Craik Sustainable Living Project - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Craik Sustainable Living Project (CSLP) is a nonprofit organization for sustainable development

Sustainable development

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...

which aims to advance the local use of more ecologically sound technologies and ways of living in rural Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The four key components of the project are the eco-centre, outreach and education programs, community action, and the ecovillage

Ecovillage

Ecovillages are intentional communities with the goal of becoming more socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. Some aim for a population of 50–150 individuals. Larger ecovillages of up to 2,000 individuals exist as networks of smaller subcommunities to create an ecovillage model that...

History

CSLP was created in 2001 from a partnership between the RM of Craik

Craik No. 222, Saskatchewan

Craik No.222, Saskatchewan in Canada is located centrally between the cities of Regina and Saskatoon. It is home to the communities of Craik and Aylesbury.According to the Canada 2006 Census:*Population: 288*% Change : -11.9*Dwellings: 126...

and the Town of Craik

Craik, Saskatchewan

Craik is a town in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, incorporated on August 1, 1907. It is strategically located along Provincial Highway 11 in the RM of Craik No...

to develop a long-term plan for a sustainable community-based project. At the request of area resident Peter Farden of the Midlakes Community Coalition, Dr. Lynn Oliphant proposed a plan for the development of Saskatchewan's first ecovillage, which was adopted by community leaders. Four main areas of development were established to relate to sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

Eco-centre

The Eco-centre is a multipurpose facility that was built and designed as a focal point for the project. Completed in 2004 under the direction of designer and project manager Cory Gordon, the 6000 sq ft (557.4 m²). straw bale and timber frame structure features innovative and energy efficient

Efficient energy use

Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...

building design and integrated heating, cooling and renewable energy systems. Local and recycled materials were incorporated whenever possible. The philosophy behind this type of construction is known as green building

Green building

Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...

. Facilities include a restaurant, golf clubhouse, gift shop and three meeting rooms.

Outreach and Education

CSLP supports Education for Sustainable Development

Education for Sustainable Development

Sustainability education , Education for Sustainability , and Education for Sustainable Development are interchangeable terms describing the practice of teaching for sustainability. ESD is the term most used internationally level and by the United Nations...

, and is working to provide educational opportunities for children, youth and adults on climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

, renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

technologies, ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

, sustainable living

Sustainable living

Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and his/her own resources. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet...

and sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...

. The main projects involved have been the Sustainable Rural Alternatives Seminar Series, the creation of a resource library, and the Climate Change Awareness and Action Pilot Project in the Davidson School Division (which is now part of the Sun West School Division). CSLP representatives have been invited to trade fairs, enviro-forums, ecofairs and other functions to highlight their work. Promotion of the project has also been advanced through the website, brochures, and articles written for local newspapers and other publications like the Regina EcoLiving Guide.

CSLP has also supported the participation of students in the Youth Forum on Sustainability Program, which has resulted in youth helping to organize a number of workshops for students from Grades K-12 including papermaking, vermicomposting and endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

. Presenters of these workshops included experts from the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

, the University of Regina

University of Regina

The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...

, and HELP International

HELP International

HELP International is a charitable organization that works with government, charities, churches, and other community and business groups to identify economic, environmental and social problems and develop solutions that will have a significant and long lasting impact. The head office is located on...

Community Action

The Craik Sustainable Living Project strives to motivate local people to reduce their ecological footprint

Ecological footprint

The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet's ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area necessary to...

. In addition to education initiatives, CSLP seeks funding and resources to support activities that increases energy efficiency of homes and vehicle use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and introduce less contaminants into the environment. An example initiative is the no-idling policy in front of the town and municipal administration buildings.

Ecovillage

An access road to a 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) parcel of land was the first visible indication of the development of the ecovillage

Ecovillage

site in the fall of 2005. The first residents are planning to submit plans and begin construction in the following year. The mayor of the town of Craik at the time, Rod Haugerud, was the first to obtain a lot and begin construction of a straw bale home, but the lot has since been made available to Praxis International Institute. All of the original lots offered have been spoken for, with a second phase underway. Applications are to include plans for energy efficient housing and systems to be built on-site within a year of submission. Future direction for community planning will come from the residents themselves.

Spin-offs and Benefits

The project has attracted provincial and national attention, being featured in a number of print publications and television features including CBC's The National. Although receiving praise and awards from outside the community, the innovative approach to addressing rural decline and the need for sustainable living only recently received more widespread local public support after a petition

Petition

A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....

was circulated to address concerns in devoting substantial efforts and resources to this project. In a heartfelt show of support, the assembled crowd rallied behind the mayor and members of the project, while also recognizing the value of the petitioner's concerns in drawing positive attention to the project, although inadvertently.

Some of the positive spinoffs of the project are still in the early stages, but include:

while the anticipated construction of a multi-million hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

mill by Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc
Naturally Advanced
Naturally Advanced Technologies is a Vancouver, BC-based cleantech company focused on providing textile, composite and pulping solutions, through the processing of industrial hemp, and other bast fibers...

did not materialize, the site that would have been used by the mill has been purchased by Titan Clean Energy Projects, a project developer in renewable biomass energy.
a revitalization of interest in developing tourism in the area, leading to support of projects such as a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

, xeric garden and arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...

, walking and riding trails, and a bird viewing platform and interpretive area.
attraction of new residents to a small Saskatchewan community, at a time when most small towns are experiencing steady declines.
construction of a flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

store, using strawbale construction, which offers a variety of flax-related products for sale
increasing community awareness of sustainability through numerous workshops
the planting of 64 000 fast growing hybrid poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....

s as part of an agroforestry
Agroforestry
Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock.It combines agricultural and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems.-Definitions:According to...

program called Forest 2020.
scheduled meetings as well as informal networking between politicians, environmental-activists, organic farmers, eco-tourists and other interested citizens in the restaurant and meeting rooms
the development of a Green Map
Green Map
]Green Maps are locally created environmentally themed maps which use a universal symbol set and mapmaking resources provided by the non-profit Green Map System...

of the area

The project continues to act as a catalyst, capturing people's interest and imagination. This has been expressed in a number of ways, including a music festival in a hemp field, research into developing sustainable industries in the area, and an invitation to participate in the development of a Regional Centre of Expertise for research and education, with direction and involvement coming from two universities and the United Nations.

CSLP depends on volunteer work, donations and fundraising efforts. Numerous grants have also been successfully applied for to support various projects, including the resource library and the Nature Gardens. CSLP administered the Craik Community - Midlakes Region One-Tonne Challenge
One-Tonne Challenge
The One-Tonne Challenge was a challenge presented by the Government of Canada in March 2004 for Canadians to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne each year. The figure represents 20% of total greenhouse gas output by Canadians and aimed to help the country reach its Kyoto Protocol...

, a federally funded program for climate change education and the reduction of CO₂ emissions that was cut by the Harper Conservative Government in 2006 and has not yet been replaced with an alternative program.

Awards and recognition

February 17, 2005 - One Tonne Challenge Proposal accepted for the Craik Community-Mid-Lakes area
May 6, 2005 – FCM-CH2M HILL Sustainable Community Award for Community Engagement
June 12, 2005 - Canadian Geographic Canadian Environment Award to Lynn Oliphant
April 6, 2006 - Tourism Saskatchewan's Land of Living Skies Award of Excellence

External links

Articles

Video, Television

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