Grassroots: The Power Of Place
- MistyWadeHovey
- Jun 18
- 4 min read
Atlantic Canada may be small, but we can be mighty when we widen a tent or two.
After participating in the Atlantic AI Summit and Kingsbrae Conversations, I'm more convinced than ever that our grassroots connections across four Atlantic provinces are one of our greatest strengths. Someone knows someone, who knows someone else, and before long, diverse voices come together from different sectors, disciplines, and communities to imagine what's possible in a beautiful corner of the world.
These two back-to-back gatherings reminded me that meaningful change rarely starts at the top. More often, it grows from the ground up — rooted in relationships, shared purpose, and a deep connection to place.
ATLANTIC AI SUMMIT
This flagship gathering on artificial intelligence, digital innovation, and the future of work attracted 300+ delegates across industry, government, and academia. And while AI isn't my specialty, being onstage is. Having grown up performing throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond, I felt at home with a hands-free microphone (I talk with my hands) to share reflections on AI's dual nature (emphasis on nature).
AI is both digital AND physically dependent on resources (intensive energy, water, and land consumption)
AI has immense potential to both solve AND contribute to global problems
The goal? To go deeper and rethink physical infrastructure. Nature is the infrastructure beneath the infrastructure. It underpins everything, every sector, including AI adoption and scale.
And if we acknowledge this physical reality: Nature Risk = Business Risk = AI Risk, then maybe more AI applications can help flip the equation to accelerate better decision-making for solutions that strengthen this foundational infrastructure that builds economic resilience from the ground up. New Brunswick-based Loupra, a climate-smart forestry start-up, is doing just that.
KINGSBRAE CONVERSATIONS
This three-day gathering in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea further widened the tent (literally!) with 150+ leaders, innovators, creators, and community-builders to reimagine a sustainable future for Atlantic Canada.
Across both events, several reinforcing themes stood out:
📍 The power of place. No matter where you live, if you can bring together diverse actors and factors of an economy — from local people and grassroots organizations to industry and government — you can forge a sense of regional well-being. The Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies, based in Newfoundland (from beautiful Fogo Island to be exact!), is an initiative that's taking the power of places to a deeper level, fostering solutions rooted in a community’s natural and cultural assets.
🧠 Ask better questions. James Stauch, a Nova Scotia-based author of The 55 Minutes, shared his framework to spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and 5 minutes considering solutions. In a world optimized for speed, creating space for deeper thinking across systems and asking better questions may be one of the most important acts of leadership, and in how we use, deploy, and shape AI for good.
🌿 Business can be a force for positive impact and profit. Two words: Beyond Zero. If you haven't seen this documentary about Interface, a global manufacturer of commercial flooring, then this trailer will inspire you to do so! Interface's journey toward eliminating its negative environmental impacts demonstrated that ambitious sustainability goals are not only possible — they can strengthen resilience and long-term success. It raises an important question: if the roadmap exists, what is holding more organizations back? And can AI be used as an enabler? Thanks to director Nathan Havey for bringing this story to life!
💚 A healthy dose of hope can fuel progress and action. Still feeling inspired by...
Dr. Michael Karch's keynote address at the AI Summit on keeping human-centric values at the heart of AI, where AI should augment human judgment, not replace it. AI is not simply a technology moment. It is a leadership moment.
Dr. Melissa Lem's PaRx program is proving that evidence-based nature prescriptions (as little as two hours in nature each week) can improve physical and mental health.
New Brunswick-based Grace Totten, founder of the 17 by Seventeen Challenge and a 16-year-old force of nature, set a mission to complete all 17 Sustainable Development Goals before turning 17 on June 24, 2026... and that she has! Not only that, she is building a movement for other 16-year-olds to follow – to learn about the SDGs and begin to do their part.
Nova Scotia-based poet and author Sheree Fitch's whimsical wisdom on hope as a practice.
Sistema New Brunswick's ability to orchestrate social change through music.
And many others!
Transformation begins locally — from the ground up through conversations, relationships, and communities willing to imagine something better together. Perhaps that's where grassroots movements have always held their greatest power.
Atlantic Canada has an opportunity to help model what that future could look like. And, perhaps more importantly, the courage to widen the tent and invite diverse groups of people to help shape it together.
#EnvironmentalSustainability #CollectiveAction #BetterConversations #AtlanticCanada #SystemsThinking #Innovation #NaturePositive #Leadership #AIforGood
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