As part of its role as an “honest broker,” the Institute of Island Studies hosts one to three public symposia per year. These symposia are an opportunity for stakeholders on all sides of an issue to come to the table to discuss items of public policy importance.

In 2018, the Symposium series was renamed after Harry Baglole, the Institute of Island Studies’ first Director, who passed away in May 2018. Harry was the architect of many Public Symposia over the years, born out of his passionate vision for strong, Prince Edward Island-made, public policy frameworks. 

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UPCOMING SYMPOSIA

Please join us in a collaborative initiative to talk about some of the challenges we are experiencing as a community on Prince Edward Island. The 2024 Harry Baglole Memorial Public Symposium in Island Studies will be held between 6 pm and 9 pm on November 7, on the UPEI campus.

Before the symposium begins, you will be able to learn more about a few organizations doing work relating to the symposium content. Information booths will be open between 4 pm and 6 pm in the Schurman Market Square, just down the hallway from the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, UPEI (details here). The symposium will begin at 6 pm and include opening speakers, a panel discussion, and audience interaction (details here).

As seating is limited, kindly RSVP to iis@upei.ca, to ensure we have a spot for you. A livestream link to the 6 pm event is accessible by scanning the QR code in the visual above, or by clicking here.

PAST SYMPOSIA

NOVEMBER 2018
Measuring Quality of Life on Prince Edward Island

Gwen Colman, co-founder of Genuine Progress Index (GPI) Atlantic, discussed GPI and the elements for creating successful community partnerships to measure wellbeing and their resultant impact. She was joined by panelists Dr. Jim Randall and Wendy MacDonald, who addressed the relevance of GPIs to the health and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

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OCTOBER 2017
Making the Case for Prince Edward Island to be Canada’s First Carbon-Neutral Province

With so much in the news these days about monster hurricanes and other  unusually severe weather events, people are becoming more and more concerned about the long-term impact of climate change. Living on a small, low land-mass as we do, Islanders feel immediately vulnerable to sea-level rise. And so we ask ourselves what can be done about it; and also, how can we, on our own island, provide a model of positive action for elsewhere?

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MAY 2017
Tourism, Place and Identity: Rural Tourism in Iceland and Prince Edward Island

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of tourists visiting Iceland, so that tourism density there now rivals that of Prince Edward Island. The nature of the tourism industry is broadly similar in both islands – generally seasonal, with a heavy stress on cultural and environmental resources.  Also, in both islands there has been a concerted effort by policy-makers to utilize tourism as a community-development tool for the more rural areas.  This has met with mixed success – and has raised a whole new set of issues. There is benefit for both islands in sharing experiences, insights, and possible solutions.

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NOVEMBER 2016
Sustainable Agriculture and the Island’s Food System

“To most people,” says Dr. Lapping, keynote speaker at a public symposium on Sustainable Agriculture and the Island’s Food System, “food is about growing and consuming food.  But a food system,” he continues, “is a large set of processes and it is critical to take a wider, systems perspective. Only then might we have a more robust understanding of the ways by which a sustainable agriculture can become part of a larger process of change toward a more nutritious and just life for individuals, families and communities.”

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SEPTEMBER 2016
Climate Change Adaptations and Islands: Public Forum

UPEI’s UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability and the UPEI Climate Research Lab co-hosted a public forum on climate change adaptations and islands on September 26, 2016. Held in tandem with the Building Small Island Resilience to Global Climate Change Symposium, which provided an opportunity to focus on climate change and adaptation in respect to islands, this forum gave the public an important venue to have their input added to the discussion.

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FEBRUARY 2016
The Geography of Local Governance

The reform of local government on the Island has been much discussed in recent years, especially since the release of the 2009 Thompson Report of the Commission on Land and Local Governance. At that time, the Island had 75 incorporated municipalities – many of them with just a few hundred people – and 70% of the province’s territory had no local government at all. The situation remains much the same today.

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JANUARY 2016
Island Mobility, Migration, and Population Issues

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DECEMBER 2014
Island Land Use Policy at an Impasse?

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MAY 2014
Island Water Futures: Assessing the Science

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