Leadership for
ACE Communities

We invite you to join us as we work to enhance the quality of life in rural Alberta by strengthening community leadership, collaboration, and innovation through recreation, parks, arts, culture and heritage.

ACE Communities - Active, Creative and Engaged Communities - is a community development initiative of the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA) made possible with funding provided by the Rural Alberta Development Fund (RADF) and the corporate sponsorship of EnCana and CanWest Media.

Find Out More | Have something to say? Contact Us!

Community Highlights

Introducing ACE Communities

View Google Map of communities

Sylvan Lake's MSP Youth Forum

Sylvan Lake has just completed their Youth Forum regarding youth input into the town's upcoming Municipal Sustainability Plan. The Sylvan Lake ACE committee also used the forum to tap into what the youth think about in terms of a potential ACE initiative in their community.The youth who attended...

Didsbury's Community Cafe

Didsbury had a coffee and dessert Community Cafe this month as part of their ACE Scanning Tool activities. 32 participants showing very broad representation of the population attended including a range from new residents, long time residents, volunteers with lots of experience and people new to...

Communicating via Blogging

A Kitscoty leader took the challenge and started to blog for the community of Kitscoty. What Diane uses the blog for is a communication tool. The focus is having a calendar of events so residents can look at a glance to discover what is happening in the community. Or, residents can look ahead to...

Newsworthy Vulcan

Check out this article in the Vulcan Advocate about the Ignite Event in Vulcan. Vulcan had an amazing day where the ACE team spent time in the high school as well as with the public at large. The Vulcan ACE Committee has already followed up with their scanning tool workshop so Vulcan is well on...

The Olympic Spirit in Irricana

It's the Olympic Spirit in Irricana! Irricana was one of the lucky communities to have the Olympic torch to come through on its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. Attached is a photo of the torch bearer, Jake Parker. Jake was a member of SOGO and had a successful year with the group as a...

Digital Gallery

Community Building Workshop in Airdrie 2010

View Event Photos →

ACE Communities Overview

Global PSA Calling Lake

Becoming a Community Builder

with Host Ian Hill

Featured Webcast

Archived Webcasts

Arts, Culture, & Heritage

Residency - Vinok Worldance

Take advantage of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Artists and Education Program and book your Vinok Residency! This grant program subsidizes the Residency fee. The...

International Dance Day - April 29

Celebrate International Dance Day!

On April 29, join in the international celebrations and share your planned dance activities for International Dance Day!

Alberta Dance...

Arts, Culture, and Heritage Resource of the Week

Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Festival

The Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Festival (M:ST) is a biennial festival that celebrates innovative and...

ARTS Tour in Grande Cache Mar 23 - 26

ACE Communities (an initiative of the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA)), in cooperation with the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta, is pleased to announce that...

Aboriginal Artist Cooperative Conference

“Putting the Collective Spirit to Work” – March 25th and 26th, 2010

Purpose: Explore the potential for multi band collaborations using the cooperative model and develop...

MORE...

Training Links

On the Bright Side: RDI Conference

The 2010 Rural Development Institute (RDI) and Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) annual policy conference will be held at the Royal Oak Inn & Suites in Brandon,...

Presenters needed at Alberta Rural Development Network’s 1st Conference

This is a Call for Presentations to be delivered at the Alberta Rural Development Network’s Creating Rural Connections Conference at the University of Lethbridge, May...

Community Development Society Webinar Series: Initiating Innovation in the Face of Rapid Change

Community Development Society Webinar Series: Initiating Innovation in the Face of Rapid Change Three webinar programs on Initiating Innovation in the Face of Rapid Change...

Training at the Alberta Native Friendship Centres

Alberta Native Friendship Centres have a history of providing educational, cultural, fun, informative sessions for schools, libraries and community groups. See below for...

Basic Facilitation Skills Training Workshop

Are you a volunteer or staff member for a voluntary or government organization? Do you plan, develop, organize, evaluate and make decisions for your organization as a team?...

Canadian Playground Safety Institute Course

Playground inspector certification training to be held in Calgary, April 2010 The Canadian Playground Safety Institute (CPSI), in association with the Alberta Recreation and...

The Future of Community

Check out this engaging Speaker Series in Edmonton. The three agencies working in partnership on the speaker series, E4C, Edmonton Community Foundation and the Edmonton...

The Bigger Game comes to Calgary...

The Bigger Game comes to Calgary... The Bigger Game is an innovation model for success... it helps individuals, teams and organizations create meaning, conviction, courage...

MORE...

Resource Links

Nature Matters! Contest

Environment Canada is celebrating 2010 International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) with a national contest on why nature matters to Canadians. IYB 2010 is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. To help raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity, we would...

The Teen Voice Report

A new Search Institute study exploring the importance of teen motivation and engagement in civic life finds that only seven percent of 15 year-olds in the U.S. experience a strong combination of three key factors critical to their success. The key factors are Sparks (a young person talents,...

YAC Link: Tips and Tricks for Starting a Youth Council

This resource is called YAC Link: Tips and Tricks for Starting a Youth Council, a joint report from the McCreary Centre, Powell River and Tia'Amin Youth Advisory Councils. This information is great for starting a youth council and for assessing how your council is functioning! The four...

KaBoom - Best Practices in Play

Best Practices in Play In municipalities across America, engaged citizens and civic leaders are actively seeking innovative ways to improve the accessibility, quality, and quantity of play and play spaces for children. To help cities build awareness & political capital and develop a policy on...