World Ocean Week serves as a powerful platform for showcasing Shorefast’s Environmental Stewardship work.
In 2025, a focus on engaging youth in hands-on learning experiences connected classroom education with real-world environmental action. In-school workshops, a shoreline clean-up, and multiple activities at the Town of Fogo Island’s World Ocean Day celebration highlighted how collaborative partnerships and place-based education can inspire a new generation of community scientists.
Photo by Tom Cochrane
Fogo Island Central Academy In-School Workshops
Exploring Plastic Pollution through Cod Dissection (Grades 7-9)
Through a partnership with the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), Shorefast’s team led students through an in-school cod dissection to examine the digestive tract for plastic pollution. Students learned the anatomy of a cod fish and explored how communities can participate in community science by collecting and analyzing fish guts for plastic pollution.
This hands-on activity engaged students in scientific research while deepening their understanding of plastic pollution in our oceans. It also encouraged them to interact with a familiar and important species to Fogo Island through the lens of environmental stewardship.
Water Monitoring: Freshwater vs. Seawater (Grades K-5)
Our team led three field trips for students in grades K-5 to our local pond, where they explored water quality using Water Rangers test kits. Water Rangers is an organization dedicated to equipping communities with accessible tools to monitor and care for local waterways. Students learned how to test both pond water and seawater (brought in for comparison) while discussing the differences between the two and how they are interconnected within our coastal ecosystem.
Shoreline Clean-up
Continuing our annual tradition of an internal roadside cleanup, Shorefast volunteers picked up waste and debris alongside the road and coast in Joe Batt’s Arm.
In preparation for World Ocean Week, Shorefast team members partnered with Atlantic Healthy Oceans Initiative (AHOI) in Gros Morne, NL to learn how to conduct waste audits – an important tool for identifying its source and reducing debris. Building on that knowledge, the team conducted an audit from the roadside cleanup to better understand waste on Fogo Island. The team found the top 3 contributors to the roadside cleanup were unidentified plastics, cigarettes, and food wrappers.
World Ocean Day at the Iceberg Arena
To launch our community science monitoring program for detecting green crab in our area, Shorefast hosted a booth to inform the community on the invasive species. The booth included underwater GoPro footage of a green crab, a recently caught green crab, an identifying game, and a sign-up list for interested volunteers.
Shorefast also invited CLEAR to take part in World Ocean Day celebrations. CLEAR focuses on addressing plastic pollution through community-engaged science. At the arena event, the lab shared its community science projects, demonstrating how the public can be involved in tackling plastic waste. CLEAR also presented research related to Fogo Island, highlighting the importance of local data collection.
In partnership with Kalup, a seaweed nursery startup from Change Islands, Shorefast hosted an interactive seaweed farming booth showcasing the full cultivation process, from nursery stages in a seawater lab to outplanting at the seaweed plot and drying techniques used after harvest. The booth highlighted our growing collaboration with Kalup and shared recent progress of our Seaweed Pilot Project, offering insight into sustainable seaweed farming in Newfoundland.
To further generate interest in the project, Fogo Island Inn and Growlers created kelp ice cream using seaweed harvested from the plot off the coast of Fogo Island. The treat sparked conversation on how local produce can be incorporated into our food, and every available scoop was served.
To encourage creative connections with seaweed, Fogo Island Arts hosted a sun printing booth using a cyanotype process. Participants created prints using locally foraged dried seaweed, learning about different seaweed varieties while designing ocean-inspired artwork to take home.
On May 28, 2025, Fogo Island Inn’s Executive Chef Tim Charles led a growers’ circle at The Storehouse, where Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s culinary team, the growers of Farm on Forest, and visitors and residents of Fogo Island gathered for a conversation around what connects us all: good food.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s Co-Executive Chef Daniel Hadida kick-started the discussion by introducing the Ontario-based, MICHELIN-starred restaurant’s approach to regenerative farming. “We’re a terminus for regenerative practices that includes growers, fishers, and foragers. We represent the public part of that circle.”
Also present was the restaurant’s resident grower, Shane Harper, who calls himself a “Chef de Farm”. Shane described how his garden serves as another station in the kitchen staffed by “chef-trained gardeners” who focus on cultivating the often-esoteric ingredients featured in the restaurant’s dishes.
