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Strategic Planning Toolkit for Local Economic Development

Date: 2017+

EcoPlan worked with the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training to develop a Strategic Planning Toolkit for Local Economic Development for communities across British Columbia. This project included working closely alongside the Ministry and a working group to develop toolkit materials and deliver an in-person train-the-trainers workshop for Economic Development Division regional managers. The finalized toolkit describes a flexible, customizable process that follows five clear strategic planning tasks, guided by four overarching questions. The toolkit is designed to help all communities, regardless of their capacity, community size or where they are in their planning process realize their community’s economic vision. Following initial rollout, EcoPlan worked with the Ministry to adapt the toolkit and make it more appropriate and accessible for Indigenous communities in British Columbia. This included assembling a working group of Indigenous planners to work with EcoPlan and the Ministry to review the toolkit through an Indigenous lens, and resulted in the identification of additional tools and processes to be developed in the next phase of the project.