interpretive Centre near Smokey Lake, Alberta, and holds an MA in recreation and leisure studies with a focus on sustainable tourism from University of Alberta.

George Penfold is former Regional Innovation Chair at Selkirk College, British Columbia. He has retired from academic life and is practicing community development.

Stewart Perry is a staff associate with the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal and has long been active in community economic development (CED) in the United States and Canada as both a policy adviser and a designer and manager of CED institutions. As head of the (US) Center for Community Economic Development, Perry helped create the first finance institution for CED, the Massachusetts Community Development Finance Authority. He also helped start Canada’s first community development corporation, New Dawn Enterprises, and from 1988 to 1993, he headed the Community Economic Development Centre in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. A consultant, researcher, and author, Perry currently specializes in community and development finance.

John Restakis, a co-lead of BALTA, has been executive director of the British Columbia Co-operative Association in Vancouver since 1998. The BCCA is the umbrella association for the co-op and credit union movement in British Columbia. He is the author of Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital (New Society Publishers, 2010).

Lauren Rethoret is a full-time researcher with the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute at Selkirk College, working primarily in the environmental and economic pillars. She holds a Master’s degree in Resource and Environmental Management (with a specialization in land use planning) from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography (with a specialization in globalization, society and the environment) from Carleton University.

Mark Roseland is professor of planning in the Simon Fraser University School of Resource and Environmental Management and director of the SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development. Roseland lectures internationally and advises communities and governments on sustainable development policy and planning. The fourth edition of his book, Toward Sustainable Communities, was published in June 2012 (New Society Publishers). Roseland is leading the development of Pando | Sustainable Communities, a new network for sustainable communities researchers and practitioners. He is a founding member of the SFU Community Trust’s Board of Directors, responsible for the award-winning UniverCity sustainable community development project.

Lynda Ross is an associate professor of women’s and gender studies in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University, where she also coordinates the University Certificate in Counselling Women program. She holds a PhD in psychology from the University of New Brunswick. Her research interests focus on the social construction of psychological “disorders,” attachment theory, and motherhood. She also has an extensive background and interest in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, as well as in statistics.

Erin Swift-Leppäkumpu is a Canadian intern architect and designer and holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Calgary. She has been working in architecture offices in the Helsinki metropolitan area since September 2010.

Kelly Vodden is an associate professor (research) in environmental studies and geography at Memorial University. She also serves as a research associate with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. Vodden’s research focuses on collaborative governance and sustainable community and regional development, particularly in Canadian rural and small-town communities and coastal regions. Her publications include the co-authored book Second Growth: Community Economic Development in Rural and Small Town British Columbia (UBC Press, 2004), along with numerous book chapters, journal articles, and reports. Vodden is a former research coordinator and instructor with the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University and has acted as a consultant to all levels of government, non-government, and private sector organizations.