News
MORE TRAINING WORKSHOPS – BY POPULAR DEMAND
The registration for the Intensive Training Workshops at “Building a Better World”, the 2009 CIP/OPPI Conference, has been overwhelming with hundreds of delegates registered for the sessions. Most sessions have sold out. In response, the conference committee, together with the generosity of the presenters, has expanded the line-up for your learning:
ITW 2 – Ethics and planning: Raising the bar on professional standards.
ITW 3 – Climate Change Breakthroughs: How to implement a local action plan – this session will be offered a second time in the afternoon of September 30th. MAXIMUM 30 participants
ITW 5 - Integrating environmental assessment and planning: Getting it done
ITW6 – LEEDing neighbourhoods by design - this session will be offered a second time in the afternoon of September 30th. MAXIMUM 60 participants
ITW8 – Food and agriculture systems: New tools for an emerging planning area - this session will be offered a second time in the afternoon of September 30th. MAXIMUM 60 participants
ITW 9 - Accessing and using Authoritative Geospatial Framework Data on the Web
NEW WORKSHOP!
ITW10 – Climate Change Primer: What you need to know – Morning of September 30th. MAXIMUM 50 participants.
To to view Wednesday’s program options, click here for a PDF version.
These workshops are very popular and will sell out quickly. Registration is available at: http://www.niagarafalls2009.ca/
Let’s All Have a Great Time at 2009 CIP/OPPI Conference
Building a Better World
Niagara Falls, Ontario – September 30th to October 3rd 2009
By: Barbara Wiens
Not only is the conference program filled with interesting speakers and plenary sessions bound to inspire us to “Build a Better World”, but so too will the social program excite and get us all thinking about the places and spaces that make our communities great.
On Wednesday, September 30th, plan on golfing at the Niagara Parks Commission Whirlpool Golf Course, one of Canada’s most highly rated public golf courses, located in a spectacular setting against the backdrop of the Niagara River Whirlpool and Gorge. Or take a bus tour led by Sherman Zavitz, Historian for the City of Niagara Falls, that will showcase the history and beauty of Niagara Falls and surrounding area including the Niagara Gorge with spectacular views of the Falls, historic monuments and buildings, and nearby wine country. Round out your day by attending our Opening Reception at the spectacular Edgewater’s Tap and Grill where our keynote speaker, Shelia Watt-Cloutier will share with us her insights on the profound changes that have occurred in the Arctic and how those changes impact all of us.
There are more fun things to do in the evening of Thursday, October 1st, including being amazed by a magic show starring the International Grand Champion of Magic, Greg Frewin who has won first place in all the world’s top magic competitions, a feat that has never been duplicated, and has appeared at Caesars Palace and the Tropicana in Las Vegas. If that does not entice you, then enjoy a fabulous meal created from the freshest locally-grown ingredients in historic Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Pillar and Post Inn, followed by a performance of “Born Yesterday” at the Shaw Festival Theatre. Or, if the tropics are more to your liking, then Bird Kingdom will surprise you with 35-foot tall palm trees, a 40-foot waterfall, and birds of every description in the world’s largest free-flying aviary, home to over 35 species of exotic birds from around the globe.
On Friday, October 2nd you will not want to miss our Gala Dinner and CIP/OPPI Awards Celebrating Excellence held at the conference hotel, with master of ceremonies, Suhana Meharchand of Saturday Report and CBC News. Planning is also underway to secure a performer to cap off the evening.
Before you leave on Saturday, October 3rd, plan on enjoying a Winemaker’s Lunch at Vineland Estates Winery. With cuisine featuring local ingredients prepared by an internationally trained team of chefs, paired with wines from this unique growing area, take in the views of the Niagara escarpment and vineyards looking over Lake Ontario.
But that’s not all. Just steps from the conference hotel, there are cafés, galleries, shopping, parks, attractions, and the world renowned Clifton Hill to enjoy, not to mention two world class casinos that are more than happy and willing to free you of your hard earned money.
So plan to attend this year’s conference, there is something in the program for everyone, and the opportunities for socializing with your colleagues in Niagara are second to none.
"When Students meet Planners"
2009 CIP/OPPI Conference – Building A Better World
Niagara Falls, Ontario – September 30th to October 3rd, 2009
By: Natasha D'Souza
Join us at the 2009 CIP/OPPI conference and experience how planning is building a better world. From the new interactive media café to the exciting line-up of sessions and speakers, learn about cutting-edge research and ideas about transforming communities from new graduates and students, and of course, take advantage of networking opportunities at the networking reception and throughout the Conference.
New technologies have changed the way we dialogue. Learn about how the profession is growing through blogging, podcasts, Google sketch-up and Google earth. These innovative new tools, in addition to traditional posters, reflect a new approach to communication and outreach. See these tools in action at the interactive media café, which will run throughout the Conference. Recent graduates and students will use these tools to present exciting topics such as: Urban Agriculture Through Storytelling, Graffiti – A Tool For Urban Renewal, and Using New Media to Expand Participation in Planning through the Blogosphere. Hear fresh perspectives on building a better world that reflects the views of our future planning profession. Be sure to drop by before lunch on Friday, Oct 2nd to meet and ask questions of those new planners and students who are displaying their work as part of the interactive media café.