Photo by Anja Sajovic
Daniel acknowledged the particularities and privileges of a restaurant surrounded by very nutrient-rich soil — Restaurant Pearl Morissette is located in Ontario’s fertile wine country. In a garden only 300 feet away from the restaurant, the team grows 300 crops. While the conditions appear more arduous in Newfoundland, Farm on Forest’s Tavish Russell and Anja Sajovic drew parallels between their work and Restaurant Pearl Morissette’s.
Tavish and Anja moved to Newfoundland in 2012 (him from Saskatchewan, her from Slovenia). Struck by the island’s food insecurity and poor quality of imported produce, the duo slowly transformed their home in St. John’s into an urban homestead that could provide high-quality ingredients. Thanks to a lot of experimentation, they now grow around 200-250 crops and supply many chefs, including Chef Tim at Fogo Island Inn.
“There is a perception that you can only grow five or six crops here,” said Tavish, “We find inspiration in finding more crops that can grow. The exciting thing about growing in Newfoundland is that there is so much opportunity. There was a strong culture of agriculture, and it died off for a period of time, but it’s starting to come back in these small holdings.”
Photo by Steffen Jagenburg
Anja attributes this return to the influence of restaurants. “Restaurants play a huge role in educating communities on new tastes and new ingredients. If one grower starts growing kale, then shows his neighbour, that’s how you get the ball rolling.”
This influence is clear on Fogo Island, where Chef Tim and his team have helped introduce crops like kale and fennel to the gardens of local growers who supply the Inn, including Alfred Coffin. Alf was one of the Fogo Island growers who joined the circle, along with Winston Osmond, Al Dwyer, Allan Foley, Neal Buffett, and Alf’s granddaughter, Keiona Brown.
Fogo Islanders have been growing their own food since long before regenerative farming was adopted by forward-thinking restaurants and chefs. “Ever since I was strong enough to hold a shovel, I’ve been cultivating the land,” said Al. “I’ve grown everything,” added Winston, “Every seed I could get my hands on.” He shared that they might not benefit from acres of land, like in Ontario or elsewhere, but that there are quarter acres and sheltered areas between rocks. It takes creativity to grow here, and a stubborn streak, and, according to Keiona, a dash of competitiveness.
“A lot of older people are stuck in their ways,” she said, “My pop said you can’t grow carrots. There was a bit of competition in showing him that you can. If there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s all about mixing the old with the new.”
Tavish echoed that sentiment. “There is so much to learn from the old ways of growing crops, but now we also have access to information on how people grow things around the world.”
Photo by Anja Sajovic
While the growers’ circle celebrated the progressive impact on growers of culinary destinations like Restaurant Pearl Morissette and Fogo Island Inn, it also showcased the lessons still being learned from our traditional foodways. Daniel and Shane listened intently as Fogo Island’s growers discussed spraying their crops with seawater, which infuses produce with natural salinity. Alf and Winston also explained how they’ve not only used sea plants and kelp to fertilize the soil, but capelin and lobster shells.
Conversations around foodways between growers from here and away highlight the necessity of a healthy food system. Nourished by locally grown ingredients, a healthy community contributes to the health of the environment and of the economy. These conversations are also crucial to inspire the next generation of growers, like Keiona Brown, who learned from her grandfather and hopes to continue the traditions of growing on Fogo Island.
An important part of Shorefast’s work under the banner of Environmental Stewardship is to find new ways to create economic opportunity for our community while relying on the inherent knowledge and geographic assets already in place.
Growing seaweed is at the core of our current environmental initiatives — it can lead to economic and environmental benefits for Fogo Island.
Seaweed Pilot Project: Planting Seeds
Through our Seaweed Pilot Project, Shorefast is leading research and development towards the establishment of seaweed cultivation around Fogo Island. Successful seaweed cultivation in our waters could diversify the local economy and lower the barrier of entry into this form of aquaculture for the fish harvesters of Fogo Island.
Led by our Environmental Stewardship team, the project is currently a collaboration with the Fogo Island Co-operative Society and Kalup, a start-up on Change Islands and the first independent seaweed nursery to produce seeds in Newfoundland. The Pilot Project was developed with Marine Institute (MI) at Memorial University of Newfoundland and originally funded by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI).
In 2024, the team enjoyed their first successful seaweed harvest, an accomplishment made possible by the many Fogo Island fishers and community members who provided their expertise and guidance.
Looking to more sustainable ways of farming
On Fogo Island, seaweed has always been used as garden fertilizer. Local gardeners will collect seaweed from Fogo Island’s beaches and lay thick layers atop of the soil.
