|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome back to The Bend!
|
|
The Bend follows a simple rhythm each week. The Eddy Line opens with a one-line thought or
observation, something short enough to remember but worth thinking
about. What the Current Pulled Toward dives a
little deeper into where the previous week’s energy went, whether that’s
a project, a partnership, or a personal lesson learned. Signal Fire highlights a person, place, or initiative
that deserves some attention. From the
Field, shares a small anecdote about the broader outdoor
recreation economy from Oxbow’s non-profit arm, the VA
MTNS Outdoor Collective. And One Thought Worth
Sitting With closes things out with a brief reflection or quote
that will hopefully help guide you through whatever you may be dealing
with.
It’s part journal, part field note, and hopefully
something that makes you pause for a moment before diving back into the
current.
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Collaboration gets easier when ego stops needing
credit.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What the Current Pulled Toward
|
This week the current pulled toward
collaboration.
Through the resiliency
work I’ve been involved in recently, we came across another organization
pursuing an effort remarkably similar to ours. Same general direction
with similar goals and a lot of the same questions being asked.
And honestly, my first thought wasn’t
excitement.
Too often, situations like
that turn territorial. People start protecting ideas, guarding space,
worrying about ownership and recognition instead of the actual work.
Trust me when I say that I’ve seen it happen enough times to expect it.
Like clockwork.
But that’s not what
happened here. Instead, there was an immediate
willingness to collaborate and to share information. There was a desire
to support one another. No circling the wagons or posturing. Just a
mutual recognition that the work is bigger than any one network,
certainly more than any one organization.
It was so refreshing. And maybe a
little convicting, too. Because ego has a way
of creeping into really good work if you let it. Especially in fields
like ours that are driven by passion and identity. People want their
fingerprints on things. They want to be seen as the driver, the founder,
the expert, the one who got there first. But
collaboration requires a different mindset.
It asks people to loosen their grip just a little. It asks
to prioritize progress over ownership. It asks to recognize that impact usually
grows when more people are pulling in the same direction.
The more tenured in this field I get, the more I
believe the phrase is true: a high tide really does raise all ships. A
former boss of mine used to use that saying all the time and I gave it
very little consideration as a youngster.
And in the kind of work many of us are trying to do, the
work of resilience, conservation, community development, and
placemaking, there’s just too much at stake for ego to be the thing
steering the boat.
- Mike.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Volgenau Climate Initiative
places an emphasis on trust-based networks and
collaboration as a way to accelerate climate and resilience efforts.
Their entire model is built around bringing together people from
different disciplines, sectors, and perspectives to slow down long
enough to actually think, connect, and work together. I think that kind
of approach is very important.
A
lot of work, regardless of the field, happens in silos - nonprofits over
here, local governments over there, researchers somewhere else entirely.
The result is often duplication, burnout, and fragmented
progress.
VCI recognizes that
meaningful work tends to move faster when relationships exist first.
Their convenings intentionally create space for collaboration,
reflection, and long-term thinking instead of just reaction and
urgency.
It may not be the loudest way
to lead but it might be one of the more
effective ones.
To learn more about the Volgenau Climate Initiative,
click
here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After major flooding events, communities with
connected trail systems and river access infrastructure often recover
tourism activity faster than communities without them.
Why?
Because those
assets don’t just support recreation. They create redundancy,
alternative access, local spending opportunities, and stronger
connections between downtowns, businesses, and surrounding natural
resources.
Resilience doesn’t have to
always be about massive infrastructure projects. Sometimes it looks like greenways, public access, and
communities that stayed connected before the disruption ever
happened.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Thought Worth Sitting With
|
|
This week’s theme: Collaboration.
“If I have seen further, it
is by standing on the shoulders of giants.“
-Isaac Newton
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow Oxbow on Social Media
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
