Mark Your Calendar!
2009 ARPA Annual Conference & Energize Workshop
October 29-31,
2009
The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Visit the Conference website for more
information! |
|
Alberta's Land-use Framework and regional planning: ARPA to prepare discussion paper
Over the past two years, ARPA has participated as a stakeholder in the development of Alberta's Land-use Framework, and most recently, the Association has committed to prepare a discussion paper on what the seven regional plans in Alberta should consider in addressing vital recreation, parks, and open space (RPOS) elements. The discussion paper will focus on the need to include RPOS in regional planning, the development of RPOS principles and desired policy outcomes for inclusion in regional planning, and the identification of opportunities surrounding the integration of municipal RPOS planning into regional plans.
The Land-use Framework was given effect in the Land Stewardship Act, which received royal assent in June 2009. It is a comprehensive approach to planning to better manage public and private lands and natural resources to achieve Alberta's long-term economic, environmental and social goals. The Framework and Act provide a blueprint for land-use management and decision-making that addresses the growth that has occurred in Alberta over the past several years.
An opportunity for members to help shape ARPA's position on the scoping and shaping of key recreation, parks, and open space elements for consideration within regional plans will be provided during the 2009 Annual Conference.
For more information on the Land-use Framework, please visit www.landuse.alberta.ca.
|
New round of Sogo Active grants available
 Through their participation in Sogo Active, youth-serving organizations across Alberta have received $20,000 in grants to reduce barriers to youth becoming more physically active. To date, over 70 organizations in Alberta have registered online as Community Hosts, along with nearly 1,000 youth between the ages of 13 to 19. The deadline for the next round of youth grant opportunities is October 15th, 2009. The online application can be accessed by Community Hosts at www.sogoactive.com.
For more information, please visit the Sogo Active website or email sogoactive@arpaonline.ca.
|
Secure your spot at the 2009 ARPA Conference and Energize Workshop - October 29-31
There's still time to register for the 2009 ARPA Conference & Energize Workshop. The conference brochure and registration are available online - please visit www.2009.arpaonline.ca for links to all conference resources. A link to book accommodation with the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise can also be found on the website, along with information on program sessions and a list of sponsors who are supporting this year's Conference.
The theme of WEAVING VALUES∞SPIRIT OF PLACE explores how the connections within a community, whether between organizations, individuals, or the land, can be the key to the development of strong, sustainable communities. Balancing the values of individual needs, community well-being, and sustainability is often challenging, but striving to provide places and spaces that foster opportunities to re-create the human spirit remains at the core of our work.
Visit www.2009.arpaonline.ca for conference program and accommodation reservation details.
|
 ARPA's Afterschool Recreation Initiatives report now available online
The Afterschool Recreation Initiatives report, which examines the state of afterschool recreation programming in Alberta and elsewhere, is now available for download here. This research also seeks to identify the relevance and feasibility for engaging recreation practitioners and allied stakeholders in developing a provincial strategy for action.
The study was commissioned in response to the pressing need for current research and analysis on how the "critical" afterschool hours can optimize a student's physical, social, emotional, and academic development. Such research is particularly timely, as federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers responsible for Sport, Physical Activity, and Recreation recently endorsed the afterschool time period as an opportunity for government policy and targeted programming to improve children and youth physical activity. Additionally, a crime task force announced by Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel in 2008 will reveal its recommendations this month, focusing on better community-level, youth-targeted prevention to stop crime, as opposed to more policing.
For further information on this research, please contact Denise Gariépy at dgariepy@arpaonline.ca or 780-644-1779.
|
Apply to be a Kids at Hope ambassador
ACE Communities is pleased to launch Kids at Hope in Alberta. Kids at Hope is an innovative concept, grounded in 13 years of research from its founding organization in Arizona, which states and demonstrates that all children are capable of success, NO EXCEPTIONS! Kids at Hope is not another program; it is a belief system supported by strategies to transform culture, and then enhanced by programs. Kids at Hope inspires, empowers, and transforms families, youth-serving organizations (schools, recreation and parks departments, non-profit organizations, etc.), and entire communities to create an environment where all children experience success, NO EXCEPTIONS!