Seaweed farming is one of the most sustainable forms of aquaculture. Seaweed can be used as biofuel, fertilizer, and animal feed. As a nutrient-packed ingredient, it can even be served in healthy, plant-based dishes. Most importantly, seaweed can be crucial to preserving the ocean that is essential to the livelihood of many Fogo Islanders. It promotes healthy oceans by:
absorbing carbon
improving water quality
combatting ocean acidification
creating habitats for marine life
Year-Round Farming
Farming seaweed is a year-round endeavour; our team braves rain, shine, or snow to maintain our crop.
The wild harvest begins in early fall when we find mature seaweed to use for a nursery. The nursery — an indoor saltwater lab facility — extracts spores from seaweed to grow more plants. Only a few blades are needed to produce up to 40,000 blades of farmed seaweed. Young seaweed seeds grow in the nursery for 4 to 7 weeks.
In late fall, we “seed” our lines. The seeds grow on a thin line in the nursery where they are monitored for ideal growing conditions (light, temperature and nutrients). Once the spores grow into small seaweed plants ready, we take that line and wrap it around our larger deployment line located in our seaweed plot off the coast of Fogo Island. These small plants are left in the water to grow through winter.
Farming continues in colder climate. Year-round, our Environmental Stewardship team tests the waters around our seaweed growing area to ensure conditions are right for happy and healthy seaweed. We regularly check water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity — all of which have an impact on aquatic life. We also ensure our gear stays in place through winter storms and turbulent waters.
Our main growing season runs from early spring to July. That’s when we start measuring growth and monitoring how quickly the seaweed is maturing.
July is a very exciting time: harvest time! If it’s successful, we spend July to August maintaining the plot for the next growing season until we can extract mature seaweed from our local environment and start all over again.
The future of seaweed on Fogo Island & beyond
Through our investment in research and development, we continue to explore and expand on the uses for farmed seaweed beyond its traditional applications. This exploration relies on collaboration, such as our research partnership with Dr. Christina Smeaton at Memorial University, Grenfell Campus. Dr. Smeaton studies the reduction of carbon footprints in agriculture by using seaweed-based fertilizers.
For more information and updates on our Seaweed Pilot Project, follow us on Instagram and Facebook or contact our Environmental Stewardship team at environment@shorefast.org
Across two decades, Shorefast has developed and tested initiatives on Fogo Island that, alongside our fishery, continue to prove it is possible for small places to thrive in the global economy.
By harnessing local knowledge and reaching out into the broader world to learn from others, we have built internationally recognized community businesses and delivered public programming at the forefront of global thought leadership. As a whole, our work demonstrates the power of tethering financial capital to place.
Today, we’re proud to share our 2023/2024 Impact Report, a testament to the potential of place-based approaches to economic development.
Now more than ever we need strong local economies. The choices we make – both as individuals and businesses – have a direct impact on the economic health of the places we live, work, and play.
At Shorefast, we have developed the practice of “Economic Nutrition” and pioneered a label to show where the money goes. Strengthening local economies goes beyond checking “Buy Canada” lists. Here are five ways we can act today.
1. Practice Place-Based Purchasing
Economic strength at the community level goes beyond the good feeling of shopping local, it’s about long-term thinking. Before ordering from a large online retailer, consider checking if the product is available closer to home.
The long-term impact of losing a vibrant network of local businesses should be factored into decision-making. In your personal purchasing and your purchases for your workplace, favour local suppliers and start with your community, your province, and your region.
2. Ownership Matters
Just because a store has a physical footprint in your neighbourhood does not always mean it’s locally owned. Before purchasing a product or visiting a store, take a few minutes to research who owns the business. Locally owned companies help ensure that money stays within the community and that business decisions reflect local needs.
3. Support Responsible Employment
Look for businesses that hire locally and practice ethical labour practices. If you own a business, find ways to invest in your employees. This ensures that a higher percentage of your dollar re-circulates in the local economy.
4. Pay attention to price
If a price seems shockingly low, ask yourself: How was this product made so cheaply? Often, low prices reflect hidden costs – such as environmental damage – that aren’t accounted for. On the other hand, excessively high prices may indicate price gouging.
