Starting a Stewardship Group
These resources, as well as the resources found on our "Capacity Building" page (under the "Resources" menu) will help get your organization on the right track!
"Must Reads:"
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development has two key stewardship publications that are very useful for stewardship groups. These include:
The North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance's "Watershed Toolkit" is an excellent resource for new stewardship groups starting up, regardless of which watershed they are working in. Visit their website at http://www.nswa.ab.ca/ and click on "publications" and then select "Watershed Toolkit" to access this resource.
Alberta Conservation Association's Caring for Our Shoreline Properties:Changing the Way We Look at Owning Lakefront Property in Alberta publication.
Other Helpful Resources:
NSWA's Municipal Resources Guide: The North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA) has produced an excellent reference guide that highlights key watershed protection topics like watershed values, applicable legislation, conservation tools, stormwater management and much more. Click here to go to the NSWA's website, then click on Publications > Municipal Resource Guide to view the publication by section or download it in its entirety.
The Alberta Conservation Association's Building a Lake Association: 6 Steps to Success includes information and resources to help your group get started, hold your first general information meeting, directors meeting and formal directors meeting, and to form your association.
Information about becoming a registered society: Overview & Accompanying materials from the Alberta Government website.
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit's(formerly Community Development) Organizational Governance Workbook and Online Series is useful for stewardship organizations working on building and defining their organization and its bylaws. Series includes: Developing Job Descriptions for Board Members of Nonprofit Organizations; Drafting and Revising Bylaws; Board Building: Recruiting and Developing Effective Board Members for Not-for-Profit Organizations; Hiring and Performance Appraisal of the Executive Director; and Financial Responsibilities of Not-for-Profit Board. Facilitative support for board development and planning may also be available.
Water for Life Enabling Partnerships: A framework in support of Water for Life. This document outlines the Government of Alberta's role in recognizing and supporting Watershed Stewardship Groups.
The BC Stewardship Centre Stewardship Series is a great resource for all stewardship groups. In particular, the publication entitled "Community Stewardship: A Guide to Establishing Your Own Group" will be useful for stewardship groups getting started.
The US Environmental Protection Agency's "Starting a Citizen Group Or Clean Water Protection Effort" page includes a number of links related to volunteer water quality monitoring, involving stakeholders, and Watershed Lessons Learned from stewardship groups across the U.S.
Purdue University's "Know your Watershed" Watershed Guides contain useful information on: formation of local, voluntary watershed partnerships; leadership; communication; managing conflict; and helping partnerships successfully attain their goals. Open the link above and browse the resources under the Watershed Guides menu on the left-hand column.
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Starting a Stewardship Group