Let's face it: a cold day deep into September is not the ideal time to raft down the North Saskatchewan River. And yet, for the 75 watershed-protecting participants of Alberta Ecotrust's River Rally 2009, three hours on the river provided the perfect introduction to three days of networking, knowledge-sharing, and inspiration. As one of the river runners noted during a streamside presentation on aquatic health, "I'm freezing, but this is the absolute best start to any conference I've ever attended!"

River Rally 2009, held in Devon, Alberta and hosted by Alberta Ecotrust in partnership with Suncor Energy, was organized as a part of Ecotrust's Watershed Protectors Program -- a four-year, $250,000 initiative designed to support long-term watershed protection in Alberta. Kim Kiel, program manager at Alberta Ecotrust, describes the Protector's primary goal as "providing assistance to local volunteer watershed stewards in ways that will allow them to work more effectively and collaboratively." For River Rally, Kiel says, "we wanted to bring people together, supply the space and engage the experts to share their knowledge."

To that end, over the three days from September 29th to October 1st, conference participants swapped stories, resources, contacts and ideas, and attended a range of plenary presentations and breakout sessions that focused on the three River Rally themes: Communicate with Impact; Access and Leverage Resources, and Engage your Community.

Among the best received presentations were:

• "Water Words that Work," in which communications guru Eric Eckl convincingly demonstrated how many of the words and messages used by water advocates - words like "riparian," "watershed," and even "steward" - fail to connect with their intended audiences. Fortunately, Eckl was equally convincing when it came to suggesting words that do connect. The most important word of all, he said, is "confidence," in the sense of giving your audience the confidence that their actions can make a difference.
• "The Last Goldeye," an eye-opening look at the overall health of the North Saskatchewan River and some of its tributaries by Dr. Michael Sullivan of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. Sullivan's presentation detailed the impacts of a variety of human activities on the river's wellbeing overtime, leading to the conclusion that neither a business-as-usual model nor a business-as-expected model would lead the river away from continuing decline.
• "Living Sustainably with the Land," an insightful tale by local landowner and rancher Don Ruzicka about his awakening to the environmental damage associated with conventional ranching, his growing interest in what could be done to mitigate that damage, and his on-going experimentation with new practices that are taking him towards a sustainable operation. For many, Don's story, told with humour and eloquence, was the inspirational highlight of the Rally

At the end of the conference, on a day that was considerably warmer than the one on which they had taken to the river, participants were generous with their praise for the event. Many mentioned the new knowledge, tools, resources, and contacts they were taking home, but none of the comments were better received by the River Rally's organizer's than the simple sentiment that, "This has revitalised my passion for the watershed work I'm engaged in."

To ensure the information shared at the conference is available to as many people as possible, the presentations and other resources have been compiled on the Alberta Ecotrust River Rally Results website page.

About the Program

Watershed Protectors was launched in partnership with Petro-Canada in 2008 and is now carried forward with the enthusiastic support of another of Alberta Ecotrust's Visionary Partners, Suncor Energy. Water Matters contributed significant time to help plan the Rally, while The North Saskatchewan Water Alliance and Alberta Stewardship Network acted as local partners. Alberta Ecotrust will be planning another workshop designed to raise the capacity of environmental groups in 2010: stay tuned for the details.