Quick Hits in Local Community

Hi Kathleen:

I would think that working in with St. Albert and the North Sask Watershed Alliance and their desire and initiatives for trying to green-up the Sturgeon and North Sask Rivers would be a good way to start. Have you talked with either of them about the concept of CBSM and the critical thinking that it carries? It is a while since I was involved with both of these groups, as an Alberta Environment employee, but always felt that they had too much of a history of quite traditional methods and may be much in need of breaking out of that into something more imaginative like CBSM. A lot of work has been done for both these watersheds, so I would think that an effective approach might be to look at the present state of that work from a CBSM point of view, make any necessary comments or adjustments and, then, suggest moving forward in a CBSM fashion. What you might have much more trouble with is the apparent lack of political will in mounting an integrated water resources management approach to the environmental problems of both watersheds. I would be reluctant to offer you any specific advice from other similar projects, as I do not necessarily believe in blueprints when dealing with the public, as such examples very seldom compare "apples with apples". However, I do believe that taking up initiatives from purely basic principles alone, in this case using CBSM principles, is the most alluring for inducing members of the public to become involved. They will more readily understand that process, as they are not generally being asked to have "faith" in outcomes used on methods that have been adopted with some (questionable?) success elsewhere. I believe they will more readily adopt and work with methods to which they have contributed in an effective way. An interesting website: www.bless.ab.ca , if you have not already seen it.

Good luck,
Rodney Jones
Fanny Bay, BC

Hi Kathleen,

Edmonton is full of wonderful resources to help you lower your neighbourhood's impact on the planet. Since you live near the river valley, try the Edmonton Naturalization society, http://eng.fanweb.ca/ To learn how to help educate your neighbours and manage your neighbourhood waste more effectively, sing up for Edmonton's Master-Composter/Recycler program www.edmonton.ca or call 496-WASTE. Looking for edible garden or ecoscaping ideas? Try the urban farmer http://www.theurbanfarmer.ca/ If you need more information, feel free to give me a call.

Good luck,
Vanessa

Vanessa Higgins,
C. Tech, CEPIT
Watershed Specialist
Strathcona County, Utilities
2001 Sherwood Drive
Sherwood Park, AB T8A 3W7
Phone: (780) 416-7296
Fax: (780) 464-0557
www.strathcona.ab.ca

Hi Kathleen,

we have partnered with the City of Edmonton to implement and promote carpooling in the Region. We have a variety of resources that we would be pleased to make available to you including graphics etc for your newsletter. Please visit our website for information (www.carpool.ca). If you are interested, I would also be happy to add your name to the Edmonton distribution list we use to keep corporate and community partners informed of region-wide promotional events. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Anne Marie

Anne Marie Thornton
Trans Canada
Carpool.ca
Web: www.carpool.ca
Tel: 250.743.8035
Fax: 250.743.8000
Email: [email protected]

A community group called Habitat Haldimand here in Haldimand County, Ontario (about 50,000 people, rural and small towns) ran a Caring for Your Piece of Haldimand contest. There were categories (e.g individual action, community groups, municipal, schools, corporate). Among the winners were individuals helping to organize tree planting, a local greenhouse using wind power, one of the chain supermarkets for natural landscaping, a farmer for wetland restoration. In addition to newspaper stories and web site, getting quality nominations took work on the part of volunteers of Habitat Haldimand but it was a good way to talk to people in the community about what land and environmental stewardship is. An advisory committee pre-selected nominations so the judges wouldn't be too overworked and also to eliminate some nominations which weren't considered appropriate, e.g. shooting hawks and owls because raptors eat songbirds. The mayor, a local judge and a newpaper columnists were contest judges. Nominees and community were invited to a free event where the winners were announced. Several hundred people attended. The "contest" recognized the diversity of effort people make because even those who didn't win were recognized with a sign for outdoor posting, made of corrugated recycled plastic with a logo and the words "Caring for My Piece of Haldimand.". Followup stories were issued to the local papers. The message the "contest" was intended to send was that there are all kinds of ways of contributing to environmental improvement and even a little bit is good. Otherwise people can feel if they aren't "environmentalists" in a big way, that nothing they do really matters.

Heide

Heide Ciplin,
MLS Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
publisher of the Gallon Environment
Letter and Ecological Farming in Ontario
for the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario
Fisherville, Ontario CANADA