At Shorefast, We provide pricing transparency through Economic Nutrition. For example, if staying at the Fogo Island Inn, over half of your money will remain on Fogo Island, 96% stays in Canada, the majority goes directly to labour, and there is no private gain as any operating surpluses are returned to Shorefast for community reinvestment. Being mindful of pricing helps ensure that our purchasing decisions support a fair and balanced economy.
5. Set Realistic Goals
Changing habits takes time, so start small. Set achievable goals within your household budget. Consider setting a specific target of your purchases from local businesses or identifying a few specific companies to intentionally support. Small steps add up to meaningful change over time.
At Shorefast, our community businesses use the Economic Nutrition Certification Mark. By making it clear where the money goes, it’s possible to make purchasing decisions that are economically healthy choices for our local communities. You can learn more about the Economic Nutrition Certification Mark here.
Support our Work
Shorefast’s work would not be possible without the generous support of friends and donors who believe in our mission and want to help amplify our work on Fogo Island and beyond. Shorefast is a registered Canadian charity (#85883 0904 RR0001) and contributions are eligible for official donation receipts. Established to deepen ties with our American friends, Shorefast US Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, registered with the IRS.
To all of our friends, patrons, and supporters, thank you for your commitment to Shorefast and to building strong communities of place
At Shorefast, every year brings new opportunities to advance community economic development on Fogo Island and beyond. In 2024, we built strong momentum towards driving our vision of enabling economic dignity for more people and more places.
As a registered charity, Shorefast is powered by independent philanthropy, donations from past guests of Fogo Island Inn and supporters, as well as by the surplus generated from our social businesses. Our activities span hospitality, art, design, the environment, heritage, foodways, and building and sharing good and best practices in community economic development.
We’re grateful to all of our friends and supporters who believe in our work and amplify our impact on Fogo Island and beyond.
Here are some highlights from 2024, made possible thanks to you:
We laid the foundations for ShoreNet, a Network for place-based economies
After 20 years of building an engine of economic development on Fogo Island, Shorefast has embarked on an ambitious mission to broaden the reach of our community economies work.
Still in development, ShoreNet is the evolution of the Community Economies Pilot. It’s a network to help communities in Canada achieve the economic agency they need to shape their future. The network brings together entrepreneurs, policy makers, municipal leaders, non-profit organizers, philanthropists, academics, business leaders and institutions — from the very small to the very large. ShoreNet offers tools, resources, convenings, case studies, and mechanisms to affect change in the key pillars of society: community, government, business, and philanthropy.
We hosted changemakers to better build and learn together
Nawalakw
We welcomed leaders from Alert Bay, BC to the island. Members of Nawalakw joined the Shorefast team to share place-based economic development experiences and perspectives.
Nawalakw is a social venture located in the Kwakwaka̱’wa̱kw Territory of the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. Their vision is to build a future that respects their connection to the land, air, and sea, firmly rooted in their responsibility of stewardship, while building a robust and prosperous economy.
Last fall, the seventh PLACE Dialogues returned to Fogo Island, its place of origin. Co-hosted by Shorefast and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise, this edition was centred around the theme of Building Economic Momentum for Resilient Communities. It brought together social entrepreneurs with community economic development peers working in the government and non-profit sectors.
The ground-breaking methodology explored during the convening accumulates into the action and influence needed to generate economic momentum that builds resilient communities.
In the winter of 2024, Toni Kearney spent time on Fogo Island to immerse herself in our community business model and replicate our regenerative practices in her community of Conche, NL.
Kearney is the Founder of Moratorium Tours & Retreats, which was inspired by Shorefast and Fogo Island Inn. She shares our vision of inspiring business development in outport Newfoundland and Labrador.
We welcomed artists and other thought-leaders to help us see the world ‘as whole’
Shore Time
Fogo Island Arts hosted the inaugural Shore Time, a biannual gathering celebrating the intersections of art, design, economy, ecology, and foodways. During the last weekend of September, Fogo Island teemed with creative and collaborative energy as artists, community members, and guests came together for insightful talks, walks, and studio tours.
Speakers included Indy Johar, Laura Owens, Sharon Lockhart, and Danh Vo, while Fogo Island artists opened their studios and shared their ideas and work with visitors and residents.
Artists-in-residence
Fogo Island Arts welcomed an array of artists-in-residence, who connected with the community through conversations or workshops. These included Zak Leazer and Zoë Hitzig’s well-attended flower-arranging workshop, a curator talk with Leo Cocar, and Syrus Marcus Ware and Susan Irons-Ware’s participation in World Oceans’ Day. We also hosted Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Jordan Bennett, Wong Winsome Dumalagan, L. Sasha Gora, Amy Malbeuf, Ethan Murphy, and Mooni Perry as artists-in-residence throughout the year.
