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2008 Partner's Meeting - Wrap Up
Overview
On Sept 25, 2008 the Trust hosted the 2008 Waterfront Trail Partner's Meeting. The meeting was held at the Ajax Rotary Pavillion, located just metres from the Waterfront Trail on Ajax's stunning waterfront. The main focus of the meeting was evaluating year one of the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure and planning for year two. The morning session consisted of a series of presentations by the Trust and experts in the health environmental and tourism fields. Presentations have been summarized below (including slides).
The major announcement was the unveiling of the theme for next year's event: coastal wetlands. We look forward to working closely with Ducks Unlimited to integrate this fascinating and important theme into next year’s itinerary.
In the afternoon, we broke into table groups to discuss a number of issues related to the GWTA from the partner's perspective. The results have been summarized below.
Finally, we turned our attention to how the profile gained from the tour will help with the next round of infrastructure projects.
Ian Lobb, Tour Director, Waterfront Regeneration Trust (slides in pdf format)
Ian reviewed the successes and lessons learned in organizing our first-ever end to end cycling tour of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. He presented survey results from the participants and organizers including economic benefits. He also presented a list of community best practices. To conclude, Ian unveiled the theme for next year (coastal wetlands) and the 2009 route, which has been modified from year one to incorporate Quinte West and Bellville in the festivities.
Sharon Brodovsky, Sr. Manager, Healthy Weights Initiative, Research, Advocacy and Health Promotion Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (slides in pdf format)
Ms Brodovsky provided an outline of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Healthy Children Strategy which deals with tackling the problem of chilhood obeisity. She sees the GWTA as playing an important role in advocacy at the community level and she provided suggestions for communities to help harness the health potential of the GWTA.
Tracey Desjardins, Regional Tourism Industry Advisor, Ministry of Tourism
Ms Desjardins drew from her expertise in the tourism field to suggest ways of enhancing the tourism potential of the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure. She focused on best practices and current trends in tourism. While her presentation did not incorporate slides, Ms Desjardins was kind enough to provide us with some tourism statistics and facts from the World Tourism Organization. Click here to download in pdf format.
Lynette Mader, Manager, Outreach Programs, Ducks Unlimited Canada (slides in pdf format)
Ms Mader provided an overview of challenges facing coastal wetlands and the role of Ducks Unlimited in protecting these environmentally sensitive areas, including educating the public about their value. She stressed the importance of getting people oudoors to experience wetlands and recognized the Trust's role in making the waterfront accessible. The Trust will be partnering with Ducks Unlimited to helop integrate coastal wetlands into the 2009 GWTA itinerary.
In the afternoon, we broke out into groups to discuss a series of questions concerning 2009 Adventure. Click here to view the results of the table discussions.
Waterfront Investment Program - Phase II
While much of the meeting focused on the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure
tour, an important topic on the agenda for the afternoon session was the
Waterfront Investment Program – Phase II. With the completion of
the highly successful COIP program this year, the Trust is busy compiling
a new portfolio of projects to include in the next application for infrastructure
funding. If you have a project that you would like included and have not
already spoken with us, please contact Marlaine Koehler at mk@wrtrust.com.
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