SEDRD Wins 2014 OPPI Excellence in Planning Award

Rural Landowner Stewardship Guide for the Ontario Landscape receives an Excellence in Planning Award from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.

The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph received an Excellence in Planning Award from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute for the Rural Landowner Stewardship Guide for the Ontario Landscape The award was received at Queens Park on November 7, 2014 in the Communications/Public Education category.

The Rural Landowner Stewardship Guide recognizes the challenges associated with making environmental improvements through regulation alone.  While regulations are frequently used to ensure environmental protection, it is also important to encourage voluntary landowner actions. The Guide provides an educational toolkit for planners, municipalities and others involved in conservation to mobilize landowners.

The Guide is a workbook that serves as a self-assessment tool for environmental issues. Actions from water and natural heritage protection to energy conservation are highlighted. The Guide is formulated as an easy to read and understand guidebook and can be used by individuals by themselves or in facilitated workshop settings.

The Guide is general enough to be used across Ontario; however, it can also be customized to various municipalities or watersheds. It is now used in numerous watersheds and by Provincial organizations such as Carolinian Canada and Equine Guelph.  The Guide patterns itself and builds on the over 20-year success of Ontario's Environmental Farm Plan.

The project was led by Professors Wayne Caldwell and Karen Landman with contributions from a number of graduate students including PhD student Paul Kraehling. In addition, dozens of community members and groups have contributed to the development and refinement of the Guide.  Funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the University of Guelph research partnership is acknowledged.

Left to right:  Wayne Caldwell and Paul Kraehling receiving Planning Excellence Award from Ontario Professional Planners Institute President, Paul Stagl.  Karen Landman was in Europe and unable to attend the award ceremony.

See additional news article in At Guelph.