The Government of Alberta, through Alberta Tourism, Park and Recreation (ATPR), has recently released its Active Alberta Policy, which is a 10-year blueprint that will guide provincial direction for recreation, active living, and sport.

Ten Alberta government ministries were involved in developing the Active Alberta Policy in consultation with nearly 130 stakeholder groups. The policy's six outcomes will guide the Government of Alberta and partners in the design, delivery and funding of programs related to recreation, active living, and sport.

Within the Active Alberta Policy itself, there are a number of key strategic areas that are of direct relevance to ARPA, namely:

• Afterschool recreation - the critical hours agenda
• Children's play - structured and unstructured
• Recreation industry work force strategy
• Centre of Excellence for Recreation, Community and Quality of Life
• Children and nature
• Sport for life strategy and community recreation partnership

While the final policy represents an effective go-forward strategy, the ARPA Board of Directors would encourage ATPR and its partnered ministries to proceed as quickly as possible to effect some strategic and timely implementation of key policy initiatives. 

  

For more information or to download a copy of the policy statement, please visit: http://tpr.alberta.ca/activealberta

After 10+ years of dedicated service to the Association, ARPA's CEO Rick Curtis is transitioning to retirement! As a result, ARPA is searching for a motivated leader to guide our Association on its mission to improve the quality of life of all Albertans through the advancement of recreation and parks services.

If you're mover and shaker in the recreation and parks sector, then we'd like to hear from you!

For more information on this position, please see the full opportunity profile: http://s3.arpaonline.ca/docs/ARPA-CEO-Opp-Profile-2011.pdf

All interested applicants must apply no later than August 19th, 2011.

The first-ever, invitation-only National Recreation Summit is currently being designed and organized by ARPA in partnership with ATPR, and will take place October 23-26th, 2011.

ARPA and ATPR are respectively acting on behalf of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association and the Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council (which is comprised of all provincial and territorial governments, in association with Federal government officials).

Focused on Recreation, Community, and Quality of Life, the Summit will be the first event of its kind to bring together representatives of Canada's three levels of government and its national, provincial, and territorial recreation and parks associations, as well as other stakeholders from related professions and disciplines. Ultimately, the Summit will seek to advance a national recreation agenda.

The Summit program will be organized around five themes:

• Confronting Canada's Public Health Crisis;
• Respecting Nature and Our Environment;
• Building Community;
• Contributing to Public Sector and Social Innovation; and
• Repositioning the Recreation and Parks Field.

Some of the Summit's confirmed keynote presenters include:

• Carl Honoré (internationally acclaimed author of In Praise of Slow and Under Pressure)
• Richard Louv (internationally acclaimed author of The Nature Principle and The Last Child in the Woods)
• Sherri Torjman (Vice-President of the Caledon Institute for Social Policy and author of Shared Spaces: The Communities Agenda)
• Dr. John Crompton (Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University and author of Repositioning Parks and Recreation and Financing and Acquiring Park and Recreation Resources)

Invitations to attend the Summit event will be determined through federal, provincial, and territorial government input along with input from CPRA and its national partners (provincial/territorial recreation and parks associations).

ChooseWell seed funding recipients announced

Communities ChooseWell is pleased to announce that the recipients for the Reducing Barriers to Healthy Living for Teens and Tweens Seed Funding opportunity are Beaumont, Camrose, Claresholm, Fort MacLeod, Grande Prairie, Hanna, Irricana, Redwater, Strathmore, and Vermillion.

Each community will receive $2,000 in seed funding, which means in 2011 Communities ChooseWell will have disbursed $20,000 in funding across Alberta to support initiatives aimed at reducing barriers to healthy eating and active living for teens and tweens.

Big winners in the Acts of Random Physical Activity challenge

Congratulations to the Village of Longview and St. Anthony School for winning the Acts of Random Physical Activity (ARPA) challenge. The Village of Longview completed a Flash Mob as part of the PlayWorks Flash Mob contest and won the prize draw for a SuperNova playground piece.

St. Anthony School of St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division has also won physical activity equipment for their participation in the Acts of Random Physical Activity Program offered to schools across Alberta through a partnership with Ever Active Schools.

Communities ChooseWell would like thank to everyone who participated in the ARPA challenge, and congratulate all of the prize winners!

Special thanks to PlayWorks for providing the Supernova as a prize for the Flash Mob Contest and to Ever Active Schools for their support engaging schools in the ARPA Challenge.

For more information on Communities ChooseWell, please visit http://arpaonline.ca/choosewell

Watch for the full program brochure and online registration to be available at the end of July...