Nelson White’s vibrant exhibition, Wutanminu – Our Community was showcased at the Gallery at Fogo Island Inn. Visitors and residents were also invited to an insightful panel discussion featuring Nelson, as well as fellow artists-in-residence Jordan Bennett and Amy Malbeuf, who are also featured in Nelson’s paintings.
Reaching Out into the World
Kitty Scott, Shorefast fellow and Strategic Director of Fogo Island Arts, was appointed Chief Curator of the 15th Shanghai Biennale which will open in November 2025. We are grateful for Kitty’s ongoing contribution to Fogo Island Arts which reinforces our leadership in the contemporary art space, and expands our reach globally.
Celebrating and Preserving Culture
Music and storytelling play an important role on Fogo Island; they bring community members together, while preserving culture and traditions.
This year, we hosted: Polaris Prize-winner Jeremy Dutcher for an intimate performance, musician-in-residence Chris Murphy for lively, weekly jam sessions and a community concert, and Carol Shields Prize-winning author V. V. Ganeshananthan for a chat about her book Brotherless Night during her residency at Fogo Island Inn.
We helped broaden horizons for our youth
With the shared objective to help Fogo Island youth imagine the future and the potential of the island, Shorefast and Fogo Island Central Academy hosted guest speakers in classrooms to showcase careers, environmental initiatives, and science projects related to their island and Atlantic Canada. Coinciding with the total lunar eclipse, Bethany Downer, a native of Newfoundland who is now the Chief Science Communications Officer for the ESA/Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, came to give a talk and interpret the event, along with NASA aerospace research engineer Dr. Tom Edwards.
Jarrod Oglan from Living Water Hydroponic Farms, Fogo Island beekeeper Don Paul, and Fisheries officers also visited to share their knowledge of the nature that surrounds us.
Community science events for students were also organized throughout the year, such as a shoreline clean-up and activities aimed at raising awareness on plastic pollution threatening our shores.
We created new ways to care for our ocean and coast
Green Crab Monitoring
The Environmental Stewardship Team set up a volunteer monitoring initiative to identify and trap green crabs, an invasive species that is not native to Fogo Island waters and can harm our environment by feeding on small finfish, being aggressive and territorial, and damaging the eelgrass habitat. All logged information is sent to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Track their progress here.
Successful Seaweed Harvest
We continued our work around seaweed farming, one of the most sustainable forms of aquaculture. This year, we enjoyed our first successful harvest, the culmination of a three-year Seaweed Pilot Project in collaboration with the Fogo Island Co-operative Society and the Marine Institute at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Environmental Stewardship Team planted seaweed seeds to begin a second year of growing – this time, in partnership with KalUp, a new seaweed enterprise based on Change Islands
This project wouldn’t be possible without the funding partnership of the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation, the research partnership of Dr. Christina Smeaton at Memorial University, and the expertise of Fogo Island fishers and community members.
Awareness Activities
The Environmental Stewardship team led a variety of activities at this year’s World Oceans’ Day at the Iceberg Arena, including a showcase on community science.
The team also organized workshops at Punt Premises spotlighting sustainable hobbies, from kitchen gardening to seaweed cyanotypes.
Finally, geologist Jane Wynne returned to Fogo Island to share her knowledge of the island’s unique geology through several guided hikes.
Fogo Island Inn received Three MICHELIN Keys in 2024. This top international achievement recognizes our team’s commitment to extraordinary, place-based hospitality. Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List also included Fogo Island Inn among the Top Hotels and Resorts in the world.
Air Canada has selected our North Atlantic Cod as a highlight of their menu in their Signature Suite at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. And more and more restaurants in Ontario and Calgary are offering ethically harvested cod and seafood from our small boat, community-based fishery.
We collaborated with Christopher Farr Cloth of London to distribute wallpaper and textile designs inspired by the beloved wallpaper adorning the walls of Fogo Islanding Inn. Our unique outport aesthetic is now accessible to designers worldwide.
As always, our restaurant and ice cream parlour delighted the community and visitors alike in their celebration of our foodways, offering traditional dishes and handcrafted ice cream made with local berries and ingredients.