Currently, ARPA is seeking 20 ambassadors from a variety of agencies, departments, schools, or communities to become ambassadors for Kids at Hope in Alberta. The application deadline is Wednesday, September 30th at noon. Click through the following links to view more details about Kids at Hope and the expression of interest application form.
For more information about Kids at Hope, please visit www.kidsathope.org or contact Jennifer Finnigan at jfinnigan@arpaonline.ca or at 780-644-4797.
|
 Recreation for Life Foundation receives provincial grant
The Recreation for Life Foundation would like to acknowledge and thank Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for awarding the Foundation a grant in the amount of $3,510.00 through the Community Spirit Donation Grant Program. This grant donation is being used to support the Recreation for Life Foundation's ability to maintain office operations by helping to offset operational costs such as general administration, lease of office equipment, and other related start-up office requirements.
The Community Spirit Donation Grant Program is funded by the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Lottery Fund in order to build strong communities and enhance quality of life for Albertans. We gratefully thank the program for their support!
|
 ACE Communities welcomes its new Cultural Liaison
In August, ACE Communities hired Janet Nacila as its Cultural Liaison. Born and raised in Fort McMurray, Janet has a Bachelor Degree in Art and Design from the University of Alberta, and a Masters Degree in Art History from the University of Toronto. After working in contemporary art galleries in Toronto, Janet moved overseas to spend three years in Ireland. Janet is also an arts columnist and has written art reviews for Canadian Art Magazine, Avenue Magazine, SWERVE Magazine, CIRCA: Ireland's Magazine on Contemporary Art, and the Calgary Herald. When not pursuing her art and cultural interests, Janet enjoys spending time with her artist husband Brian and their brood of basset hounds.
For more information on ACE Communities, please visit acecommunities.ca.
|
| Dr. Vicki Harber to support the work of the Community Sport Development Task Group
As a result of a Memorandum of Agreement for Services signed with the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation, ARPA is pleased to have contracted the expertise of Dr. Vicki Harber. A professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, Dr. Harber is a recognized expert in the Canadian Sport for Life model with an appreciation for the need for a community approach to enabling people to be active for life. With support from ARPA's Community Sport Development Task Group, Dr. Harber will be leading research behind the development of a framework outlining possible elements for inclusion in a community Sport for Life resource. ARPA is pleased to announce that Dr. Harber will also be participating on the panel for the "Creating Physically Literate Communities in Alberta" session at the ARPA conference.
|
The Brick Sport Central makes an impact in Calling Lake
**The following story is an excerpt from the ACE Community Highlights blog... please click here to view the complete story**
 Andy Wigston doesn't need a lot of time to come up with reasons why kids need access to sports. To Andy, team sports aren't about developing athletes as much as they are about developing people. He lists more benefits: leadership and the ability to win-and lose-gracefully. Determination. A positive outlook. It's clear he could keep going.
Given his obvious belief in the value of recreation, it should come as no surprise that Andy is involved with an organization that helps to make sports accessible to all children. The Brick Sport Central has been collecting and repairing used sports equipment and giving them to kids in need since 1991. Andy, now the president, has been involved with the organization for 11 years. Andy also recently partnered with Calling Lake, an ACE community in northern Alberta.
The Brick Sport Central deals with about 200 agencies in Alberta that contact the volunteer-driven organization when there's a child who wants to play a sport, but his or her family can't afford the equipment. It partners with KidSport Canada, an organization that supplies the funding to cover the cost of registration.
Andy and the team of volunteers serve the needs of sports-minded kids in Alberta from Red Deer all the way north. They've even helped hockey groups in Inuvik and Northwest Territories. As with any volunteer-run organization, The Brick Sport Central relies on a wide network of people that are as committed to the cause as Andy is. Right now there are approximately 45 volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure no sports dream goes unfulfilled.
For more information on the program, visit www.sportcentral.org.
| |
|
|
|