This year's Annual Conference theme is Recreation and Parks... Bringing Quality To Life. It may sound simple, but this them reflects one core belief that connects recreation and parks professionals, organizations, and volunteers. The 2011 Conference program calls on all disciplines that share a passion for improving and enhancing whole community, as well as individual citizen growth and development.

Some highlights from this year's Conference will include...

Keynote Presentations:

Opening Keynote - Carl Honoré
Carl Honoré is an award-winning journalist and author. The Wall Street Journal hailed him as "an in-demand spokesman on slowness and leisure." His books (noted in the National Recreation Summit article) have been translated into more than 30 languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in many countries.

Closing Keynote - Rhonda Victoor
What do most of us really want? Greater success and satisfaction in work and life.  True high performers achieve those things with ease. Not because they have special talents or more will power, but because they practice the rituals of high performance. This keynote will coach us in the rituals we need to be wildly effective and deeply satisfied (what high performance is really all about).

Other Conference sessions will focus on:

• National Recreation Summit Highlights and Learnings
• Positive Youth Development - Pre-Conference and session with Dr. Peter Witt
• Eco Energy Pre-Conference with the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre
• Community Recreation and Parks Service Excellence Program
• Regional Land-Use Planning - Tools for Communities
• New Canadian Physical Act Guidelines

Social Program highlights include:

• Thursday Night: Wayne Lee (Hypnotist) 
• Friday Night: 50's Diner-Themed Tradeshow
• Saturday Night: ARPA President's Award Banquet (with a dueling piano show)

Accommodations:

To book your room by phone, call the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise at 403-522-3511 or 1-800-441-1414, identifying that you will be attending the ARPA Conference. Our block typically sells out by mid-August.

Online room booking available at:
www.fairmont.com/lakelouise
 
Visit http://arpaonline.ca/events/arpa-annual-conference for additional program and accommodation reservation details as they become available.

Don't for get to renew your membership!

To be eligible to register with the discounted member rate for the Conference, you'll need to make sure your ARPA membership is current.

Watch your ARPA membership renewal in the mail shortly.

Renewals may be conducted online using the following form:
http://arpaonline.ca/members/renew/

Recent research lead by Dana Olstad at the University of Alberta surveyed over 150 publicly funded recreational facilities throughout the province to determine if these facilities was aware of the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth (ANGCY), as well as if the guidelines had been actively implemented.

The research found that while half of all facilities were aware of the ANGCY, knowledge of the guidelines were limited. Further, while 51% of facilities have made changes to improve the nutritional value of food sold, only 11% of the changes had been motivated by the ANGCY.

Conclusions put forward by Olstad suggest that the ANGCY does have significant potential to improve recreation facility food environments; however, a policy-based approach may be required for the guidelines to be adopted in a more timely and cost-effective manner throughout the province.

A number of ARPA members participated in this study, and all those interested in viewing the research results may download a PDF copy from:
http://s3.arpaonline.ca/docs/Olstad-Nutrition-Rec-Facilities-Research.pdf

ARPA, Alberta Health and Wellness, and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association are actively engaged in discussions to review matters related to ANGCY and community recreation facilities.

ARPA recently received a letter from the Honourable Lindsay Blackett encouraging the Association, and its members, to take part in Alberta Arts Days this year from September 30th to October 2nd.

Communities interested in taking part may access Alberta Arts Days resources, or register a community event on the official events calendar.

For more information on Alberta Arts Days, please visit:
www.albertaartsdays.ca

ARPA is excited to welcome Rick Miller, Kids at Hope founder, as the keynote speaker for the 2011 Kids at Hope Provincial Forums.

The forums will provide an opportunity to share current challenges and successes associated with Kids at Hope, examine Kids at Hope from a community development perspective, and hear from speakers who will share their personal experiences and explain how they parallel the Kids at Hope belief system. Attendees will be involved in determining the future of Kids at Hope in their organizations and communities.

The forums will take place in Grande Prairie on August 8th and in Red Deer on August 10th. Additional Module I - Hopeology sessions will also occur in Grande Prairie August 9th and in Red Deer on August 11th.

Registration for the forums opens in mid-July on the ARPA website.

For more information please contact Lisa Tink, Children and Youth Programs Manager, at ltink@arpaonline.ca.

Train your summer camp leaders in Canada's only quality assurance program for recreation and sports. From frontline staff to supervisors to policy makers, HIGH FIVE® gives you tools to ensure your programs have healthy child development principles in mind.

Submit your HIGH FIVE® workshop request online »

For more information on HIGH FIVE®, please contact Joline Veitch, Children and Youth Program Coordinator, at jveitch@arpaonline.ca.

