The Dalai Lama is recognized as one of the world’s most influential and inspirational voices for peace and education. His Holiness was featured at the Engage NOW Conference at the Telus Convention Centre on September 30, to October 1, 2009. This marked the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Calgary in 30 years and proved to be an unforgettable experience.

Photo of Dalai Lama by: Elton Melo

When Anna Kae Todd and Rena Shimoni discovered an opening to present at the Engage NOW Conference, they saw it as an opportunity they could not pass up. The Conference’s theme, “engaging communities through partnerships and learning opportunities, to enhance the well being of communities and citizens,” embodies Bow Valley College’s mission and vision.  

Culling through the College’s wide range of programs, projects, and partnerships, the two came away with the realization that making a difference in communities permeated everything.  This discussion formed their topic for submission: Walking the walk: Removing Barriers to inclusion through collaboration, connectedness, and caring–The Bow Valley College Way.

Highlighting three community-based research and educational projects with different populations and in different contexts, with the common goal of improving inclusion and engagement of citizens who are marginalized, the three research projects were:

1. Bow Valley College’s award winning Entrepreneurial Skills Promotion project in Zimbabwe
2. The Integrated Training Projects
3. Connecting Literacy to Communities

 Todd and Shimoni hope that participants in the session gained an understanding of the challenges of successful collaboration, and some tips for developing and implementing community based education.   They believe that strong partnerships have helped us meet the goals of the College–to serve learners and their communities–any where, any place, and at any pace!!