The Praxis Group™ | Involving People.

In 2009, the Land Use Secretariat (LUS) contracted O2 Planning + Design and Praxis to support the Public Information and Stakeholder Consultation process for Phase 1 of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP). The information gathered through this Phase helped to inform the development of the SSRP Vision Document. The SSRP is one of seven regional plans being developed by the LUS as part of the Alberta Land-use Framework (LUF) initiative, which provides a new approach to land-use and natural resource planning and management in the province.

Praxis was responsible for developing and delivering the public information and stakeholder input sessions across 16 communities in the South Saskatchewan Region (SSR) of southern Alberta, between November 20 and December 10, 2009. These sessions provided the public and stakeholders with information about the SSR planning process and gathered their input on specific topics identified in the SSRP Terms of Reference. Approximately 500 people attended the 16 public information and input sessions. A broad range of stakeholders participated in the sessions, including representatives from municipalities, industry, environmental organizations, NGOs, irrigation districts, planning commissions, agricultural organizations, business development and landowners.

Praxis moderated and recorded the feedback for the stakeholder sessions. LUS and GoA personnel, as well as members of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), attended the sessions to respond to questions. Attendees to the public sessions were encouraged to provide their comments on flipcharts set-up along with the information panels.

Upon completion of the 16 sessions, the Praxis team consolidated and analyzed the input gathered from the stakeholder and public sessions, and prepared a report of the summary of findings for the LUS.