ReThink Red Deer

Pathways to Sustainability Conference 2011

Location: Red Deer College

Wednesday February 23rd, 2011
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

February 23 - 25, 2011

Red Deer College - Red Deer

Communities across Alberta are currently engaged in “sustainable community planning”. Several communities are making great strides in engaging local citizens, businesses, and the development community in a discussion of how to make environmentally sustainable choices in community design, business management, and civic lifestyle. In 2009, The Cochrane Environmental Action Committee worked alongside partners such as The Natural Step Canada, The Town of Olds, The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA), and Sustainability Resources Ltd. to steer the development of a sustainable communities conference intended to boost capacity of Alberta's communities to embrace the pathway to sustainability.

The municipalities of Cochrane, Canmore, Olds, Airdrie, and Strathcona County spoke of their progress and challenges with developing sustainable community plans and each of the presentations were specific to the five dimensions of sustainability as defined by the AUMA.

The conference featured keynote presenters, workshops and a marketplace of exhibitors. One of the overarching goals of the conference was to develop a network of relationships, resources and tools within and among those participating in sustainable communities from all five dimensions and Alberta's landscape of communities, corporations, academia, and funding foundations. This network is currently being used in development of the 2011 P2S conference.

The 2011 Pathways to Sustainability Conference will:

Promote Positive Visioning
Help People Access Good Information
Build Trust to Make Good Decisions
Enable Inclusion and Openness, Sharing and Networking
Build Capacity Towards Community and Economic Resilience
Showcase Central Alberta Innovation

Pathways 2011 is an Alberta conference focused on moving forward from planning to community-based action. Organized by reThink Red Deer volunteers with the support of the Red Deer College Green Campus Initiative, The City of Red Deer, Sustainability Resources Ltd., The Red Deer & District Community Foundation, The Red Deer River Naturalists, The Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, Alberta Rural Development Network, Growing Food Security in Alberta, the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal (and many more!), Pathways 2011 will encompass a dialogue about the components of resilient communities: FOOD, FUEL, and FINANCE!

For more information please visit:

http://www.pathways2sustainability.ca

Or contact Conference Coordinator Rene Michalak at 403-505-4550 or by email: info@rethinkreddeer.ca