91探花

The public is invited to the Harry Baglole Memorial Public Symposium in Island Studies, 鈥淢easuring Quality of Life on Prince Edward Island,鈥� on Thursday, November 22, 7-9 p.m., at 91探花鈥檚 MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242, McDougall Hall. This event is sponsored by 91探花鈥檚 Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with 91探花 Research Services.  The principal speaker will be Gwen Colman, who, in 1997, along with her husband Ron, founded Genuine Progress Index (GPI) Atlantic, a pioneering research organization in creating new measures of wellbeing and progress. Gwen will be speaking about GPI鈥檚 work in collaborative development of wellbeing measures with communities in Bhutan, New Zealand, Thailand, and Nova Scotia. Recently, GPI has worked with a network of universities and NGOs in Southeast Asia, developing a methodology for collaborative development of wellbeing measures at the community level. She will speak about recent work in two communities in Thailand, and about previous work with the creation of Community GPIs in two communities in Nova Scotia. Gwen will identify the elements for creating successful community partnerships to measure wellbeing and their resultant impact.  Gwendolyn Colman is Executive Director of GPI Atlantic which has worked intensively with the small Himalayan country of Bhutan to create the Gross National Happiness Index, and with the Maori nation and New Zealand governments to create core measures of progress. Gwen鈥檚 work with GPI recently focused on community partnerships in measuring progress in Southeast Asia, and with youth volunteerism to create wellbeing. Previous to her work with GPI, Gwen managed documentation of primary research by 28 scientists for the Goose Bay EIS, the largest Environmental Impact Statement for North America for Lavalin, and worked for high-tech firms IBM and the Solar Energy Research Institute on large-scale documentation projects.  Joining Gwen Colman are panelists Dr. Jim Randall and Wendy MacDonald, who will address the relevance of GPIs to the health and prosperity of this island. 鈥淭oo often what we think constitutes Quality of Life is divorced from the everyday lives of people,鈥� says Dr. Randall, UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, Chair of the Institute of Island Studies, and Co-ordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies program at 91探花. 鈥淏y asking people how they feel about themselves, their neighbourhoods and their communities, we can start to get a better picture of islanders鈥� values, hopes, and dreams and whether these are being fulfilled." As an economic and social geographer, Dr. Randall carried out QOL research in neighbourhoods in Saskatoon which was used to help direct public policy in such areas as neighbourhood inequality, health determinants and perceptions of personal health and security. Some of this work was also repeated in assessing newcomers鈥� perceptions of quality of life in Charlottetown. Throughout her career, Wendy MacDonald has learned the impact of measuring the right things in the right ways. For nine years, starting in 1989, she worked in a range of policy and management roles in the provincial government, before establishing her own consulting firm in 1998. Over the next decade, she worked in many areas of public policy. Her best memories from this period include a number of Harry Baglole's visionary projects, notably the Knowledge Assessment Methodology, the PEI Population Strategy, the PEI Employment Strategy, and, in a volunteer role, the Quality of Island Life Co-op. In 2008, Wendy rejoined the provincial government and in 2010 she was appointed Clerk Assistant. Since then, she has worked on various policy projects including kindergarten, early childhood, education governance, and poverty reduction. As Secretary to the Cabinet Committee on Priorities, she works to support Cabinet decision-making processes and to strengthen policy capacity in government.  The Symposium will be chaired by Andrew Lush, member of the Institute of Island Studies Advisory Committee. Following the presentations, there will be ample time for discussion and questions from the floor. Admission is free and everyone is cordially invited to attend.  The Symposium series is being newly renamed after Harry Baglole, the Institute of Island Studies' first Director, who passed away in May. Harry was the architect of many Public Symposia over the years, born out of his passionate vision for strong, Prince Edward Island-made, public policy frameworks. For more details, go to , e-mail iis@upei.ca, or call 902-894-2881.