Building Sustainable Communities

Hello, We are in the process of forming the SaskRCE Working Group on Building Sustainable Communities.

The formation of the Working Group was approved by the SaskRCE Facilitation Group in November 2008. Attached is the presentation made to the SaskRCE Facilitation Group in January 2009 on the general plan for the Working Group.

The purpose of the Working Group is to provide a forum for individuals and organizations interested in supporting the development of community sustainability plans and projects that contribute to building sustainable communities. This includes education, research, and action oriented projects. The projects will be primarily targeted at either sustainable living (consuming with a purpose) or sustainable development (building with a purpose).

Anyone interested in being a member of the Working Group is welcome. We are hoping to form a core team of members who are willing to commit to volunteering at least 2-4 hours a month to support Working Group projects.

Projects will generally fall under one of the building blocks for Community Sustainability:

1. Sustainability Education and Learning

2. Community Sustainability Planning and Action

3. Health and Wellness

4. Housing Development

5. Food Security (local food and healthy eating)

6. Energy Efficiency and Renewables

7. Waste Reduction and Recycling

8. Water and Sewage

9. Transportation Planning and Traffic Management

10. Land Use and Urban Form

11. Greening the Community

12. Atmospheric Change and Quality

13. Municipal regulations and bylaws

As a cross theme Working Group, our intent is to support the existing Working Groups and their projects when appropriate and to ensure that we are not duplicating projects.

When we hold our first formal teleconference in late March, an important agenda item will be to select a few high priority projects to support in the next 12 months. Candidates include:

1. Developing a working framework for Building Sustainable Communities

2. Developing an evaluation, measurement and verification framework for sustainbility projects

3. Identifying available best practice Sustainable Community Planning education and training

4. Creating a Sustainable Building Centre of Excellance for Very Cold Climates

5. Creating prototypes for 12-month greenhouse production

6. Forming a Community Sustainability Planning support team

Let me know before the meeting if you have any other candidate projects.

Please email me if you are interested in participating in the teleconfernce later in the month and whether you are interested in becoming a core team member of the Working Group. The organizing teleconference will be scheduled in the late afternoon and will last approximately 60 minutes. After the organizing meeting, the core team will initiate working teleconferences and live meetings to move individual projects forward. We plan to hold one status update meeting per month to communicate project progress and solicit feedback from Working Group members and other interested people.

 


 

Recent blog posts

Education for Sustainable Development Recognition Program: Nominations Now Open

 

Do you know of a project that deserves recognition for building capacity in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)? Are you leading or participating in such a project? The Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development Saskatchewan (RCE Saskatchewan) Recognition Program provides recognition to innovative projects, research, and other activities promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the prairie region. Nominations are now open for submission for the fourth annual ESD Recognition Event. RCE Saskatchewan invites nominations to be submitted by May 1, 2012. The event will be tentatively held on June 7, 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Project leaders will receive a certificate of recognition, promotion of their project at the event and on the RCE Saskatchewan website, and an opportunity to network with other project recognition recipients and RCE Saskatchewan members. Media will also be alerted to the event.

Some important areas of sustainable development include:

 1.  Building sustainable communities

 2.  Climate change

 3.  Farming and local food production

 4.  Health and healthy lifestyles

 5.  Reconnecting to natural prairie ecosystems

 6.  Sustainable infrastructure including water and energy

 7.  Bridging and sustaining cultures

Nominations may be submitted by the individual or organization, or by someone else, who believe(s) the project is worthy of recognition. "Education for sustainable development aims at promoting reflection and discernment in our region that helps us identify and pursue paths to sustainability. Such paths lead to ongoing improvements in quality of life while sustaining healthy ecosystems. They promote active environmental stewardship, social justice, and intergenerational equity" (RCE Saskatchewan website). Projects should address education for sustainable development, including the three pillars of environmental stewardship, social justice, and economic development such that the project strengthens one or more pillars while not damaging any of the other pillars.

 Projects must:

-    Build capacity for ESD in Saskatchewan;

-    Educate others (either formally, informally, or non-formally) about the importance of becoming more sustainable;

-    Take place, at least in part, in Saskatchewan;

-    Have achieved significant milestones at the time of application;

-   Not have been recognized at prior RCE Recognition Events or, if previously recognized, have had further innovations and significant accomplishments since the earlier recognition event.

You are also welcome to submit photos along with your application. 

The nomination form can be found at the RCE Saskatchewan website: http://www.saskrce.ca under the 'Events' heading. More details about the event can be found there, including a list of recipients from last year.

Please pass this information on to others who might know of projects to be nominated.

Yours in healthy living,

 

Adrienne Billings

RCE Saskatchewan Event Coordinator

Ph:    (306) 535-1588

Email:    bourquea@uregina.ca

 

Education for Sustainability Newsletter Jan 2012 (vol 3, no. 1) Now Available

Education for Sustainable Development Newsletter

Education for Sustainable Development NewsletterVolume 3, Number 1, January 2012

 

Inside this issue...

·       Innovative Curriculum: Grade 12 Global Issues: Citizenship and Sustainability

·       Greening the Technical Vocational Initiative in Manitoba

·       Education for Sustainable Development: Parkland Elementary School Garden Project

·       GREEN High Schools Program Introduces Students to Careers in the Environment

·       Professional Development Day on Sustainable Happiness

·       Using the Earth Charter to Develop a Teaching for Sustainability Course at the University of Winnipeg

·       UNESCO Identifies Brock Corydon School for its "Good Practice" in ESD and Culture

·       Manitoba Takes Top Honours at the 2011 Canon Envirothon

·       Woodlands Students Reduce Lunch Waste

·       Professional Learning and Conferences

·       Online Resources

·       Digital We, It Starts with Me!

·       Funding

"Straw Light Clay Building Workshop", Craik, July 6-8, 2012

Please see the attached PDF below on this exciting, participatory workshop being held in Craik examining straw light clay building contruction.--Roger