Resilience Collaborative
Terms of Reference – January 24, 2014
Preamble:
The Resilience Collaborative evolved out of the Simcoe/Muskoka Canadian Index of
Wellbeing Working Team which pioneered bringing a local focus to the national
Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW). By way of background information, the CIW
developed nationally over the past decade as a new way of measuring wellbeing that goes
beyond economic measures such as the Gross Domestic Product. The CIW is currently
the only national index that measure wellbeing in Canada across a wide spectrum of
domains including:








Community Vitality
Democratic Engagement
Education
Environment
Healthy Populations
Leisure and Culture
Living Standards
Time Use
(For further information about the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, please go to
www.ciw.ca)
Purpose:
The primary purpose of the Resilience Collaborative is to use the CIW as a tool to
promote community well-being and resilience in Simcoe County.
Objectives:
Arising from this purpose, the broad strategic objectives for the Resilience Collaborative
are as follows:
Build: Work with community partners in articulating a shared vision of what constitutes
resilience and community wellbeing.
Measure: Using the indicators of the CIW as a framework, working closely with
community partners in developing a coordinated system of measuring resilience and
community wellbeing.
Stimulate Discussion: Work with community partners in stimulating discussion aimed at
promoting higher levels of resilience and community wellbeing.
Inform Policy: Help to inform policy and program development by providing policy
makers and decision makers with constructive and practical ideas for change aimed at
increasing resilience and community wellbeing.
Add Momentum: Support the national CIW and other grass roots movements in support
of resilience towards a more holistic approach to increasing community wellbeing.
Responsible To:
The Resilience Collaborative is accountable to its member agencies and will prepare an
annual report based on a shared annual work plan which each member agency can then
share with their respective agencies.
Timeframes:
The Resilience Collaborative will meet a minimum of six times per year. Additional
meetings will be arranged as required.
Composition/Membership:
Open to interested residents of Simcoe, representatives of local agencies and
organizations, and students interested in opportunities for community service learning.
Every effort will be made to be as inclusive as possible, as well as seek representation
from a broad cross section of people and groups.
Role of Members


Attend and participate in Resilience Collaborative meetings
Participate, where interested, in the activities of the Resilience Collaborative
Co-Chairpersons:
Rotating two year positions elected by Resilience Collaborative members. Co-chairs will
be elected in alternate years. Ideally, one from a civic/community group, and another
from a partner agency.
Co-Chair Responsibilities
 set, book and confirm meeting dates, times and locations
 set and distribute agenda a minimum of one week in advance of meetings
 summarize actions to be taken at meetings




serve as a liaison with national CIW office
prepare Annual Report in collaboration with committee
share Annual Report with broader community
represent the Collaborative at other networks and organizations and with the
media
Secretary:
A role that will rotate among Collaborative members.
Secretary Responsibilities


record and distribute minutes in a timely fashion
make revisions depending on feedback
Decision Making:
The Resilience Collaborative will make decisions by consensus. (It is the responsibility
of people who are not able to attend meetings to read minutes from meetings and relay
any concerns they have to the chairpersons).
Review Date:
The terms of reference will be reviewed on an annual basis.