IAIA WNC Happenings Alberta
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Int'l Association for Impact Assessment
Western & Northern Canada Affiliate
2215 19th St. S.W.
,Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 4X1
(403) 245-6404 IAIA-WNC@praxis.ca
Western & Northern Canada Affiliate
2215 19th St. S.W.
,Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 4X1
(403) 245-6404 IAIA-WNC@praxis.ca
Recent Event:
Northern Oil and Gas and the Environment Workshop
By the Pembina Institute
Sept. 27th -Oct. 1st, 2010
Calgary, Alberta
The Pembina Institute held a week-long Northern Oil and Gas and the Environment Workshop from
Sept. 27th -Oct. 1st, 2010 in Calgary, Alberta. This workshop was designed to provide participants
with the opportunity to learn about the oil and gas industry, and to interact with individuals associated
with it. The schedule aimed to balance time in the “classroom”, with ensuring that participants obtain
first hand exposure to industry and issues through facility tours and meeting directly affected
individuals.
Perspective was be provided by industry and industry associations, regulators, land owners, local
First Nation representatives and environmental non-governmental organizations. Some of the
highlights for past participants included a field trip to meet with local First Nation representatives that
have had experience with the oil and gas industry, meeting with landowners who live amongst oil and
gas development, and tours to typical oil and gas infrastructure including well sites, gathering
systems, processing facilities and transmission systems. This preliminary program provides a brief
background.
| Assessing and Managing Cumulative Environmental Effects What works? What doesn't work? How can we improve cumulative effects assessment and management? This major conference was presented by the International Association for Impact Assessment in Calgary, Alberta from the 6-9th of November, 2008. IAIA WNC helped plan this, chaired a session at this conference and participated in the final plenary. Conference proceedings now available! |
Canadian Prairie and Northern Section (CPANS) Air and Waste Management Association International Workshop on Environmental Nuisances Nov. 30- Dec. 1, 2009, Calgary, Alberta Industrial Heartland Cumulative Effects Management By Shannon Flint, Director of Strategic Policy and Innovation, Oil Sands Environmental Management Division, Alberta Environment Turning Down the Heat on Climate Change Technical Conference, AGM, and Exhibition April 28 – 29th, 2008, The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta Managing the Environment in Alberta’s Oil Sands Developments: A Bright Future by Heather Kennedy, Oil Sands Sustainable Development Secretariat & Jay Nagendran, Oil Sands Environmental Management Division, Alberta Environment March 19, 2008 |
| Recent Alberta IAIA WNC Brown Bag Lunch Seminars The Calgary Fall 2008 series focused on Cumulative Effects Assessment as a general theme leading up to the IAIA Special Topic Meeting (November 6-9, 2008) in Calgary. The sessions were held in the Jacques Whitford AXYS Ltd. Basement Boardroom. Sept. 24, 2008: Bill Ross, Professor of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. Assessing Cumulative Effects – Concepts, History, and Latest Approaches Oct. 29, 2008: George Hegmann, M. E. Des, P. Eng., Principal, Practice Leader, Planning and Permitting, Business Unit Leader, Oil Sands. The Dirt on Dirty Oil: An Oil Sands Reality Check Nov. 26, 2008: Terry Antoniuk, P.Biol., RPBio., Salmo Consulting Not Significant: The Residual Effect of Project Cumulative Impact Assessment The Edmonton Speaker Series 2008-09 sessions were held at Environment Canada. They featured: December 16th, 2008: Michael Sullivan – Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Ecosystem Restoration and Cumulative Effects Marian Weber – Alberta Research Council: Economic Approaches to Ecological Management |
| Working with Indigenous Peoples as Vital Partners for Successful Ventures A Luncheon with Guest Speaker Peter Croal Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Tuesday November 9, 2010 Glenbow Museum Presented by IAIA WNC and MSES For the private sector, there are possible three roles when developing natural resources in the vicinity of indigenous populations. These are 1) intruder; 2) good neighbour; or, 3) capacity builder. Companies that engage indigenous peoples early and well in the extractive process can spend more time on the business they are in, rather than fighting protracted legal battles in the courts and trying to manage asymmetric public relations catastrophes. The combination of climate change stresses plus poorly planned community relationship building, can make for a flashpoint of tension and potential conflict. The need for profit and building self reliant and resilient communities are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are now at the core of progressive business and community development models. This presentation will expand on these issues. For a more detailed synopsis, click here |
