River Rally Results and Resources

September 29 - October 1, 2009
Devon, Alberta

River Rally 2009 was a training and networking workshop for individuals and groups working on watershed stewardship, management and protection in Alberta. Over 75 water leaders and learners from across Alberta and Saskatchewan came together to bring their best ideas forward and tap into the wealth of knowledge, learning and action from water thought leaders.

Click here for a complete overview of the River Rally 2009 program including speaker biographies and session descriptions.

"The fundraising workshop was a great source of ideas to take back to my Board. I learned about resources and action steps for success."

"I came with the intent to connect with other stewards and like minded individuals. It's great to catch up with these folks at such a forum and pick up tools for my organization."

Themes

Communicate With Impact

Sessions focused on strategies and techniques to communicate water messages more effectively.

Water Words that Work, with Eric Eckl. Make a splash with your water communications with the help of one of North America's top water communications consultants. Raise money, achieve your mandate, influence policy and change behaviours. Eric Eckl has offered to share his resources with River Rally participants, you may find the communications handouts and resources by clicking here.

Water Science on the River, with Cows & Fish and RiverWatch. Learn about assessing impacts and finding solutions.

Access And Leverage Resources

Participants learned to coordinate, collaborate and cooperate for effective program development.

Alberta Water Stewardship Profiles - Curtis Horning, Alberta Environment, Sheena Majewski, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Jayme Nelson, North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance.
State of the Watershed Reporting presented by Curtis Horning, Alberta Environment, and Jayme Nelson, North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance.

(Free!) Tech Advantage, with Jane Zhang of Tech Soup Canada. Get introduced to a wealth of free (or nearly free) technology resources to increase your organization's effectiveness while watching the bottom line.
Water and Land-Use presented by Dr. Michael Sullivan, Sustainable Resource Development.

Engage Your Community

Tools and ideas to engage stakeholders were offered in these sessions.

Community Engagement for Watershed Protection, with Wendy Wilson of River Network. Reach out to your community and engage new supporters. As the National Director of Organizational Development, Wendy is a powerhouse personality with great information. Wendy presented three sessions at River Rally:

Engaging Your Community - A Guide for Water and Conservation Groups

Fund Development Planning

Water Footprint Part I and Part II

Community Riparian Assessment - Cows & Fish led an interactive session on designing a riparian engagement plan.
Water World Cafe - presented by Alberta Ecotrust. Water World Cafe Output here.