As the first stage of the 2012 3i Summit on Sustainability, community idea Salons were held during the winter to begin the conversation, exchange ideas and identify the projects and desires for environmental sustainability within the Ottawa community. The process of collaboration had previously begun in fall 2011 through planning sessions with environmental organizations. At these sessions, we identified the need for 4 Idea Salons plus an online Salon using Ideavibes to encourage input, dialogue and begin collaborations.
1. Idea Salons:
Four 3i Idea Salons were held in late February in different parts of the city. These were a set of facilitated, in-person dialogues with different participants at each one. Over 120 people participated. To see what was discussed at the in-person Salons, click here.
2. Online Salon:
In the Online Salon, we captured all potentially actionable ideas that emerged from the four Idea Salons and suggestions and initiatives from those who missed the salons. Up until March 30th, this Online Salon was the place to post ideas, encourage support for initiatives and help shape the content of the Summit on May 4th & 5th. Anyone was welcome to post an initiative that met the following criteria:
1. Social and economic as well as environmental benefits
2. Significant impact
3. Scalable and/or replicable
4. Willingness to be a lead collaborator
Visitors to the site were also invited to “vote” and to comment on ideas they liked. We noted that it was not necessarily the ideas that attracted the most votes, but those that attracted committed champions, that counted in terms of moving initiatives forward. The main purpose and focus of the 2012 3i Summit is to help make some of these initiatives actually happen.





