Media Releases

March 11 Spring Deadline for EcoLeague Funding Is Near!

Need funding to support your students' action project? Apply by March 11, 2016 to receive up to $400! Whether it's school-wide or in your classroom, any project that engages your students in sustainability action qualifies.

EcoLeague™

ECOLeague logo

EcoLeague™ focuses on youth as the drivers of change and leaders of tomorrow.

Through EcoLeague™ students are engaged in linking what they have learned to action projects that provide a real context for understanding sustainability issues in their community. Undertaking action projects allows youth to understand that they do have the ability to bring about positive and significant change in their schools and communities.

[VIDEO] Stats - Canal Skating Season Shorter and Shorter

Length of seasons compared

1971-72 Season 90 days 1972-73 Season 78 days 1973-74 Season 65 days 1974-75 Season 62 days 1975-76 Season 67 days 1976-77 Season 71 days 1977-78 Season 77 days 1978-79 Season 64 days 1979-80 Season 62 days 1980-81 Season 61 days Last Season 59 days This Season 28 days - 18 days of skating

Meteorologists calculate “normal” temperatures based on 30 years of data because the weather varies so much from one year to the next. The Rideau Canal Skateway has only been in operation for 46 years so comparing the first 30 years with the most recent 30 involves some overlap, but the average season length from start to finish during the first 30 years of operation was 4½ days longer than the average for the most recent 30 years. That’s an average of 60 days back then compared to 55½ for the average from 1986-87 to now.

Brewer Park Project Wins Prestigious National Conservation Award

MEDIA RELEASE

[caption id="attachment_2494" align="aligncenter" width="430"] Jennifer Lamoureux and Peter Levick receive the Conservation Award.[/caption]

OTTAWA, ON, Thursday, February 18, 2016 — Brewer Park Pond Restoration Project has received the Top Canadian Fishing Industry Conservation Project Award for 2015. This award, presented at the Spring Fishing and Boat Show at the International Centre in Mississauga, ON is determined by a vote of the members of the Canadian Angling Hall of Fame.

Council Strengthens Climate Protection – Thanks to You

Thanks to you who have expressed your support for stronger climate change action at City Hall, City Council on February 24 adopted a stronger plan to tackle the problem.

Mayor Jim Watson encouraged his council to vote for the motion saying “we are taking this issue seriously” and that he’s had meetings with Ecology Ottawa and other groups over the last few weeks and the message he’s heard is much the same as he’s heard in the community.

No Energy East Pipeline Loonie Campaign Gets Coverage

looneyslider Ottawa Metro News' headline read Loonie Campaign Sticking it to Energy East Pipeline

Readers learned that Ecology Ottawa has as many as 100,000 stickered loonies in circulation with a URL that will inform them about objections to TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline, which, if approved, will take 1.1 million barrels of crude oil across the Rideau River daily.

EVENT February 25 • Age-Friendly Walkability Report

How safe are Ottawa streets for seniors and other valuable people?

Ottawa: The Council on Aging Ottawa (COA) and Ecology Ottawa will host a special event on February 25 to launch An Age-Friendly Walkability Report: Safe Streets for Seniors and Other Valuable People in Ottawa.

The report summarizes a two-year project carried out by the COA’s Pedestrian Safety Committee involving walkability and pedestrian safety audits in three Ottawa communities – Hintonburg, the Glebe and Kanata-Beaverbrook in the winter, spring and fall of 2014-15. Residents from age 2 to 85 (and several dogs) carried out the walkability audits in sunny, rainy and snowy weather.

Annual Report 2014

Download the PDF here or view it below.

The biggest year ever for climate change action starts February 16

Ottawa residents are facing an unprecedented opportunity for a breakthrough on climate change over the next year.

We have entered one of those rare periods when our municipal, provincial and federal governments all have a mandate for action and a desire to move in the right direction. Each level of government is in the process of crafting its own response to the climate challenge and the combined result of their work will be a path forward that is filled with major milestones and specific deadlines.

We need your help! Ottawa's Urban Forest Management Plan

main_banner

Ottawa’s Urban Forest Management Plan - We Need You!

We have an opportunity to become a leader in urban forest management, but we need your help! The City had a successful public consultation surrounding the Urban Forest Management Plan in November, but more needs to be done.The City will receive the consultants first draft of their proposed plan in March, but the next public

Say NO to the South March Highlands Development!

KNL and the South March Highlands: There are Species at Risk!

Kanata North Lakes Developments Inc. (KNL) has submitted a proposal to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to seek approval for a residential subdivision development in Kanata; west of Ottawa. The proposal for a development permit under clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act to remove up to 120 Butternut trees and destroy the habitat of trees for the purpose of developing the residential subdivision.

Tamarack Institute Presents: Community Engagement - The Next Generation

Community Engagement The Next Generation

Ottawa ON | March 9-11, 2016

This will be a three-day workshop lead by Paul Born, Mark Holmgren and Rachel Gainer, hosted at the Westin Hotel. Please check here for registration rates.

You will learn the latest engagement techniques and interact with the technology that will transform how you engage your clients, customers, funders and partners. Through dialogue with leaders in the field of engagement and social change, you will enhance your capacity to effectively hear the voices of those you serve and learn key strategies to mobilize them toward a collective impact.

Ecology Ottawa joins 75 groups to call Prime Minister and Premiers to take action

75 North American groups call Prime Minister and Premiers to take swift action to meet Canada’s new climate goal.

Vast Majority of Carbon Reserves Must Stay in the Ground to meet 1.5C target

January 27, 2016

On the eve of a meeting of Canada’s Environment Ministers in Ottawa to talk about the national climate strategy, 74 organizations, representing millions of people in Canada and the U.S., sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s premiers outlining the steps Canada needs to take to fulfill its international commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 C, as agreed to by 195 countries at the Paris climate summit.