The Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) fosters networking opportunities and enhances rural development knowledge exchange by supporting various events. Below you will see a list of upcoming events as well as those still in the reporting phase; if you are interested in any of these events and want more information, please contact Director of Community and Member Engagment Judy Ferguson.

Bow Valley College

Networking Meetings

Eden Valley, Hobbema – Fall 2011
These networking events between Bearspaw, Stoney Nakoda (Eden Valley Reserve) and Hobbema (Emineskin Cree Nation, Samson Cree Nation, Louis Bull Tribe and Montana First Nation) will establish a foundation for further ethical research, projects, or action surrounding improved education for Aboriginal adults in rural communities by engaging them in their community.

Northern Lakes College

Northern Community Engagement in Rural Alberta

Slave Lake – January 16, 2012
Community leaders, citizens, and high school students were provided with the opportunity to discuss education with the University of Alberta and the Northern Engagement Committee. Attendees were able to learn, connect, and build relationships with the University as a way of engaging rural communities.

NorQuest College

Continuing Care Needs in the High Prairie / Slave Lake Area

Northern Lakes College – April or May 2012-TBD
Northern Lakes College, the Institute of Continuing Care Education and Research (ICCER), the U of A, NorQuest College, and the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (ACSRC) came together to discuss issues of continuing care with local community groups and to discuss what issues can be fixed by PSIs through training, education, or research.

Connecting Language and Culture in the Community

Taber – Nov 2, 2011 and Feb 2012- date TBD
Organizations and business from the Taber region, including the Community Adult Learning Council and Frito Lay, along with immigrant stakeholder groups will work to identify English in the Workplace (EWP) needs and intercultural challenges faced by newcomers to the Taber area. EWP is used to fit the language training needs of a company’s immigrant staff. This networking event will encourage the community to become more inclusive of cultural differences.

SAIT Polytechnic

Enhancing Greenhouse Sustainability Using Biofuels and Green Design

Calgary – May  2012 date TBD
This event will bring together researchers and commercial greenhouse growers from across the province. Researchers and growers will listen to a SAIT presentation on a solar/bubble project that uses biofuels as a heating system.

University of Alberta

Rural Sustainability Research Cluster and Community of Practice

Edmonton - Monthly from September 2010 - March 2012
This event will create a continuing venue for knowledge exchange between the research community based at the University of Alberta, rural communities and the various departments and ministries within the Province of Alberta working in the broad areas of rural development, sustainability and capacity. It is intended to fund a series of recurring events, happening on a monthly or bi-monthly basis (depending on demand) in Edmonton, and to create a cluster of practitioners, administrators, community representatives and researchers working across the wide range of domains that impact the development and sustainability (broadly defined) of rural communities in the province.