Who’s London

by Doug

Times Have Changed – this is my input to the question “Who’s London?” being asked in the LFP

If London wants a sustainable future it needs to change for the future, not for today.  Why Change?  We all know it is now a very modern connected world much different than just a mere 10 years ago and dramatically different than just 20 years ago.  Today we live behind technology and in fact it can be argued that for many people, technology now manages their life and not the other way around. 

The future is with the younger generation currently living behind computer screens and on mobile devices.  This is the demographics that London needs to reach now to get their ideas on what the City of London should to do to attract new markets to the city….and it must start with tourism.

Simply put, London is no different than any other community in Ontario. If you cannot attract tourism then you really have no appeal to people outside the city which means you will not be able to attract investment and growth. More importantly, if tourism has no appeal then clearly the city is not aligned with the market realities of today. Tourism is the measure of interest in a community from global markets.

We are currently working with the City of Dryden to effect change for a meaningful future for small communities across Canada.  Dryden is a pilot for a program called TecVana.  As stated by Dryden Development Corporation; Dryden has openly decided that is now critical that they embrace change and reinvent their purpose to better meet the needs of today’s younger generation. The long accepted tourism approach which was based on This Is What We Have To Offer won’t work any longer.  It now needs to be revised to a new approach that asks What Do You Want Us To Offer?  This is the TecVana Geo-Tourism model.

Geo-Tourism is defined as:  tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place and its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents. The potential for discovery is limitless. A place visitors would like to really get to know and based on our market research, it now needs to be a destination entertainment center!  Entertainment in this case includes fun adventures, experience, entertainment, escapism, connected, excitement, relaxation, hospitality, great memories and is unique. Can London boast of having these characteristics?  I don’t think so.  London is managed by an older generation with traditional values and ideas.  Unless we want the city to become known as a retirement center, a new mindset is definitely required.

For London to have an appeal to the younger generation, it will need to expand its focus to include the surrounding “Community of Interest” (COI).  This offers London greater attractions to gain the interest of the new demographics.  London should become the hub for south western Ontario growing from the bottom up, not top down.  To be able to do this requires a better understanding of what public engagement is all about.

Public engagement is not about task forces or public forums where leadership is top down and at the end of the day everyone is left with a sense of giving voice with no meaningful action. 

As stated by Dr. Don Lenihan of the Public Policy Forum in Ottawa; Public engagement is a new way of thinking about how government works together with stakeholders and ordinary citizens to achieve a wide range of goals that it cannot achieve alone, such as safer streets, community health and economic development. Rather than launching a competitive debate over issues and solutions, engagement is based on the assumption that complex issues will not be resolved by simple solutions. Instead, it takes a collaborative approach to finding and implementing solutions. This begins by getting participants to work together to “map” the space around the issues. Together they identify where and why different perspectives emerge and how and why various approaches may be needed to solve the overall problem. The group then works together to identity solutions that build on the various perspectives. Finally, they develop an action plan together around implementing the solutions. All participants are involved. The approach thus not only assumes that the public has a role in helping to identify real solutions, but also in implementing them. The action plan is a commitment to share responsibility and accountability for implementing the solutions.

It is time to involve more of the younger generation. They need to be empowered to drive change and to invent our future.  The Geo-Tourism adventures will be organized around the needs and wants of the modern consumer, not the industry and not cities like the City of London.  The challenge is in how to effectively reach and engage the younger generation! That is what TecVana is all about.