Support our Work
Shorefast’s work would not be possible without the generous support of friends and donors who believe in our mission and want to help amplify our work on Fogo Island and beyond. Shorefast is a registered Canadian charity (#85883 0904 RR0001) and contributions are eligible for official donation receipts. Established to deepen ties with our American friends, Shorefast US Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, registered with the IRS.
To all of our friends, patrons, and supporters, thank you for your commitment to Shorefast and to building strong communities of place
PLACE DIALOGUES 2024: Building Economic Momentum for Resilient Communities
A flourishing society is built upon prosperous communities, and prosperous communities are only possible when they are supported by strong and resilient community economies. So, how do we strengthen community economies? How do we build economic momentum for resilient communities?
This was the focus of the 2024 PLACE Dialogues, co-hosted by Shorefast and Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise on Fogo Island, October 24-26, 2024. Taking place at the Orange Lodge, Shorefast’s Commmunity + Business Hub, the program for the seventh PLACE Dialogues was inspired by Shorefast’s 18-month Community Economies Pilot that brought together five Canadian communities to explore opportunities to better align the pillars of government, business, and community around local economic development.
The PDF program for the 2024 PLACE Dialogues, including participant list and bios, can be found here.
The PLACE Framework: co-created by Shorefast and academic researchers
PLACE stands for: Promoting community leaders; Linking divergent perspectives; Amplifying local capacities; Conveying compelling stories, and Engaging ‘both/and’ thinking. These signify five key principles important to conducting community development work. The framework emerged from a SSHRC-funded research project led by Dr. Natalie Slawinski on Shorefast’s place-based approach to social enterprise on Fogo Island.
The first PLACE Dialogues was held on Fogo Island in November 2018. Conceived as a knowledge-sharing component of the SSHRC-funded research project, the Dialogues convening model sought to gather community champions and leaders from across Newfoundland and Labrador.
The initial 2018 workshop successfully generated new connections between community development professionals working in business, government, and philanthropy. Before the 2018 gathering ended, one of the participants offered to host a second workshop the following year in a different rural community. Since then, the Dialogues have been hosted in Petty Harbour, online during the pandemic, in Norris Point, and in St. Anthony.
This year, the Dialogues returned to their place of origin for the first time under the theme Building Economic Momentum for Resilient Communities. Entrepreneurs co-mingled with community development peers working in the government and non-profit sectors as invited participants joined the workshop from diverse regions and backgrounds. The majority of participants live and work in Newfoundland and Labrador, and three participants with complimentary experience and skillsets joined from Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The PLACE Dialogues intentionally gather diversity and interdisciplinarity, because the challenges local places face in strengthening local economies take a multi-pronged, multi-sectoral approach.
When coordinated action across each critical pillar of community, government, and business work together to build businesses, spark innovation, and solve for social change, this accumulates into the action and influence needed to generate economic momentum that builds resilient communities. In coming together to discuss common challenges from the perspective of their fellow actors, community practitioners are able to uncover gaps in understanding and resources and work towards more effective solutions.
The 2024 Dialogues program was organized around three main topical areas that were identified in Shorefast’s Community Economies Pilot as key leverage points for strengthening community economies.
Key Idea 1: Attracting and Retaining Financial Capital
The first panel of the 2024 Dialogues focused on Attracting and Retaining Financial Capital. The panel explored challenges such as the availability of funding resources, how to connect with and understand local needs to encourage uptake and engagement, and how to sustain a healthy system of local purchasing and re-investment. The panel also discussed the importance of local ownership and succession planning to ensure capital is retained in the community for future generations.
One panellist spoke at length about the challenge they faced in attracting initial start-up capital for their social enterprise. For this entrepreneur, choosing direction meant both opening and closing doors – including initial launch decisions like the choice of operating structure. They sought advice from those in the room, asking, “how can entrepreneurs put themselves in a position to succeed in our province?”
The question period revealed many robust suggestions and expressions of support. With regards to financial capital, participants in the room advised ensuring entrepreneurs leverage multiple types of funding that can work for their project, and patchworking opportunities (loans, financing, partnerships, and/or government funding) to get started.
Key Idea 2: Building Local Entrepreneurial Capacity
The second panel explored entrepreneurial energy in Newfoundland and Labrador. All panellists were current or former entrepreneurs who have built businesses and social enterprises based on place-specific assets and industries. All the ventures represented demonstrate a knack for identifying emerging trends and building businesses or projects that tap into key markets and opportunities while retaining community-centred values.
