3.2 Collaboration and Community Leadership

3.2COLLABORATION AND COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

A key element of successful plan implementation is identifying which organizations will involved in carrying out initiatives and how. The success of the Strategy depends on different organizations coming together to collaborate and implement initiatives with a common vision.

The City of Penticton aims to take on a key role in the implementation of the Action Plan. The City can serve as:

• An advocate for policy and community organizations; • As a communicator with the community or with agencies and government; • A facilitator between organizations agencies, companies, or individuals; • A lead in policy and regulation updates; • A grant donor to community projects; and • A direct investor or organizer on certain initiatives.

However, successful implementation is best served by establishing overall responsibility with one to two organizations which are dedicated to moving initiatives forward, coordinating between stakeholders, and encouraging collaboration.

Food policy councils represent a successful model for implementing food security initiatives in communities and exist throughout BC. The South Okanagan previously had a food security coalition, however, this initiative lacked human resource capacity and was unable to continue. A food policy council model is a sustainable and effective approach because its sole objective is to support food policy and initiative implementation. It includes one or two paid employees acting with the support and guidance of the Council. The Council can be made up of representatives of different community organizations and the City.

Penticton has two established groups which could provide support to a food policy council in its development stages. These are the Working Group established for the Food Security Strategy and the Agricultural Advisory Council.

In recognition of best practices across communities addressing food insecurity, and in order to set the Penticton Food Security Strategy up for success, a formal food policy council should be created and a paid position established to support

The Kamloops Food Policy Council

(KFPC) is an example of what a council could look like in Penticton. Founded in 1995, the KFPC is Canada’s oldest independent food policy council. Today it has five employees and runs programs such as Gleaning Abundance, Butler Urban Farm, and a seed library. They are also spearheading the development of a Food Hub.

implementation. Identifying funding sources for a paid employee are key to building capacity for implementation.

Paid positions with food policy councils can include the following roles and responsibilities :

• Maintain a list of funding opportunities and make applications to carry out initiatives in the Action Plan; • Coordinate with and involve other organizations as required; • Encourage stakeholders to work together and promote opportunities to bring them together; • Share relevant information with stakeholders (e.g., funding opportunities, collaboration opportunities, current research); • Represent Penticton’s food security interests at the regional or provincial level; and • Engage in monitoring the Action Plan implementation and meet with Council regularly to review progress.

In addition to the creation of a food policy council, other actors (e.g., City of Penticton, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and the University of British Columbia Okanagan) are identified throughout the Action Plan. Based on the actor’s experience and potential contribution they are identified as either leads or support on various initiatives.