AREF To Sponsor Award Recognizing Environmentalism

The Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) is partnering with the Alberta Emerald Awards to sponsor the Shared Footprints Award celebrating excellence in land use.

The Shared Footprints Award, which recognizes excellence in Integrated Land Management (ILM)—a strategic planned approach to managing and reducing the human-caused footprint on public and/or private land—was created in 2009 in partnership with Alberta Sustainable Resource and Development. "With the reputation and success of the Emerald Awards in Alberta, it made sense for us to work together to make a unique category that celebrates great stories in sustainable land use in Alberta," said Gary Willson, AREF's chair.

In total, there are 96 nominees from 22 communities across Alberta vying for an award in 10 categories.

"This is a unique partnership for us, as most of our partners come from the corporate and government sectors, so we have never had a formal partnership with another foundation," said Emmy Stuebing, executive director of the Alberta Emerald Foundation, which puts on the annual awards. "We are very proud to call the Alberta Real Estate Foundation an Emerald Leader."

Nominees must meet the standards of the Emerald Awards, address the Shared Footprints Award criteria plus demonstrate how their efforts support the principles of ILM. Previous Emerald Award winners include the Calgary Folk Music Festival, who won for their Eco-initiatives Program and Road Watch in the Pass, a project in Crowsnest Pass aimed at protecting the diverse wildlife species in this area of the Rocky Mountains.

"The nominees in this category demonstrate collaboration, dedication and creativity in working to improve and enhance land use practices in Alberta," said Stuebing. "The Shared Footprints category of the Emerald Awards showcases excellence in land use."

Both Foundations look forward to working together to support and recognize champions in ILM in Alberta. AREF's sister organization, the Real Estate Foundation of BC has been running their own Land Awards for over four years. Instead of considering their own awards program, AREF chose to collaborate with the wellestablished Emerald Awards. The 23rd annual Alberta Emerald Awards will take place on June 5th in Calgary.

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