APEGGA Sponsors Workshops As Prelude to Growth Summit
APEGGA is readying a submission for consideration as part of the Alberta Growth Summit '97, scheduled for Sept. 29-30 in Edm-onton.
In preparation for the summit at the end of this month, APEGGA arranged two, one-day mini-summits, the first of which was held in Edmonton July 21, the second in Calgary July 22. Both of these sessions were chaired by a former APEGGA president, John R. McDougall, P.Eng. and in addition to participation by senior APEGGA members, included representatives of other professions, educators and business associations.
Approximately 35 participants attended each workshop.
The Government of Alberta announced plans in late April for the Growth Summit, which has an announced objective of finding ways for Alberta to achieve sustained growth for the 21st century and to do so within its existing resources. The Growth Summit is to examine questions within six broadly based sectors, namely: business, industry, agriculture, energy, government, the social economy and the sector that covers municipalities, academic institutions, schools and hospitals. Six facilitators, all of them prominent Albertans, have been asked to choose Summit delegates representative of their respective sectors.
Approximately 10 per cent of the some 90 delegates asked to attend the Growth Summit are APEGGA members.
The mini-summits organized by APEGGA in July entailed wide-ranging discussions. Topics drawing particular interest included the importance of maintaining an appropriate infrastructure in fields such as transportation, communication and utilities. Research and development emerged as another important workshop issue. Education was seen as one of the areas key to growth, and in that context, the encouragement of a culture of lifelong learning was seen as vital.
As The PEGG was going to press, the information from the mini-summits
was being drawn together to form part of a submission that APEGGA will
be forwarding to the Growth Summit's Secretariat. Additional details of
APEGGA's submission will be published in the October PEGG.