News from March 2008

EALT Speaks to the Alberta Land Trust Alliance about our new Urban Land Trust

March 30, 2008

The Alberta Land Trust Alliance as its first event, hosted a workshop in Leduc. Invitees included all Alberta’s land trusts, and many municipalities, ENGOs, and other interested parties, and over 70 people attended.

Pam Wight, EALT’s Executive Director, was asked to make a presentation on “Setting up an Urban Land Trust”. For details of the presentation, click here, or visit the ALTA website.

Edmonton and Area Land Trust Appoints Executive Director

March 15, 2008

The Edmonton and Area Land Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of Pamela Wight to the position of Executive Director.

Ms Wight brings over 34 years of experience in positions with the private sector, government, and not-for-profit organisations, and has worked with developers, industry, not-for-profits, government, academia, local organisations, and a range of consulting and other professionals.

Ross Wein, Chairman of the Board, says “Pam’s depth of experience and collaborative leadership style will bring the right mix of skills and knowledge to the Edmonton and Area Land Trust. Her capabilities will also complement the strengths and expertise of our Board”.

Most recently, Ms Wight built and operated her own successful consulting company, working with a range of clients, from local to international levels, and these included the United Nations Environment Program, the UN World Tourism Organisation, the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and the International Trade Centre of the UN. Over the last 12 years, she has developed hands-on experience working in Alberta, across Canada, and in every global geo-region.

Ms Wight has been involved with the private sector and the development community as part of her professional activities. In government, she was charged with assisting and supporting various developers and potential tourism operators, particularly providing assistance throughout the regulatory and approvals stages of projects; and as a consultant, she has worked with industry on business development plans, feasibility studies, and marketing plans.

Ms Wight spent 7 years in the Provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism, involved in work with developers, land use planning, community development, and various policy, research and environmental initiatives. Besides involvement in the provincial government, she has had considerable involvement with municipal governments, for example, as a key author of the County of Strathcona’s Green Plan.

Ms Wight has been involved with not-for-profit organisations for since the 1970s, including the United Way, local recreation organisations, the Land Stewardship Centre of Canada, and The International Ecotourism Society. She has also been active in conservation-related activities, and in 1985 was selected as the City of Edmonton’s representative on the Environment Council of Alberta. In that position, she sat on the Coordinating Committee of the Alberta Conservation Strategy, assisting in the development of the draft strategy, and authoring one of the technical support documents which fed into the strategy.

Ms Wight strongly believes in networking, partnershipping, and communications, and hopes to make this key to her work for EALT. She says “I am absolutely delighted to be involved with an organisation where natural areas are valued assets, and are recognised as having a key role in the social, economic and environmental life of the citizens of Edmonton and area”.

Ms Wight holds an MA in socio-economic geography from the University of Alberta, an honours MA in physical geography from the University of Aberdeen, and a Certificate in Environmental Management and Planning from the Centre for Environmental Planning and Management, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

About Edmonton and Area Land Trust

EALT is a not-for-profit natural areas conservation initiative established through a partnership among the City of Edmonton, the Edmonton Community Foundation, the Urban Development Institute, the Edmonton Nature Club, the Legacy Lands Conservation Society, and the Land Stewardship Centre of Canada. These founding groups, supported by a broad community of interest, identified the need for a charitable land trust to assist in natural areas conservation within the Edmonton area. The EALT intends to accomplish this through the use of a range of charitable tools that may include donations, land purchase, and the use of conservation easement agreements.

Edmonton and Area Land Trust