PechaKucha Nanaimo & 10 years of VIU's WLCE
The 10th anniversary of VIU's World Center for Leisure Excellence was celebrated on November 29, with a special edition of PechaKucha Nanaimo with the theme "Putting Leisure on the Map". The event was held at Vancouver Island University and brought together VIU representatives, faculty members, visiting scholars, students, alumni, and community members on an evening filled with fun and inspiring stories related to leisure research and practice.
The public was welcomed by volunteer students and could enjoy a social gathering before the presentations with live music played by local musician Mike Bauche, a welcome drink, and appetizers.
Social gathering before the presentations.
Dr. Ken Hammer, VIU Professor Emeritus, was the master of ceremony of the night. He opened the event welcoming Dr. Carol Stuart, VIU Provost and Vice President, who conducted the land acknowledgment protocol and introduced the WLCE mission, the research themes, and the centre's activities to the audience. The World Leisure Organization joined the celebration through a video call from WLO chair, Dr. Roger Coles, who highlighted the WLO mission and all the great work that VIU WLCE has done in its 10 years. Dr. Cristina Ortega, WLO Chief Operating Officer, sent a video from the WLO head office in Bilbao, Spain, made especially for the WLCE 10th anniversary. Following, Bryan Webber, Acting Dean Faculty of Management, spoke about the work of the WLCE and highlighted the importance of all the people who have contributed and worked to the center's growth over the last 10 years.
VIU Provost and Vice President, Dr. Carol Stuart opening the celebration, and a message sent by Dr. Cristina Ortega, from the World Leisure Organization.
Then, Ken Hammer introduced the Pechakucha and opened the space for the presentations. Seven speakers, including former students of our MA in Sustainable Leisure Management, two visiting scholars from the Netherlands and Finland, and one MA SLM student from Tanzania shared their stories in the Pechakucha style that is 20 slides, 20 seconds each. The first presenter was Monica Shore, MA SLM formed student and Co-Founder of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation. Monica’s presentation was titled “Productive Retreats in Tribal Parks: The Intersection of Nature and Culture”. The next presenter was Janice Johnson, also MA SLM former student and Community Engagement Coordinator, Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations Health Authority. Janice’s presentation was titled “Wellness Journey: Leading by Example”. The third presenter, Laurel Sliskovic, another former student from our program and the Strategic Lead of The Sociable Scientists, focused her presentation on “Leisure Research in Action”.
First-round of Pechakucha presentations.
During the intermission, the participants were invited to check out the WLCE display with different publications such as case studies and annual reports and enjoyed a social gathering with more live music, drinks and appies, and game stations hosted by MA SLM students.
Intermission - time to get another drink and take some pics with friends.
After the intermission, Dr. Nicole Vaugeois, Academic Vice-President Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity, and past WLCE Co-Director talked about the work of the centre in these 10 years. The following was a video sent by Dr. Ricardo Ricci Uvinha - Director of the World Center for Leisure Excellence at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The fourth PechaKucha presenter was Shannon Bence, another SLM former student, and current VIU instructor. Shannon's presentation was titled “Play with your food: Making a case of Agri-Tourism in BC”. The fifth presenter was Alix Varnajot, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Oulu, Finland. His presentation was titled “Cruise tourism in the Arctic marginal ice zone in times of climate change: challenges, implications, and management”, based on his research. The next presenter was Dr. Marco Bevolo, a visiting scholar from Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, who is at VIU for two weeks collaborating with Dr. Suzanne de la Barre in the SLM 604. Dr. Bevolo’s presentation was titled “Premium beyond Digital”, and it was based on a paper he wrote with Filiberto Amati, MBA, IESE, founder of Amati and Associati, Warsaw. The final presenter was Brighton Mbilinyi, a student from Tanzania. In his presentation titled “The voice from wilderness”, Brighton told a story that reflected his experience as a wildlife photographer in the Serengeti National Park.
Second-round of presentations.
In the end, all participants grouped for the traditional PechaKucha photo. WLCE team is very happy to have gathered such a special group of people for the celebration of the centre’s 10th anniversary is looking forward to many more years of work, collaboration, and social engagement to keep putting leisure on the map.
Special thanks to Joanne Schroeder, Rob Ferguson, Suzanne de la Barre, and the students who worked hard to make the event a success.