Shorefast

From the Shorefast Foundation web site:

”A shorefast is the line and mooring used to attach a traditional cod trap to the shore. It is a strong symbol of Fogo Island’s cod fishing heritage, and we chose this name because it symbolizes a belief in the importance of holding on to community and culture and in the power of authentic connections between individuals, their community, culture and place.”

What can you do?

”Our mission is to build cultural and economic resilience on Fogo Island and to serve community well-being by sharing place-based models of economic development.”

I would like to see the Annapolis Valley join the list of communities sharing place-based models of economic development. We are well-positioned. We have a strong history of place.

On Fogo Island, the heritage has been on the fishery. In the Annapolis Valley, the heritage has been more on agriculture.

Just looking at the Reading List, non-fiction illustrates compatibility:
EF Schumacher Small is Beautiful;
Peter Senge The Necessary Revolution;
Barry Lopez Arctic Dreams;
Mark Roseland Towards Sustainable Communities.

I first met Zita Cobb at the Georgetown conference in PEI, Rural Redefined (2013). Our paths crossed again at the Esri Canada virtual conference in November 2021.

If we were to establish a foundation in the spirit of Shorefast, what would it look like?

Given the importance of apple orchards, perhaps it should be called the Honeycrisp Foundation.

Finally, from Zita Cobb again:

”We exist in relationship to the whole planet, the whole of humanity, the whole of existence. It is our job to find ways to belong to the whole while upholding the specificity of people and place.”

Check out “cauliflower thinking” and the “floret videos” on the website.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Zita Cobb for the inspiration. Edward joined Heather and me on the Road to Georgetown in 2013.

Reference

The Shorefast Foundation at shorefast.org