With the presumed closing soon of the Hudson’s Bay store at Government and Fort, it seems we are about to lose a key anchor of the Bay Centre. We will be left with a large empty space on a prime corner at the heart of downtown.

But in every crisis lies an opportunity, and we see one in this closure.

As readers of our columns will know, an important part of what binds the two of us together is an interest in the need for engaging people in co-designing our shared future.

For Trevor, this is embodied in the idea of Conversations for a One Planet Region (COPR). In the past COPR organized an ongoing series of monthly conversations on various aspects of the concept of a One Planet region — that is, a region with an ecological footprint around 75-80 per cent smaller than our current footprint.

For Gene, this is embodied in his thoughts about a Centre for Co-design of the Future, which he discussed in a recent Sunday column.

One of the centre’s purposes would be to conceive and disseminate fresh models of mutually beneficial “partnerships” between official municipal interests and citizens promoting community-driven........

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