Olds town council threw its support behind hosting the Pathways to Sustainability (P2S) conference in 2015 at its Aug. 25 meeting.
A delegation representing Sustainability Resources Ltd., a non-profit organization in charge of managing the conference, pitched the idea to council.
Lisa Fox, the conference founder, said the event would be a chance for the town to celebrate its leadership in the area of sustainability.
“I see Olds as a community that has a really big story to tell,” Fox said. “You've got some amazing initiatives and innovations here and partnerships with industry and partnerships with your other communities that can be celebrated.”
A date and place for the conference have not been set yet but this past August saw several Olds bodies endorse the conference, according to the meeting agenda.
On Aug. 12, the Sustainable Olds committee passed a motion to support hosting P2S.
At its Aug. 19 board meeting, the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development passed a motion to become a host partner, with a budget set at $15,000.
For that amount, the Town of Olds would also become a partner, joining the provincial government, which has already contributed the money.
According to information provided to council, Sustainability Resources Ltd. would share net revenues from the conference with host partners to support “legacy initiatives.”
“We're gifting our co-ordination to the community. Yes, there's a sponsorship fee that everybody pays to do this, but we've got three conferences behind us, we've got a template, we have a machine, we have an entity we're bringing to your community,” Fox said. “What we're offering is, you can leverage this to meet your goals.”
Her presentation stated the conference would be a chance for the town to generate funding and partnerships for various projects. It would also bring attention to opportunities for local and regional investment.
P2S was first held in Cochrane in 2009, then Red Deer in 2011 and Calgary in 2013, council heard.
Drayton Valley was chosen to host the 2015 conference but its newly-elected council wanted to focus on other priorities, Fox said.
As a result, Olds was approached as a replacement host.
“Drayton Valley was supposed to host in 2015 and they backed out so they're looking for a new host and they knocked on our door and said they'd love to work with the Town of Olds,” said Norm McInnis, the town's chief administrative officer.
Although a focus for the event has not been decided upon, Fox's presentation to council suggested the conference be named Next Generation of Resilient and Thriving Communities.
That would highlight the town's “Regional Initiatives and Community Collaboration,” “Innovations in Waste, Water and Energy,” and “Community Driven Sustainability Initiatives as the Genesis of Resilience,” according to the PowerPoint presentation.
McInnis said a planning committee will be struck to decide on the programming.
He also wants to see a program budget but added the conference will be a good chance to get sustainability back on people's minds.
“My own personal opinion is, I think it's very timely. I think Olds has been a leader in sustainability planning at the community level for quite some time since we started in 2006 and we've sort of hit a little bit of a plateau right now,” he said.
“This is a great opportunity for us to breathe some life back into our sustainability journey and I think the timing is perfect.”
