Building a community profile
Traditionally, when we think of community we think of a group of people who live and interact in a specific geographic area. Today, groups of people with shared business, professional or cultural interests are also referred to as communities.What does your community look like?
Is your community defined by where it is located in Nova Scotia?Is your community a group of people with similar interests such as artists or business people?
Is your community a group of people with similar characteristics such as seniors or youth?
No matter what type of community you represent, building a good profile of your members is important to successfully plan for a high-speed future.
Here are some of the issues you can consider:
- Population and age groups
- How many people are in your community?
- Is it growing or shrinking?
- Is your community ageing, or are there lots of young people living and working here?
- Families and children
- How many families live in your community?
- Are there lots of children in your community, or is it mainly grown up families?
- Information like this about the people in your community can help you to decide what goals you want to set for the future, for example
- attract people to live and work in your community
- provide information for young families in your area
- offer new, community-based services for seniors
- identify new markets for businesses
- Education
- What levels of education have the people in your community reached?
- Are there opportunities to learn about computers and information technology in your community?
- Are there people who already know a lot about information technology?
- Employment and income levels
- Do most people in your community have jobs?
- What kind of work is available to people in your community?
- Are many people retired?
If you plan on hosting a workshop for a community is defined by where it is, you are in luck! You can find information on all these subjects at Nova Scotia Community Counts. This is a government web site with information about every geographic community in Nova Scotia.
If your community is one defined by its interests or characteristics, for example a business organization, or a seniors' group, you can use your organizational records to find out some of the most interesting facts about your community.
In both cases, it's a good idea to build the community profile and give a copy to everyone who will be attending Planning for a High-Speed Future before the workshop begins. This way, they will be better able to complete the workshop and plan for a high-speed future.
Identify your community's strengths and opportunities
When you complete the Planning for a High-Speed Future workshop, you will have an opportunity to think about your community's strengths and opportunities for the future. You can do this by discussing three important aspects of your community:Culture
Technology
Attitudes to Change
Culture
Nova Scotia is a rich tapestry of cultural influences and heritage. Every community in the province has its own unique culture that comes from shared values and experiences. A community's arts and crafts, its history and heritage, its location and environment are all cultural strengths and opportunities:- creative people live in your community, such as
- artists
- musicians
- designers
- your community supports its culture through things like
- art classes
- community theatre
- music lessons and opportunities to hear music
- historical and genealogical societies
- your community has a cultural infrastructure. This includes things like
- concert venues
- art galleries
- museums
- playhouses
- your natural environment adds to your community's culture because
- it is linked to Nova Scotia history
- it has interesting natural resources such as forests or fossils
- it supports local farmers, wine-growers and food producers
Technology
Nova Scotia has a proud tradition of design, engineering, production and adaptation of technology. From ship-building to early aviation, from the telephone to high-speed Internet, and from mining to the offshore, every community in the province has its own history of using technology to create and transport goods and services:- your community has a history of using technology such as
- mining
- ship-building
- manufacturing
- engineering and transportation
- there are places in your community where you can learn how to use information technology, such as
- schools
- community college or university
- C@P sites
- libraries
- people in your community already use information technology to do business, to stay in touch, and to work together
- your community, or organizations within your community, already has
- a web site or a web portal
- government services available online
- the ability to do business online
Attitudes to Change
High-speed can change the way we do almost everything. We can shop anywhere in the world and have our purchases delivered to our door. We can communicate with family and friends no matter where they are. We can do our banking and deal with government online instead of going to a bank or an office. For many, these are huge changes, and people may need assistance to ensure the change is a good experience for them.To help people cope with these changes, think about how your community has handled change in the past:
- What major changes has your community faced that you can remember?
- Did those changes improve your community?
- Does your community get together to talk about changes and how you will handle them?
- Who may need assistance dealing with the changes that high-speed will bring to how we do business, communicate with each other, and stay in touch with the rest of the world?
