Pecha Kucha Vancouver - I love my city

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending Pecha Kucha Vancouver's 37th edition on Our Green Future.  I know pecha kucha's from a classroom perspective; they are great ways to have students hone their thinking and develop their ability to powerfully present ideas.  I've never thought of them as an event before.  But last night was truly an event, an event that made proud to to live in Vancouver and excited to be part of this community.  The move to theBside looks better and better.

In the spirit of pecha kucha, here are twenty reasons I loved last night, love my new city, and am excited to contribute to its future.

1. 1300 people came out to to hear people talk about ideas.  The theatre sold out because there is an audience for thoughtful examination of substantive ideas.  People can be entertained by ideas.  
2. 1300 people came out to hear about ideas to make Vancouver a greener, more sustainable place to live and work.  They didn't just go out and buy a new jacket from Patagonia; they came out to participate and share in a forum for ideas to shape our collective future.
3. Judging by the full bike racks and the packed sidewalks, almost every one of those 1300 people walked or biked to the event.
4. The event opened with a recognition of the fact that the land we all live on is the unceded ancestral home of First Nations people.
5. Representatives of the City of Vancouver participated and were some of the best, most passionate presenters of the evening.
6. In 2009, the City of Vancouver made a commitment (not a faux-mmitment) to become the world's greenest city.
7. In 2015, the city is ahead of the targets it set to reach the goal of being a green city.
8. Waste to landfills is down.
9. Fossil fuel use is down.
10. Non-car transportation is up.
11. Use of renewable energy is up. 
12. Numbers 7-11 are the result of leadership and citizen participation.
13. My new city is leading when my provincial and federal governments are failing.
14. One of our presenters, Marc Jaccard reminded us that innovation is not the sole domain of progressives and environmentalists.  He, more than any other, reminded us that policy and innovation will shape our future.  With elections coming up, this is more important than ever.
15. The presenters and host managed to make last night about hope and change rather than fear and failure.  As an educator, I know that many people feel that the problems we face are so big that there is no point in doing anything to solve them.  Students want to give up.
16. Last night's presenters reminded us all that our 'greener future' is not just about solar panels and sustainable farming.  It's about neighbourhoods and scale, people and relationships.  That more than anything else gives me hope that we will not be a city of glass towers where developers raze neighbourhoods like Chinatown to build condos.
17. The presenters were representative of the diversity (ethnic and age) of this incredible, cosmopolitan place.
18. The audience was representative of the city's diversity as well.
19. The ideas ranged from bikes and fusion to food waste and urban design.  They were as diverse as the audience. 
20. Finally, the thing I think I love the most and am most proud of is that the people in the audience love this city.  Vancouver is something we all feel like fighting for.