Alberta Ecotrust is delighted to announce the results of its 2010 Young Environmental Stewards (YES) program. With funding support from TransAlta and the help of a volunteer grant review committee of Young Environmental Professionals, the spring round of YES grants is helping nearly a dozen young Albertans convert their environmental passion into action through projects ranging from community gardening to people powered events! The 2010 program garnered 29 applications, of which 11 were funded with a total of $45,334.00.

To read more about the 2010 projects funded by YES, and learn more about the program, click [here]

Network News

March 3^rd, 2010

RCEN Corporate Social Responsibility Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue

From March 3-4, the RCEN will be coordinating a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Ottawa. In addition to the one-day dialogue, this project will help create a discussion paper on CSR in the extractive sector from a Canadian ENGO perspective. It will also permit members of our International Program Caucus to meet in order to develop a Canadian ENGO approach to promoting CSR to support sustainable livelihoods. More

Youth Caucus Announces New Mission and Mandate

The RCEN Youth Caucus is happy to announce its new mission and mandate, as chosen by members of its steering committee and other youth involved in the caucus’ activities. The new mission is to support Canadian youth by facilitating and promoting opportunities for them to meaningfully engage in environmental and sustainability initiatives.

The caucus has also released its Youth Mini-Consultation Report, which identifies the strengths and areas for improvement in the national youth environmental movement. Read the Report

Biodiversity Hotspot: Phytoplankton! The Foundation of the Ocean Food Chain

Marine phytoplankton are tiny unicellular marine creatures, of which there are about 5000 different species. Like plants, they use photosynthesis and minerals dissolved in the water to produce energy. Each individual phytoplankton is too small to be seen with the human eye but together they form blooms visible from space. More

RCEN 2010 Annual Conference

“Conserving Biodiversity Pays: The Values of Ecosystem Services”

September 17-19, Montreal, QC

Please note that EALT has published its 2008-2009 Annual Report viewable via our homepage: www.ealt.ca, and it will remain on our Resources page.

We invite you all to peruse it. Besides providing information on our accomplishments, which include land securement, outreach, awards and partnerships; it also provides detailed summaries of our activities since we became operational.

Network News

February 3^rd, 2010

Mark Your Calendars: the RCEN’s 2010 Conference is this September 17-19

The RCEN is pleased to announce that its 2010 Annual General Assembly and Conference on the Environment will be held in Montreal, from September 17-19.

The theme of this year’s event is “Conserving Biodiversity Pays: The Values of Ecosystem Services”. The organizing committee is working hard to deliver an even bigger and better event than last year’s successful AGA in Edmonton! We’ll be in touch with more details soon. In the meantime, visit our 2010 Annual Conference website to learn more about this year’s theme.

Attention Biodiversity Fans… Bookmark this Site!

We are pleased to announce the launch of the RCEN’s International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) website. The site features a regularly updated news feed, with the latest information from Environment Canada, the Convention on Biological Diversity and other interesting articles. The new website also includes links to biodiversity and IYB-related information, educational resources and materials produced by the RCEN, such as the Best Practices Handbook. You can also sign up for our Biodiversity Buzz newsletter!

Biodiversity Hotspots: Meat eating plants and over 50 species of butterflies—in Northern Ontario!? Read more

If you wish to share a story about a biodiversity hotspot in your area, please send a short paragraph to jessie [at] cen-rce [dot] org.

Last chance to tell us what you think of the RCEN website

The RCEN is currently conducting an evaluation of its website and e-Bulletin. Please take 5-7 minutes to share your feedback and ideas so that we can improve our online presence and serve you better. Complete the survey

The Environmental Law Centre’s Consistency and Accountability in Implementing Watershed Plans in Alberta: A jurisdictional review and recommendations for reform is a jurisdictional review focused on comparing law and policy approaches to implementation of collaboratively produced and approved watershed management plans. The review identifies central issues that must be dealt with in a policy framework for implementation of plans.

This publication can be downloaded for free from the Materials Available to Download section of the ELC website.

A new issue of News Brief - Vol. 24 No. 4 - is now available on the Environmental Law Centre website.

Are you looking for one or more keen environmentally-oriented individuals to assist with specific tasks or projects this summer? Look no further — RCA’s Recycling Ambassadors can help.

The RCA hires a group of university/college students each year to carry out important education and technical projects from May through August. The students travel throughout Alberta delivering these projects, while gaining valuable experience that assists them in their education and career pursuits.

Get the straight facts on Bill 50 and how it changes the role of public participation and environmental factors in transmission approvals in Alberta.

On January 7^th 2010, Laura Bowman of the Environmental Law Centre presented a lunch seminar on Bill 50, the Electric Statutes Amendment Act, 2009. This controversial bill was tabled in the summer and has been part of a storm of publicity and often confusing and contradictory information ever since.

The handouts from this presentation are now available for download from the Environmental Law Centre website.