Connect

In Relationship to Each Other and Our World

Banff Centre is a connector. Banff Centre embraces the relationships it holds, those it helps create, and those that it will form in the future. Banff Centre sees its relationships as reciprocal, with a commitment to reliably set and meet expectations, to be courageous and compassionate, and to make space for sharing of knowledge and expression.

 

Banff Centre’s priorities in these areas will be:

1 – Banff Centre continues to work towards true and meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada, aligned with the Right Relations Agreement from Banff Centre’s Truth and Reconciliation Summit, and in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Principles of Reconciliation: 

  • Banff Centre will continue to collaboratively and respectfully develop events and programming that are inclusive of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.  
  • Banff Centre will continue to cultivate and reinforce a campus culture that is actively accepting of Indigenous ways of knowing,, being, and expressing, including respecting ceremony and cultural practices.
  • Banff Centre will require all staff, Board Governors, and Foundation Directors to participate in a Truth and Reconciliation Right Relations Program.

 

2 – Banff Centre is passionate about building teams and developing leaders that promote and value diversity:  

  • Banff Centre will regularly review and improve on its policies and practices that support Diversity, Equity, and Access across all areas of its organization. 
  • Banff Centre will require all staff, Board Governors, and Foundation Directors to participate in Diversity, Equity, and Access training.

 

3 – Evaluate and feedback:

  • Banff Centre will strengthen and operationalize internal and external evaluation, measurement, and feedback mechanisms, including seeking feedback from its vast network of alumni.
  • It will also use data and evaluation as a central tool in making and communicating decisions, and in innovating, making connections, encouraging learning, and advancing its mission.

 

4 – Steward the environment:

  • As part of stewarding the land, and following successful efforts to reduce campus waste by approximately 72% as per its 2018 Waste Audit, Banff Centre will continue to identify ways to further improve its waste management practices aligning with the Town of Banff’s Zero Waste Trail.

Initial Actions

  • Assemble and review all of Banff Centre’s current policies that exist to maintain a safe and healthy campus.
  • Consistent with commitments made in other areas of this plan, particularly in the CREATE pathway, and in pursuit of fostering a campus that values the sharing of knowledge and expression, Banff Centre will perform a Diversity, Equity, and Access assessment with the objectives of:
    • Reviewing Banff Centre’s current diversity, equity, and access practices including the demographics of the Boards, management and staff, recruitment, policies, participant and faculty selection procedures, and training.  This will be informed by and measured against best practices.
    • Creating a fuller picture of Banff Centre’s strengths and areas for growth in issues of diversity, equity, and access.
    • Developing recommendations for future Banff Centre goals and projects, and metrics to track progress, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Future Actions

  • Review and operationalize agreed findings of these assessments.