When a large corporation in Alberta’s oil sands teams with a neighbouring First Nations community to repurpose reclaimed land, it’s a good thing. But when a threatened species of wood buffalo flourish, creating a genetically pure line of animal that is culturally significant to this and future generations of the First Nations people of Ft. McKay, it’s a great thing.
In 1993, 30 wood bison from Elk ...
If there’s an example of taking the classroom out into the real world, Innovate has to be it. In fact, there’s no classroom at all with this unique program. Instead, Edmonton high school students host and attend career fairs on urban agriculture, create gym-sized maps to understand the migration routes of bears, and install solar panels on school rooftops.
Teacher Aaron Dublenko works with students and teachers ...
In his 35-year career with Alberta Parks, Steve Donelon has never been the business-as-usual type. Instead, his time has been marked by a dedication to Alberta’s natural spaces, making a positive impact on air, land, water, flora, fauna, biodiversity and youth engagement through innovative approaches to park management.
Donelon’s focus on insuring minimal impact to park spaces started early on, when he was a Park Ranger and ...
When Redemptive Developments (RD) started as a social enterprise in Edmonton seven years ago, its aim was to create employment, help diminish poverty and invest in the community. Becoming one of the biggest mattress recyclers in Western Canada was never on the radar.
But that’s what has happened. In 2011, under the umbrella of its charity, The Jasper Place Wellness Centre (JPWC), partners from business and social ...
NAIT’s Alternative Energy Technology program was launched in 2011 with the goal of developing highly skilled, specialized workers to fill roles in Alberta’s nascent renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The interdisciplinary program focuses on technical design and project development in areas as diverse as solar PV, biorefining, geothermal and energy management. Based on these bedrock technologies, students are able to create hybrid systems tailored to both the ...
The Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) is the only nature conservancy dedicated to preserving and restoring natural areas and rural landscapes throughout the greater Edmonton region. They work for public benefit and education to conserve our natural heritage, protect biodiversity, benefit wildlife and their habitat, maintain natural areas’ economic, health, and community benefits, and enhance the quality of life for residents and families. EALT’s Protecting Pollinators through ...
The Green Medium (thegreenmedium.com), an environmental awareness blog, showcases a collective of youth “Resident Writers” that write for the blog on environmentally related topics that they are passionate about. The overall mission of the blog is to increase environmental literacy and awareness as well as to engage an audience that may not be conscious of environmental issues in their daily life. By the end ...
The Mosaic Centre for Conscious Community and Commerce is Alberta’s first net-zero commercial office building, which opened in the Edmonton community of Summerside in February 2015. Since then, it has been dubbed Edmonton’s “crown jewel” of sustainable construction, as well as a model of a triple bottom line commercial building – capturing the essence of sustainability by measuring its impact on the world in three parts: profitability, social/human, ...
Root for Trees, an enhanced tree planting program, works to preserve and expand Edmonton’s urban forest through partnerships with corporations, community groups, and individual residents. Edmontonians are invited to participate in tree-planting events where they are provided with all the materials required for an exciting and educational day in nature. Volunteer groups involved in planting events create and enhance the vegetation cover throughout parks, along roadways, and in ...
Recycling programs abound, but how many offer homes, businesses, schools and community facilities free collection containers and bags, free pick-up service and a tax receipt for donation of empties? The Winnifred Stewart Association (WSA) Empties to Winn (ETW) program does just that, diverting over 46 million containers from landfills in its 12-year history—that’s a half-million containers collected and recycled each month. ETW operates in over 300 Edmonton neighbourhoods and ...