This Community Liveability Survey / Sondage sur la vie en collectivité is uniquely designed for Canadians to compare and contrast your community's socialability, sustainability and your capacity to make changes towards more sustainable community development. It will only take a few minutes of your time, make a difference now.

Five randomly chosen respondents will be selected at the end of the survey period to win an Apple iPod shuffle®. Your response is CONFIDENTIAL. You will only be asked to identify yourself if you wish to register to win the Apple iPod shuffle® and you will not be contacted by anyone unless you win.

November 28, 2006 Press Release - http://www.srdc.org

Can communities create meaningful work that is an attractive alternative to Employment Insurance and welfare? A major Canadian study of a new, innovative program is showing this to be true. Today the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) is releasing a new report presenting early impacts from the Community Employment Innovation Project (CEIP), a study of a program designed to encourage the longer-term employability of participants while supporting local community development in areas of continuing high unemployment.

Communities were challenged to utilize the social economy as a source of jobs, which would provide participants with opportunities for developing skills and social capital. CEIP is testing an active re-employment strategy in the form of a community wage paid to unemployed people who volunteered to work on community-based projects in exchange for their entitlements to Employment Insurance (EI) or Income Assistance (IA). CEIP offered individuals work on community projects for up to three years, giving them a significant period of stable income as well as an opportunity to gain work experience, acquire new skills, and expand their network of contacts. At the same time, an important feature of CEIP's design is the central role given to communities in that they were responsible for identifying and prioritizing their local needs and then developing projects that would employ CEIP workers to meet those needs.

The Canadian Environmental Grantmakers' Network (CEGN) is pleased to release the third article in its Thoughtleader Series: Issues, Needs and Gaps in Environmental Funding in Canada. "Bridging Gaps: Building Diversity, Resilience and Connectivity" by Dr. Ann Dale, former Director of the Masters program in Environment and Management at Royal Roads University, Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Community Development, and Trudeau Fellow. The article is attached in English and French. Previous articles in the series are available on CEGN's website in English and French.

	Bridging Gaps - ENGLISH.pdf
	Bridging Gaps - FRENCH.pdf

This website introduces a range of Power Tools – “how-to” ideas that marginalised people and their allies can use to have a greater positive influence on natural resources policy. This website presents:

• 26 power tools based on experience from around the world - Start on the Guide to the Tools page.
• Discussion of power tools in theory and practice - See the What is a Power Tool? and the Strengths and Limits of Tools in Practice pages, plus individual tools.
• Related research on policy tools in action - Look at Related Research pages.
• A directory of the many other websites that contain policy tool resources - Consult Directory of Tools Links page.

The Power Tools initiative set out to develop, test and circulate existing and new tools to bridge some of the key gaps in policy processes and content. These policy tools – tips, tactics and approaches – are designed to provide some practical help to people working to improve the policies and institutions that govern access to and use of natural resources.

Explore Red River College's Princess Street Campus and it's Green Project Features.

• Built on a brownfield site. Won the “Brownie Award” from the Canadian Princess Street CampusUrban Institute for the Best Brownfield Project in Canada October 2003.
• Operates at an energy efficiency level that is 47 per cent better than the Model National Energy Code, which equates to a savings of roughly $200,000 a year for the college.
• Deconstruction of the five historic buildings on the site allowed a large amount of existing material to be salvaged, recycled or re-used within the project, or directed to alternate uses. Brick, heavy timbers, glass, millwork, light fixtures, steel columns ceramic tile and Tyndall stone cladding were all reclaimed.