Inside the Collaboration: Planning & Economic Development

Brian Morris – Economic Developer – City of Hamilton

Erik Acs – Planner – Niagara Region November 3rd, 2016

Golden Horseshoe Food & Farming Alliance (GHFFA)

• Elected Municipal Officials from the 5 Regions and the Cities of Hamilton & Toronto

• Public Health in the Golden Horseshoe

• Federations of Agriculture in the Golden Horseshoe

• Toronto & Region Conservation Authority

• Vineland Research & Innovation Centre

• Durham College & Niagara College

• Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation

• Holland Marsh Growers Association

• Food Industry

Golden Horseshoe Food & Farming Action Plan 2021

• First ever regional food system plan for the Golden Horseshoe

• Integrates land use planning, economic development and food, nutrition and health

Five Opportunity Areas

1. Grow the Cluster

2. Link Food, Farming and Health

3. Foster Innovation

4. Enable the Cluster

5. Cultivate New Approaches

62 action items

25 of which are completed or are in progress

Key Accomplishments

Projects:

• › Food & Farming Asset Mapping

• › Municipal Local Food Procurement

• › Golden Horseshoe Agriculture & Agri-Food Profile Study

Significant Engagement Initiatives:

• � Queens’ Park Days to engage Ministers & MPP’s

• › Workshop series for planners & economic development officers

• � Linking Food, Farming & Health’ annual meeting with Public Health

Engagement, Policy Review & Communication Initiatives:

• Response to Parks Canada’s Rouge Park Management Strategy

• ›Response to the Provincial Co-ordinated Plans Review and Advisory Panel report, Local Food Act, and other policy proposals

• ›Online e-newsletters &stories

But Who Makes This Happen?

• Alliance Board who support the vision of the GHFFA

• Staff working group – Planners and Economic Developers from the 5 regions

and 2 cities across the Golden Horseshoe

• Alliance staff

THE VISION

The Golden Horseshoe is globally renowned as a vibrant food and farming cluster, characterized by profitable farming operations, a thriving hub of food processing, food retail and food service businesses, extensive research capacity, innovative technology, and a wide range of healthy and safe products.

But How do you Make it Happen?

Three Overarching Themes:

1. Financial/Resource

2. Information Transfer

3. Collective Impact

Financial

• Pooling limited budgets

• Sharing resources

• Leveraging funding

Example:

2016 Asset Mapping Project

Information Transfer

• Efficiency of Resources

• ‘Borrowing’ ideas/solutions

• You don’t know what you don’t know

• Extends beyond topics that concern the GHFFA

Example: Edge Panning

Collective Impact

• Regional issues not confined to municipal borders or ward boundaries

• Lending multiple voices to a particular issue or set of issues

• Raising the bar! challenge each municipality to improve themselves – ‘coopertition’

Example: Coordinated Policy Review

Thank you!