| Avatar,Oil Sands and the Amazon Field notes from the Energy Indigenous Environment Interface research program Thursday April 5th, 2011, 11:30-1:30pm MST at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB Please join us at this luncheon with Guest Speaker Dr. David Lertzman - Assistant Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainable Development at the Haskayne School of Business. The most commercially successful film in history deals with indigenous peoples and industrial resource extraction to feed humanity's growing consumption of energy. Although set in a futuristic world on the fictitious planet of Pandora, parallels to the Amazon jungle and Alberta’s oil sands have not been lost on the public. This was underscored by Canadian director James Cameron’s recent trip to Brazil supporting indigenous Amazonians opposition to the Bel Monte dam followed by a tour of Alberta’s oil sand operations and meetings with First Nations. This talk is the first public sharing of initial findings from the Energy Indigenous Environment Interface research program, funded by ISEEE and SSHRC, where Dr. David Lertzman has been collecting primary data with Achuar people of the Ecuadorian Amazon and Cree people of Alberta's northern boreal forest. Both cases in this comparative analysis highlight indigenous people whose way of life depends upon pristine forest ecosystems rich with fossil fuels. The Achuar of Ecuador are entirely opposed to petroleum development seeing it as a "death project" for their people. The Little Red River Cree are working with industry to engage more socially and environmentally responsible behaviours. We will see how these real world cases are far more compelling, urgent and instructive than the fictitious world of Pandora giving insight into tools and best practices for improving the ecological, social and cross-cultural performance of industry and communities. Dr. Lertzman holds a PhD in Ecological Sustainability and Community Development from UBC and is a Research Associate of the Arctic Institute of North America. He is a recipient of the prestigious Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow Sr. Award for academic achievement in research and teaching service dedicated to Aboriginal peoples. |
| Confronting controversy with values: Lessons for the oil sands from mining and nuclear waste management Tuesday July 5th, 2011, 12:00-1:30pm MST (doors open at 11:30) Suncor Building West Tower Rm 17F, 150 - 6th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta (Guests will need to sign in on the 17th Floor) Few resource extraction projects have stirred local and international controversy and opposition as widely and deeply as the Alberta oil sands. However, the oil sands are not an isolated case. Mining has meet with harsh criticism here in Canada and abroad. Nuclear power generation has spawned public protests generated in part around waste disposal issues. In spite of sharp divides, however, Canadians have made significant progress in confronting serious disagreements in both areas by bringing a wide range of perspectives into dialogue. Where dialogue has focused on creating a foundation of ethical principles on which to build solutions, consensus has emerged in rather surprising ways. Identifying the ethical values that have been put in play and their power in building trust, opening the door to dialogue and creating consensus and understanding their implications will be the focus of this presentation. Note: This event will include a 10 minute AGM. Groups will virtually attend in Vancouver, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Edmonton. Biography: Wesley Cragg, MA (Alberta), B.Phil (Oxon), D.Phil. (Oxon) Director and Principal Investigator, Canadian Business Ethics Research Network Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto Canada Wesley Cragg is a graduate of the Universities of Alberta and Oxford and an Alberta Rhodes Scholar. He was invited to York University 1992 to develop an MBA program in business ethics for what is now the Schulich School of business where he also founded Transparency International Canada. He has worked extensively with Natural Resources Canada, DFAIT, CIDA, a number of other federal government departments, and Export Development Canada. Mining and nuclear waste disposal issues have dominated his work as a private sector consultant and advisor. Wes has also published widely in Canadian and international journals and written and edited a number of books on business ethics, values based management, corporate codes of ethics and their value and impact, the challenge of bribery and corruption in the global market place and moral education, among other topics. Dr. Cragg is currently Project Director and Principal Investigator for the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN). Funded by the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council and other donors, CBERN's goal is to encourage, support and raise the profile of business ethics research in Canada by encouraging networking and dialogue across the private, government, NGO and academic sectors. CBERN is headquartered in the Schulich School of Business at York University. Note: There is no cost to virtually attend via remote IAIA-WNC groups in other cities. |