The EFCL and City of Edmonton are starting to put plans in place for a one-day “Living Local” Conference.
The objective of the conference is to bring together various organizations that can help develop programs that make it easier for Edmontonians to do more daily activities closer to home.
For example, it is thought that recreational organizations, like minor soccer and minor hockey, might be able to place a greater emphasis on scheduling games closer to where players live.
Another option might be for the city to plan neighborhoods and sectors of the city that have a greater mixture of land uses (i.e. housing, shopping, recreation, schooling), so residents don’t have to travel so far to conduct daily activities.
“Our first step will be to identify potential partners,” said EFCL executive director Allan Bolstad.
“Ideally, we’d like to see some of these organizations help plan the conference.”
The advantages associated with “Living Local” are many. In a draft position paper, presented to Edmonton City Council last summer, the EFCL noted that living local can save residents a significant amount of time, reduce travel costs, promote healthy living (walking and biking), create safer communities through more eyes on the street, reduce social isolation and strengthen neighborhood networks, reduce energy consumption and help recreate that friendly, small town feeling in numerous pockets of a major metropolitan city.
Early objectives for the conference are to create a “Living Local Action Plan” and the resources required to implement such a plan.
The conference is expected to be held in mid-to-late 2011.
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