The Town of Okotoks was one of five communities selected by the Canadian Parks and Recreation and Association to participate in the Canada Gets Active program, which will provide local Grade 5 students with a Community Physical Activity Pass allowing free access to designated recreation facilities.

The four other Canadian communities selected include Coquitlam, Durham Region, Arnrprior, and Annapolis.

Modeled after Kingston Gets Active, and in conjunction with the Everybody get to play™ initiative, the main objective of Canada Gets Active is to increase physical activity involvement of Canadian children by increasing their access to and participation in community recreation facilities.

Congratulations to the Town of Okotoks for taking initiative to improve access to recreation opportunities and helping local residents get more active!

ACE Communities has four excellent webinars lined up in July. All webinars are free to attend, and registration has been made even easier with the newly launched Learning Centre website.

This month's online learning opportunities include:

Investing in Leisure Literacy
Friday, July 15th (10:00 - 11:30 a.m.)
Presenter: Carol Petersen

Orientation to ACE Communities for Contractors and Coaches
Thursday, July 21st (10:00 - 11:30 a.m.)
Presenters: Brenda Herchmer and Janet Naclia

Are We Making a Difference... Measuring and Evaluating the Outcomes of Our Programs and Services
Thursday, July 28th (10:00 - 11:30 a.m.)
Presenter: Brenda Herchmer

Kids at Hope... Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Goals and Dreams
Friday, July 29th (9:00 - 10:30 a.m.)
Presenter: Christine Epps and Mindi Massi

Register for any of these webinars online at: http://recc.arpahub.ca

ACE Communities would like it extend its thanks to all of the practitioners who attended the first Recreation in Aboriginal Communities webinar last month. Feedback following the webinar has been overwhelmingly positive, and ACE Communities will continue with this programming.

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, August 23rd from 10:00 - 11:15 a.m. for the next webinar specifically aimed at recreation practitioners in Aboriginal communities. More information will follow in the coming weeks, and be sure to stay tuned to the virtual Learning Centre for other free webinar opportunities.

For more information, please contact Janet Naclia, ACE Communities Creative Cultural Liaison, at jnaclia@aceleaders.ca.

The Recreation for Life Foundation is pleased to announce that net revenues from the 9th Annual Recreation for Life Charity Golf Tournament totaled over $59,000.

A big thank-you goes out to all of the players, sponsors, and volunteers who helped make this event possible.

To date the RFLF has also raised over $3,400 through its ongoing 10 for 10 campaign, but we still need your support:

Support the 10 for 10 fundraising campaign

To commemorate the Foundation's first decade of success, RFLF has set a goal to raise $25,000 by the end of the year through the 10 for 10 Anniversary Campaign. To reach this goal, we're going to need your help!

In supporting 10 for 10, your donation of a minimum of $10 per month throughout 2011 will go a long way toward sustaining the vital programs and initiatives overseen by ARPA.

For more information or to sign up for 10 for 10, please visit: www.recreationforlife.org/10for10.html

Announced earlier this summer, the Serving Communities Internship Program (SCIP) will award students a $1,000 bursary for completing an internship with a non-profit or voluntary organization in Alberta.

Up to 500 internship opportunities will be created for Alberta's students in the non-profit/voluntary sector. Applications are now being accepted online for interested organizations to express their interest in participating the program.

Access the application here: http://joinscip.ca/organization-application/

The internships intend to provide post-secondary students across the province with important opportunities to develop specialized skills, gain meaningful work experience, and advance their understanding of the non-profit/voluntary sector, while also expanding the capacity of participating organizations.

For more information on this initiative, please visit the SCIP website:
http://joinscip.ca.

Alberta Arts Days - September 30th - October 2nd [web link]

Rural Canadians' Guide to Programs and Services [iPhone/iPad app]

Guidelines for Community Based Exercise Programs for People with Stroke [PDF]

Action on Wellness - An International Symposium - October 11-13th, 2011 [link]

Investing in Leisure Literacy (Webinar)
Date: Friday, July 15th
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Register: http://recc.arpahub.ca/

Orientation to ACE Communities for Contractors and Coaches (Webinar)
Date: Thursday, July 21st
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Register: http://recc.arpahub.ca/

Are We Making a Difference... Measuring and Evaluating the Outcomes of Our Programs and Services (Webinar)
Date: Thursday, July 28th
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Register: http://recc.arpahub.ca/

Kids at Hope... Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Goals and Dreams (Webinar)
Date: Friday, July 29th
Time: 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Register: http://recc.arpahub.ca/

National Recreation Summit
Date: October 23-26th, 2011
*Invitation Only*

ARPA Annual Conference & Energize Workshop
Date: October 27-29th, 2011
URL: http://arpaonline.ca/events/arpa-annual-conference