The Canadian Model Forest Network (CMFN) held a national workshop: "Indicators of Assessing the Ability of Forest-based Communities to Respond to Transformative Change" in Toronto, Canada on December 10th and 11th. It was organized under the rubric of the CMFN “Community Transition and Economic Development” strategic initiatives, one of the eight supported by the CMFN

The workshop attracted social scientists, community spokespeople, economic developers and government representatives from across Canada who provided a range of perspectives about participants’ communities and their struggles as well as successes during this time of forest-sector transition. The purpose of the workshop was to develop tools and approaches that communities can use to assess how they will be able to adapt to economic, social and ecological challenges that are occurring in forestry and related sectors.

A number of indicators were presented and discussed as were three indicator frameworks. These frameworks are tools that communities can use to assess their current situation, as well as determine outcomes they wish to see, along with what is needed to get there. At the end of the workshop participants agreed that no single framework would meet the needs of every situation but rather would have to be tailored or customized in order to be optimally accessible to community leaders. Also, the group felt that combination of tools would be the most beneficial way to allow for selection of an appropriate approach for each situation. The Steering Committee for this initiative will be using these discussions to determine the future direction of the initiative.