The Plan

Each phase of this project has a number of goals and activities, which will include consultation with stakeholders, research on current work being done in the subject areas, investigations of new and innovative ideas to apply to the challenges, and the creation of methods and tools necessary to apply the results for the municipalities.

These Phases include:

Phase 1: Initial discovery and consultation, including the "Setting the Stage" conference in May of 2011. The results of the conference were assembled and reported in the "Setting the Stage Conference Report" which established the priorities and objectives that will guide the research in Phases 2 and 3.

Phase 2: Compilation of best practice models and existing research on resource-dependent communities within Canada and internationally. This will be assembled into an Information Database, and presented to the municipalities as a Community Resource Package. This Package will serve as the primary discussion document for a Knowledge Symposium in 2012.

Phase 3: By applying the information gathered in Phase 2 to the community priorities and objectives identified in Phase 1, the researchers will determine the best methods and types of knowledge transfer needed to achieve the overall Project objective of long-term diversity and sustainability.

Unfortunately, funding for this phase of the Project has been cancelled and the third phase will not proceed. The municipalities will be taking the information made available through the research in Phase Two to proceed with their own pilot projects.

This Project is by nature collaborative and exploratory, with AU working with the local post-secondary institute, Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) and other regional stakeholders such as Aboriginal groups, local business and arts groups, social agencies and educational authorities to jointly determine priorities.