Welcome to the Summer Institute 2024 Website

About the Summer Institute @ Lakehead University - Orillia Campus

Lakehead University -Orillia Campus will host the "Summer Institute on Economic Security and Local Resilience on July 18th - 19th, 2024 at the Orillia Campus site, 500 University Ave. in Orillia, Ontario. Apart from Canadian scholars, major presenters are distinguished speakers and respected officials from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Economic Developers Association of Canada, Ontario Chamber of Commerce and Economic Developers Council of Ontario. Guests and participants are economic developers, planners, academics, local government officials, graduate students and undergraduate students as well as stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

The Institute is uniquely important and immensely educational as a knowledge mobilization event as it is the first gathering of key players, local public sector officials, economic developers and planning professionals, scholars and stakeholders engaged in local economic development and community planning for shaping an economically secure, resilient and sustainable future.

Important Dates

March 1st - June 1st, 2024
 Early Registration

June 1st, 2024
 Early Registration Deadline

July 18th - 19th, 2024
 Summer Institute

Objectives of the Summer Institute

  1. To disseminate and share the latest research on Canadian approaches and strategies on local development and economic security for shaping sustainable and resilient communities
  2. To provide and facilitate in-person or face-to-face networking from a multi-dimensional knowledge exchange among presenters, delegates and participants of the Institute
  3. To enable collaborative networking between development practitioners and academics for shared understanding and development of creative local solutions by drawing from diverse professional expertise and evidence-based practice
  4. To provide training opportunities for students, local economic developers and stakeholders for effective service delivery of economic security and resilience of local economies