Ecology Action Center's Sustainable Communities Award

Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 10:42:48 -0400
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2000 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AWARD

Call for Nominations

Nominations are now being received for this year's Sustainable Communities 
Award - an award of recognition given by Ecology Action Centre's Environment 
and Development Committee.

Each year an award is given to a Nova Scotian community or community-centred 
organization that demonstrates leadership and commitment to the environment 
socio-economic development of their community. The award is based on the 
following criteria: demonstration of ecologically-appropriate development, 
efforts to improve economic self-reliance, increased community control over 
their local resources, and an ability to build a community culture.

The communities of Sambro and Bear River, and the community organizations, 
Mi'Kmaq Fish and Wildlife Commission and Clean Annapolis River Project are 
past recipients of the Sustainable Communities Award.  These winners exemplify 
respect for the relationship between environmental, economic, social and 
cultural considerations within a vision of a healthy community.

If you live in or know of a community engaging in local 
environmentally-appropriate socio-economic development projects please 
nominate it.

Eligibility
This award is open to any Nova Scotian community or community-oriented 
organization.  Individuals and business enterprises are not eligible.  Anyone 
may nominate a candidate.  Self-nominations are welcomed.  See the Sustainable 
Communities Award description of past award winners for the range of 
possibilities in candidates.

Information Requested.  Please submit a 2-4 page letter including the 
following:
ú	Name of nominated community or organization
ú	Community contact information, including contact person 
ú	Description of community's incorporation of environmental priorities into 
development, such as reducing energy consumption, re-using waste, or ecosystem 
planning
ú	Description of innovative/alternative approaches to development problems
ú	Description of steps taken to create a cooperative community culture
ú	Description of tangible results, such as improved environmental conditions

Submit nominations to: 
Ecology Action Centre
Attn: Cheryl Benjamin
1568 Argyle Street, Suite 31 
Halifax N.S. B3J 2B3
telephone 429-2202 / fax 422 6410

Deadline: March 31, 2000


The Ecology Action Centre's 
Environment and Development Committee

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AWARD


The Environment and Development Committee is part of Nova Scotia's Ecology 
Action Centre, the province's oldest environmental organization. Since 1987, 
the Committee has been working through research, education and advocacy, to 
support sustainable communities locally and world-wide. The Committee 
highlights connections between the environment and the economy, and between 
the North and the South ('developed' and 'under-developed' nations), focusing 
attention on the challenge of creating an economy which fits sustainably 
within the ecosystem, and which works for people and their communities, rather 
than the other way around.

The Sustainable Communities Award is presented annually by the Environment and 
Development Committee to a community or community-centred organization in Nova 
Scotia that has shown leadership and commitment to the principles of 
sustainability, recognizing the need for environmental, economic, social and 
cultural well-being within a vision of a healthy community. The award winners 
illustrate how people in communities can work together to take greater control 
of their economic future and ensure a quality environment through a local 
economy that serves local needs, provides sustainable jobs and promotes 
fairness. The award winners have demonstrated success in:

ú	ensuring economic activity is ecologically appropriate and resources are 
sustainably used
ú	improving economic self-reliance through community-based development
ú	building community spirit and a community culture along with economic 
development

	In addition, the Environment and Development Committee looks for 
demonstrations that innovative/alternative approaches are being tried, and 
tangible results are being obtained.

	Past award winners (and finalists) have included the communities of Bear 
River, Sambro, Cheticamp, Johnstown, and Cow Bay, and the following 
community-based organizations: the Southwest Nova Fixed Gear Association, the 
Clean Annapolis River Project and the Mi'Kmaq Fish and Wildlife Commission.

	1999 Sustainable Communities Award Winner:

	The Mi'Kmaq Fish and Wildlife Commission

	The Mi'Kmaq Fish and Wildlife Commission was formed by the Assembly of Nova 
Scotia Chiefs to coordinate and facilitate the use and management of natural 
resources, such as fish, forests and wildlife, by Mi'Kmaq people in Nova 
Scotia. the MFWC seeks to "improve management of food resources for the 
benefit of communities today and for Mi'Kmaq in generations to come". This is 
carried out through province-wide and community-level activities, guided by 
Mi'Kmaq tradition, culture and respect for nature. The MFWC, and 
community-level bodies connected with it, has an impressive range of 
accomplishments over a relatively short time period. These include:
	
ú	community development of harvesting plans for resources such as eels, moose 
and trees.
ú	enhancing the sense of responsibility for conservation among Mi'Kmaq 
harvesters.
ú	incorporation of ecosystem-based thinking within the fabric of resource 
management.
ú	implementation of training programs, such as a program to improve harvesting 
and safety practices among Mi'Kmaq fishermen.
ú	studies of traditional ecological knowledge - the knowledge of the natural 
world accumulated over time by harvesters and communities - among the Mi'Kmaq 
in Guysborough County.
ú	participatory research involving Mi'Kmaq harvesters and communities, as well 
as joint work with non-native organizations, such as an upcoming study on Bay 
of Fundy lobster resources.
ú	public education, including a newsletter to all Mi'Kmaq households and 
participation in public meetings, strengthening support for the Commission's 
efforts and for traditional Mi'Kmaq concepts of resource management.


	1998 Sustainable Communities Award Winner:

	Sambro

	Sambro, a community on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast near Halifax, has a 
strong historical base in the fishery, having been among the province's major 
fishing centres. While hard hit by the collapse of the groundfish fishery, 
Sambro has displayed remarkable community spirit both in its approach to 
maximizing the benefits it receives from very limited fishery resources, and 
in its efforts to diversify the local economy:
	
ú	In 1995, Sambro pioneered local-level management in the groundfish fishery, 
as the first location to institute a 'community quota', a share of the 
available harvest that local fishermen manage themselves. This approach has 
proven so successful that it has now expanded to the full fixed-gear inshore 
fishery on the Scotian Shelf and in the Bay of Fundy. Fishermen in Sambro 
credit the approach with having stabilized, and essentially saved, their local 
fishery.
ú	Sambro has demonstrated a strong cooperative approach, in which fishers 
share the available resources, fish processors join forces, rather than 
compete destructively, and those in the fishery support, through the Fishermen 
and Scientists Research Society, cooperative efforts to bring fishers together 
with scientists to learn more about the fish and ocean conditions.
ú	Sambro has worked hard to diversify the local economy, through 
environmentally appropriate aquaculture and efforts to develop a local beach 
as a tourist attraction, while protecting the coastal environment at the site 
from excessive damage and preserving the historical Sambro lighthouse.



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