In November, the first provincial Vital Signs community checkup was launched in PEI, in partnership with Rotary Clubs of PEI – the first time a partnership of its type has happened in Canada. Implemented by the Institute of Island Studies at UPEI, Vital Signs measures the vitality of communities and identifies significant trends in a range of areas critical to quality of life.What does Vital Signs offer Rotary? Vital Signs provides considerable information about trends across the province that allows us to make better informed decisions about projects we consider and to enhance the impact we can have. In addition, we generally do the same things to share our stories and attract new members every year… and our membership has been declining. We must try some new things if we are to grow and thrive – collaboration and leverage from linkage with other organizations presents a good opportunity. We can increase our reach and leverage connections while building awareness of the good work we do.
Specifically, we played a major role in the launch event and facilitated discussions at follow-up information sessions in four locations across PEI where numerous non-Rotarians were exposed to Rotary. The Rotary wheel is on the front and back covers of over 30,000 printed copies of the report and the online version. See www.cfpei.ca
What did we learn? Top priorities across PEI include health and well-being, people & work, housing, the environment, belonging and leadership, poverty and more. We heard from the follow-up sessions that many people have interest in addressing these priorities and that building community and civic engagement are of prime importance. Hopefully discussion will continue about how Rotary can play a role in the next steps, and the relationship will have an impact on communities and our service to them.
Discussions are also underway in Nova Scotia about a relationship with Engage Nova Scotia and their recent well-being study across the province. Stay tuned! In the meantime, do you have suggestions of other organizations that we could explore for potential partnerships?