Regional Coordinator, Emma Logue
Contact: gecco@bccic.ca
The Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan (known as GECCO) fosters empowerment through net working, knowledge sharing, and capacity building to support sustainable local and global change. GECCO is a Chapter of the BC Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC) and work together on a regular basis to participate in BCCIC initiatives, programming and services.
We invite you to connect with us on social media via Facebook and Twitter (@GECCOBC)
Meet our Steering Committee members!
Upcoming Events
- Location: Okanagan College
Theatre (S104)H115 - Time: 11:15am (sharp)
- Price: Free!
- Register: on Eventbrite here
Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact.
Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. Human Flow is a witness to its subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming refugee camps to perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance and adaptation; from the haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown potential of the future. Human Flow comes at a crucial time when tolerance, compassion and trust are needed more than ever. This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this century: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity?
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals represent a touchstone for humanity to address global problems, including people who flee due to famine (SDG 2), climate change (SDG 13) and war (SDG 16). GECCO and Okanagan College invite you to join them April 29th for a screening and livestream event. Check the Facebook Event page for updates. Link to trailer: https://vimeo.com/241594135
Sessions
- Women, Gender and Feminism
- Localizing the SDGs
- Universal Values and Inclusion
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Growth and Innovation
- International and Human Security
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! Join the Twitter conversation: #ocfindingthegood
Past Events
World Community Film Festival arrived in Kelowna!
We had some great conversations at the World Community Film Festival Kelowna. Thank you to the organizers for including us! GECCO shared ideas about networking, capacity building and raising awareness about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Her Time to Thrive!
Thursday, March 8 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Stuart Park Ice Rink GECCO celebrated International Women’s Day in Kelowna . This year groups encouraged women and men all around world to gather, to share, stand up and be part of a global movement that will lead to “Her Time to Thrive”! Sponsored by Karis Support Society, Her International and Kelowna Women’s Shelter.Time is Now! for Sustainable Development
February 21, 2018 – 6pm Kelowna Community Theatre BCCIC Chapter GECCO (Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan) teamed up with Global Citizen Kelowna to plan Time is Now! for Sustainable Development on February 21st 2018 at the Kelowna Community Theatre. This upbeat, inspirational evening is an opportunity to come together at the 15th annual event and take action on the Global Goals. The discussion will include local city mayors and WFN chief who will explain how cities are addressing the challenges of the SDGs. María Cortés Puch, Head of the National and Regional Networks’ Program for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network will speak via SKYPE. At the event, GECCO will host the Global Marketplace, a chance for attendees to experience the good work that local organizations are doing toward the achievement of a better world. The speakers will entertain and educate and inspire attendees to take action – and then release them into the foyer for groups to talk to at their display tables!! Here is your chance to ask your mayor one of those ‘hard questions’ or encourage him/her to be involved in your organizations’ commitment to move specific goals forward!
2018 Steering Committee Call for GECCO
Are you interested in helping GECCO come up with and execute events through-out the year? GECCO is looking for new steering committee members to join our team. If you are located in the Okanagan, motivated for global good, and have the time to effect change through GECCO’s commitments to educating the Okanagan of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, we would love for you to apply. Please submit a small biography expressing your interest to gecco@bccic.ca and note your time availability for monthly meetings. We are looking for applicants who may have some event planning, creative writing, public engagement, and social media capabilities.SDG Yoga Featured On Global News!
GECCO’s event Self-Care for World Care: Yoga For the Global Goals was featured the Global News on November 25 and in Kelowna Now. To align the two aspects of sustainable development: self-care and global-care, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were each followed by a yoga pose. GECCO once again featured a countdown to the event starting 17 days in advance with posts on Facebook for each of the Goals. The event was a success in engaging people from different backgrounds to the global goals. Our event featured a yoga mat door prize from Mantra Yoga Mat and tea and chocolates from Globally Fair .
Okanagan College International Development Day
Okanagan College welcomed 15 community groups to campus on October 25th to raise awareness about how they help to bring education, opportunity, and resilience to people in the developing world. Nearly 300 people, including OC students, local high school students and community members converged on the Kelowna campus for International Development Day on Oct. 25. Hosted by the International Development diploma program, this popular annual event celebrates the role of Okanagan individuals and organizations in creating a better world through international humanitarian actions, aid and development efforts across the globe. Sixteen non-profit organizations showcased their work through displays in the Atrium of the Centre for Learning throughout the day this year. Students from OC and KSS preparing their projects for Global Citizen’s Sustainable Development Challenge also had a chance to join drop-in talks by OC faculty and guest speakers.
Find the full list of participants here. The OC Political Science Department expresses special thanks to the student volunteers and librarians who helped make it all happen.
BC2030 Roundtables
Newly formed BCCIC local Chapter GECCO [the Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan] held their launch event on October 27th 2016 in Kelowna. This event was an opportunity for GECCO to introduce themselves to the community, to talk about their mission, and to gain valuable feedback about what the community would like to see and do in the coming year. Thirty-three participants in attendance were invited to “Put Kelowna on the Map”, by adding their names, causes, and interests to a global map and a map of the Okanagan Valley. In the lead-up to the event, GECCO counted down the days by sharing a link to one of the SDGs per day, until all 17 of the Global Goals had been featured on their Facebook page.
