Past Events
In March 2022 GECCO supported a series of events to respect and acknowledge Indigenous people, in the spirit of reconciliation. Read more on globalcitizenevents.com.
Indigenous Adventure Tours – We encourage everyone to participate in multiple engaging and educational experiences to learn about Indigenous art and culture -through various interactive activities in and around Kelowna. This will include Indigenous storytelling, participating in cultural learning experiences, as well as visiting local Indigenous art in the community. Activities will be in person, as well as online/virtually. Sign up will be necessary and prizes will be won for participating!
A platform for Okanagan youth to engage in and impact the 17 United Nations’ Global Goals
The Sustainable Development Challenge is a platform for Okanagan youth to engage in and impact the 17 United Nations’ Global Goals. Be inspired by the youth teams who will pitch their sustainability projects, share their Art for Social Change and fill you with hope for the future.
Thank you to our supporters who have stepped forward in 2022: Holar Developments (Mill Site), Atutu Canada, RunnallsDenby Land Surveying, Flex Realty Group, Victor Projects, Gorman Brothers Mill, Karos Foundation, and Do Some Good (Sheldon & Shauna Gardiner). Will you join them?
An intimate evening of stories and song with Cheryl Bear
Audience members enjoyed an evening with Cheryl Bear, a multi-award winning singer/songwriter who shares stories of Indigenous life through story and song. From Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, she is well known as an important and respected voice on behalf of Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
Honouring Our Sisters
We invited women of all cultures to come together! This evening event featured an Indigenous Fashion Show with local artist Jill Setah, a powerful video presentation of “Mel’s Story” and other performances by First Nations and Métis local artists. At Rotary Centre for the Ar
Syilx Storytelling with Madeline Terbasket
NOW is the Time. Connect. Discover. Engage.
Fair was held at Kelowna’s Rotary Centre for the Arts Atrium, an expansion of the Global Marketplace, the Sustainability Fair promoted innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the Okanagan from the perspectives of local governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, civic groups, the private sector, academia and other stakeholders. Connected the community with businesses and organizations sharing solutions to address the UN 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development and sustainable living in the Okanagan. In attendance were GreenStep Solutions, KLO Middle School Modular Farm, Global Citizen Events, Fill – Kelowna’s ReFill Store, and many more!
From February 10 – March 10th 2022
Locations: throughout Kelowna!
- Okanagan Regional Library – Downtown Kelowna (1380 Ellis St)
- Metro Community (1262 St. Paul St.)
- Habitat for Humanity REStore (2092 Enterprise Way)
- Okanagan Regional Library – Rutland (301 Hwy 33)
- Orchard Park Mall (February 11-14th, 2022)
Arts for Social Change Community Exhibits featured curated works from youth, Indigenous people, and community members, expressing their hopes and visions for the Okanagan as a sustainable community in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Women Helping Women: Building Community through Maternal Health in Rural Honduras
2019-2020
In 2020 Featuring DANNY MICHEL
Demystifying Partnerships with Global Affairs Canada
Volunteer Fair 2019
GECCO was very pleased to participate in KCR Community Resources on September 21st.
Over 70 local non-profit organizations participate each year to share their impact with the community and to let people know how they can get involved and make a difference. This year we are highlighting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals with the theme What’s Your Number? and highlighting the Sustainable Development Challenge for 2020!
Also, be sure to check out past founding Steering Committee Tamara McClellan’s project in partnership with BCCIC Yoga for the Global Goals.
Thank you to OLI-Works for a great workshop on project management in international development. This event was a 3-hour workshop held on March 22nd and facilitated by Meg Barker and Anne Gillies of OLI-works. This workshop was on the topic of Project Management, specifically, Results-Based Management (RBM) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).
Read more on OLI-works blog here.
The workshop was through a videoconference link to include one of the facilitators and experts, Anne Gillies. Visit the Facebook event page here.
2018-2019
Magical Night of Laughter
We hope you enjoyed the Magical Night of Laughter – an evening of sparkling charity entertainment at the Kelowna Regional Library featuring award winning performers comedian Dan Taylor and magician Leif David, a silent auction, cash bar and live music!
This event helped to fund the Hands in Service Living Salads project and is one of the ways they support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with Global Citizen Events.
Sustainable Development Challenge
Taste of Home
2018 Okanagan College International Development Day
GECCO joined 15 other groups on October 24 for Okanagan College’s annual International Development Day event. Put together by the faculty of the College’s International Development Diploma program, it was a great opportunity to showcase the work being done locally and globally to achieve the Global Goals.
Building on Progress brings global perspective locally
In 2018 residents of Kelowna and Penticton had a chance to gain insight into global climate initiatives thanks to the Building on Progress: Climate Action event. Watch a video from Castanet.
Finding the Good Conference
Finding the Good brought academics and practitioners together to share ethical international development ideas and practices. For two intensive days participants grappled with the abiding questions of how to realize universal values like human dignity, equality of opportunity, mutual respect and sustainability. We heard from experienced professionals on a range of topics from gender, to peace, to corporate social responsibility.
Finding the Good social vid from Rosalind Warner on Vimeo. Find the Conference Proceedings from Finding the Good here. View an image gallery from Finding the Good here.
Human Flow
GECCO and Okanagan College recently screened this important film for the Central Okanagan community, sparking a conversation about the challenges faced by refugees both locally and globally. 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). Link to trailer: https://vimeo.com/241594135
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 .
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. 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.