The stories shared by the panellists were heartening and inspirational; the energizing effect of sharing successes is a key outcome of the Dialogues. But equally important is the identification of challenges and gaps in resources. One panellist shared that their business had benefitted from mentorship opportunities that arose due to serendipitous referrals, but there was agreement in the room that resources and mentorship opportunities must be strategically marketed/communicated to reach the entrepreneurs they intend to serve. Several panellists noted that their businesses could benefit from their communities developing assets or policies that are outside of their entrepreneurial scope but relevant (even essential) to their businesses. Again, the benefits of cross-sectoral collaboration were reinforced.
The supportive exchange, knowledge transfer, and peer-to-peer conversation and problem-solving demonstrated on both panels are key to the Dialogues convening model. With few similar convening opportunities for community development practitioners in the province, and fewer still focused on rural regions, PLACE Dialogues participants often note that the networking and conversational platform provided by the Dialogues are invaluable.
Key idea 3: Architectures for Collaboration
Wrapping up the discussion and exchange portion of the Dialogues, panellists and participants moved into practice mode for breakout sessions that offered the opportunity to learn more about Shorefast and the Fogo Island Co-operative Society. Formed in 1967, the Fogo Island Co-operative Society is the Island’s largest employer and operates three processing plants. Participants were able to get an insiders’ tour of the Co-op’s Fogo plant and meet some of the team. Other groups visited Shorefast’s Punt Premises to learn more about the charity’s programming and community businesses, including Fogo Island Inn. Dialogues practitioners could also choose their own adventure and visit a variety of local shops and businesses, including artisan makers and Living Water Hydroponic Farm.
Ending the day with more inspiration, participants visited two exhibitions at Fogo Island Inn and JK Contemporary and considered the role contemporary art can play in community economic development. Through art, artists and communities can tie into global networks and carve out new and exciting opportunities for belonging.
Inspiring More Places: The Shorefast Network for Place-Based Economies
To learn more about the PLACE Dialogues and the PLACE Framework, visit the Memorial University Centre for Social Enterprise website here. In 2023, a new book titled Revitalizing PLACE through Social Enterprise was released, co-written by academics and community practitioners. It is available via Memorial University Press as a hard copy and as an open-source PDF.
The PLACE Dialogues and Framework are part of the emerging curriculum for the Shorefast Network for Place-Based Economies: a national initiative to catalyse the holistic development of local economies, big and small.
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Crucial to our spirit of connection and collaboration is the Community + Business Hub, a space dedicated to deepening relationships on Fogo Island and beyond.
A Place for Convening on Fogo Island
Through the years, Fogo Island has hosted a series of innovative community events exploring how to strengthen our economic future. The most pivotal of these was the series of conversations immortalized by The Fogo Process, a collection of 27 short films by the National Film Board that documented life on Fogo Island. These films kindled a collective spirit that led away from resettlement and towards the formation of the Fogo Island Co-operative Society.
Since then, community-rooted and globally-minded gatherings have cemented Fogo Island’s reputation as a place that welcomes creative thinking, new opportunities, and locally grown solutions. Crucial to this spirit of connection and collaboration is the Community + Business Hub, a space dedicated to deepening relationships on Fogo Island and beyond.
The History of a Building
The Community + Business Hub is located in the former Orange Lodge No. 143, in the community of Barr’d Islands. Built in 1908 by the Loyal Orange Association as a space for the fraternal organization to hold meetings, the Orange Lodge No. 143 grew into the heart of the community. For decades, it hosted weddings, receptions, socials, rallies, and countless gatherings between friends, families, and neighbours.
When Shorefast acquired the building, it set out on restoring the structure. These improvements ensured the preservation of the building and promised a legacy that would last for another 100 years. But beyond a physical restoration, our work focused on reviving the building’s purpose as a place that could host and activate the economic potential of Fogo Island.
Exploring Adaptive Reuse
In architecture, adaptive reuse is a term used when a new life is given to an old building, while retaining its historic fabric and character-defining elements. With the Community + Business Hub, we aren’t simply assigning a new purpose to the building, but expanding on its past. While its foundation as a social space remains, we want to build on it and transform it into a vibrant community asset for change.