Not to be missed is the networking reception, "When students meet planners", on Friday, October 2nd. The interdisciplinary variety of environment, culture, economic, and other social sessions offered at the Conference provide a unique learning opportunity that brings together the best of the best. This 2009 CIP/OPPI conference is your chance to interact with the main players in the field, to network with your colleagues, and allow professionals from various planning sectors to see you and hear from you. These networking connections can birth ideas for future research and influence career paths. Make contacts and learn about how planners got to where they are, and what route they took to get there. It is never too early or too late to build your network or meet your future colleagues.
Registration is open! Visit the Conference website at www.niagarafalls2009.ca
Students – take advantage of the special student registration fee!
Historic Niagara forms backdrop to Better World Conference
By:
Alex Herlovitch
When you come to Niagara Falls to enjoy the joint OPPI-CIP conference in September, you are coming to an area steeped in history.
The first recorded settlers in Niagara Falls arrived in 1782. The first roads followed the trails of the First Nation’s people and are still important transportation corridors today. Portage Road (the name reminds us that Niagara Falls required those travelling by water to make a long portage) extends from Chippawa to Queenston and wends its way through the City, skirting the upper rapids, falls and whirlpool of the Niagara River. Mountain Road follows the original trail along the brow of the Niagara Escarpment, overlooking Niagara-on-the-Lake.
In 1833, The City of the Falls Project was conceived as the first “planned community” in Niagara Falls. Approximately 400 acres were to be subdivided surrounding the hotels at the Falls. The plan called for the building of public gardens, churches, schools and a library; in essence a complete community. Alas, the project failed, because it was too costly to construct the necessary infrastructure and the sale of lots was slow. Today, many streets in the Fallsview area bear the names of the principals in the plan.
A double-deck suspension bridge was built across the Niagara River in 1853 to accommodate the Grand Trunk Railway, which arrived that year. The railway brought new prosperity and an ever-growing number of visitors to see the natural wonder of the New World.
After the Falls, the second most popular attraction was a visit to the Lundy’s Lane Battleground, immortalized in the lyrics of “The Maple Leaf Forever.” Initially, tourists came to climb or ride to the top of the observation towers erected on the site of the bloodiest conflict ever to take place on Canadian soil. The towers are long gone, but conference participants can see the best collection of artifacts, uniforms and memorabilia associated with the War of 1812 on exhibit at the Lundy’s Lane Museum. The collection will form the centrepiece of displays for bicentennial events planned three years hence.
By the 1860s, the area along the Niagara River next to the Falls on both sides of the border was a centre for sideshows, stunters and all manner of disreputable money-making activities. Complaints from both Americans and Canadians to their respective governments led to the creation of parks on either side of the river. The United States passed legislation in 1883 to establish the State Reservation above the Falls. The grounds and landscape were the work of Fredrick Law Olmstead, pre-eminent parks planner of the period and father of landscape architecture in North America. His work will be examined during one of the mobile workshops of the conference.
In 1885, the Niagara Falls Park Act began the process that led to the creation of a public Canadian park at the Falls. Today, the Niagara Parks Commission controls the lands from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and is lauded for its preservation of publicly accessible land. Join us for our opening celebrations at Edgewater’s Tap and Grill in the heart of the Park, or for an early morning jog through the Park on Friday.
The late 19th century also saw the first efforts to harness the falls for hydroelectric power generation. The Canadian Niagara Power Company, formed in 1892, was the first to generate power on a large scale on the Canadian side. Its Rankine Generating Station is now owned by the Niagara Parks Commission. Over the next several years, other companies were granted rights to use water to generate electricity, including the syndicate led by Sir Henry Pellatt (who made his home at Casa Loma in Toronto). Power development continues on an even larger scale today.
Currently, the provincial government and Ontario Power Generation are boring a new (third) tunnel under the City to divert water from the upper Niagara River to operate turbines at the Sir Adam Beck plant at the north end of the City. Sign up for the mobile workshop that includes a visit to the generating station and tunnelling site.
The supply of hydroelectric power brought with it an influx of industry, including Nabisco, Post Foods, Canadian Ramapo Iron Works, Burgess Battery, Ohio Brass, and Cytec. Most of the heavy manufacturers are now gone, leaving brownfields behind. One of these sites will be the focus of an intensive urban design charrette on opening day.
The Niagara region on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border will be featured in several mobile workshops. The City’s historian will lead an orientation tour highlighting cultural heritage for both delegates and their families. Speakers from across the country will showcase their projects as our profession debates, challenges and discusses the opportunity to Build a Better World. Join us at one of the world’s wonders for a fabulous experience where we can learn from the past as we chart the future.
Alex Herlovitch is conference co-chair and Director of Planning and Development for the City of Niagara Falls. He can be reached at aherlovitch@niagarafalls.ca.
|