Regular community programming strengthens this vision. Weekly Co-Working Hours nurture and amplify Fogo Island’s entrepreneurial mindset by providing the space and equipment for organizations or individuals to meet and work, independently or collaboratively. Weekly and monthly gatherings, like Cards & Tea, Rug Hooking, and Makers’ Nights, hold on to traditions, yet spark new ideas stirred by collective creativity.
As a dynamic space for activating business and local economic growth, the building is also the home on Fogo Island of the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies, a national initiative to catalyze the holistic development of local economies. Through discussions organized by the Institute, we share our history and experiences to inspire and empower other communities working on their own revitalization projects. The partnerships created help us discover meaningful business development opportunities specific to Fogo Island’s local context, as well as grow the existing businesses on island.
The Community + Business Hub will also be activated to:
Host speakers from multiple disciplines and information sessions on the impact of community economy
Host on-island networking events and meetings; technical equipment (projector, screens, microphones) would be available
Orient visiting groups and community leaders to Fogo Island’s economic development past, present, and future
Integrate with entrepreneurial programs at schools and off-island networks through co-hosted learning sessions
Identify key local assets and development opportunities through community-focused facilitation sessions
Share insights and information about Shorefast’s programs and initiatives through our resource library of books, frameworks, and case studies.
Space to grow
At Shorefast, we are always looking for new opportunities for collaboration. We look forward to exploring ways we can work with Fogo Islanders and continue to bring this space to life. If you have ideas for potential future use of the Community + Business Hub, or if you would like to learn more, please send us an email: hello@shorefast.org or give us a call: (709) 658-7830.
Shorefast’s CEO & Founder, Zita Cobb, on the importance of local leadership in the places we live.
5-minute video excerpt of Zita Cobb’s Thomas d’Aquino Leadership Lecture, November, 2023
“Leaders are the deepest believers”
In November 2023, Zita Cobb, CEO & Founder of Shorefast and Innkeeper of Fogo Island Inn, took centre stage to deliver the prestigious Thomas d’Aquino Lecture on Leadership. This two-part lecture series was hosted at the iconic National Art Gallery of Canada and the Ivey Business School in London, Ontario.
The following is an excerpt of her speech with a focus on growing the capacity of place leadership.
“Canadian Businesswoman and social entrepreneur Zita Cobb talks leadership” – Ottawa Business Journal
International curator Andria Hickey has been appointed Head of Programs at Shorefast. Hickey will oversee the holistic direction of Shorefast’s interdisciplinary programs, including Fogo Island Arts.
Born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, Hickey is a long-standing friend of Shorefast. Alongside her work with Fogo Island Arts, Hickey’s new role will encompass oversight of Shorefast’s robust arts program and environmental stewardship initiatives, as well as heritage sites and programs designed to center place, culture, and community.
Fogo Island Arts was established in 2008 with the belief that art and artists are visionaries that continue to bring new perspectives to the urgent issues of our time. The prestigious exhibition and residency program has welcomed a wide range of international artists, curators, and thinkers including Abbas Akhavan, Liam Gillick, Candice Hopkins, Brian Jungen, Kablusiak, Janice Kerbel, Sharon Lockhart, Ken Lum, Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa, Silke Otto-Knapp, and Jeremy Shaw, among many others.
Hickey joins Shorefast from The Shed in New York, the multidisciplinary arts centre where she led the visual arts program. Previously, she was a global Senior Director and Curator at Pace Gallery, where she established a new curatorial team and initiated the live arts program, Pace Live. During her tenure she curated numerous exhibitions such as monographic surveys of Jo Baer, Wifredo Lam, and Agnes Martin, alongside major thematic exhibitions.
Hickey says, “Fogo Island is an incredibly special place, geographically, culturally, and artistically. I am inspired by Shorefast and Fogo Island as an example of community resilience that is both holding on and reaching out to center new forms of cultural exchange, environmental sustainability, and economic development. The possibility of a shared dialogue across cultures, generations, and places is a vital part of forging a new vision for the future of our planet. The ability to offer time and space for artists, curators, writers, scientists, and other practitioners to create and connect is needed now more than ever. It is a great privilege to return to eastern Canada to begin this unique position, and I look forward to meaningful collaboration with artists, communities and colleagues on Fogo Island, and beyond.”
Zita Cobb, Co-founder of Shorefast, said: “Andria brings broad experience in program leadership and strategic planning to Fogo Island, as well as an esteemed curatorial career focused on global contemporary art. Her commitment to moving culture in new directions is deeply valuable to Shorefast’s work in community economic development.”
