Resources

  • International Charter for Walking

  • Leduc Community Report 2012

  • Parks, Open Space, and Trails Master Plan Update

  • 2018 Transportation Master Plan

  • Greenhouse Gas Reduction Action Plan 2020-2030

See More Projects

Related Content

A stop sign in the foreground with three young cyclists in the background at a active school travel event.

Active School Travel: Tools for Change

Why should school communities promote active transportation modes for school travel? Some data to consider: According to the baseline Family Travel Survey collected by Ever Active Schools between 2019 and 2024 in Alberta, 32.8% of families (n=6190 responses) use active modes of transportation most often for trips to school, while 36.7% of families (n=6403 responses)…
Cover image for the video series "Stories from the Field" which include 4 smiling heads divided vertically

Stories From the Field

Reflecting on Stories from the Field As Ever Active Schools, we are often in so many places in a school year, that it’s hard to sit back and reflect on some of the moments and impacts we had in communities. So we sat down to collect “Stories from the Field” from some of our amazing…
Earth Day blog image with a background of various outdoor images with text that reads "A Time to Reflect, A Time to Act".

Earth Day: A Time to Reflect; A Time to Act

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Welcome Earth Day! “Earth Day is an annual celebration that…raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations.” (National Geographic, Education: Earth Day, 2024).  The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970; today, Earth Day is celebrated on either April 22 or…

The 2024 Winter Cycling Congress: What a Ride!

Written by:  Tracey Coutts and Katie Mahon, Ever Active Schools   Has this ever happened to you… You invite people to your favourite place, maybe it’s a pizza parlour, a place known for its delicious pizza but, just as your guests start to pour through the door, the parlour runs out of cheese. Like, completely.…
Scooter rack full of scooters to promote active school travel

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN AN ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL CHAMPION FACES CHALLENGES? REALLY GREAT SOLUTIONS.

Writers:  Trevor Henderson, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, with support from Tracey Coutts and Shauna Miller-Shaker   Ever Active School supports many Active School Travel (AST) projects across the province which boast some pretty amazing outcomes, one of which continues to shine in Leduc, Alberta. In 2020/2021, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, Trevor…
winter cycling on a fat tire bike

WINTER CYCLING IN ALBERTA

Winter cycling may seem exotic and strange, but if you’ve ever biked in the warmer weather, or cross-country skied, snowshoed, or even walked outside in the winter, you’re 89.6% prepared to ride your bike in winter! How so, you might ask? Well:  You already own the clothing. You know how to dress in layers so you…
A group of people with bicycles stand in a circle during a consultation meeting in Leduc.

BUILDING THE LEDUC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION CHARTER

The municipality of Leduc, Alta., has laid much groundwork to make it an active living superstar. From its 85 km+ of multi-use pathways, to Telford Lake, to its Parks, Open Spaces, and Trails Master Plan – when it comes to active living, Leduc has some good bones.  It is clear that Leduc prioritizes wellness, but…

GRANTING PERMISSION TO TRY WITH CYCLING

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Watching young cyclists discover the freedom and thrill that comes with learning how to confidently navigate new neighbourhood and community routes is the equivalent of reading about C. S. Lewis’ Lucy moving deeper into the wardrobe, brushing past fur coats that transform to fir tree branches, on her…

THINK OUTSIDE THE (CLASSROOM) BOX

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Welcome sweet Spring, “when the world is mudluscious…(and) puddle-wonderful” (In Just-, E.E.  Cummings) and beckons us outdoors to partake in its miracles. Yes, teachers, we know that many of you have been slipping on those rubber boots and taking your classes outdoors to Explore Your 2.4s and your…

CELEBRATIONS MATTER: HALLOWEEN 2020

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools THIS TIME LAST YEAR, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THE DIFFICULTY OF THE DECISIONS TO COME AROUD HALLOWEEN 2020? A Halloween night, with a full moon, falling on a Saturday for the first time in five years, should be a spooky season lover’s dream. And yet, here we are,…

Leduc Charting Common Ground

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Aligning School Board and Municipal Priorities to Improve Active Transportation for Citizens in Leduc.

Active Transportation (AT) is integral to climate action, economic development, and positive health outcomes. Specifically, transportation is responsible for 34% of municipalities’ emissions in Alberta; commercial districts derive proven benefits from pedestrian and cycling infrastructure through increased property values and sales; and physical inactivity contributes to chronic disease, the leading cause of death in Alberta.

When focused on school community settings, Active School Travel (AST) confers additional benefits for students through improved preparedness to learn and through reduced congestion in school zones, improving road safety for all road users. An urgent opportunity exists to consolidate the work of communities, schools, researchers, and advocates into a central charter to inform local spending and plans that support AT, AST, and their many co-benefits.

Charting Common Ground leverages the shared spaces, resources, and interests of school boards and municipalities to develop and adopt an Active Travel Charter in Leduc, Alberta. The purpose of the Charter is to help identify and govern resources and responsibilities between the two local school jurisdictions and the municipality, for the benefit of all community members.

The development of a Charter is positioned to improve school and community active transportation through three primary strategies:

  1. Policy change and/or implementation (school board and municipal),
  2. Increased investment in AT, and
  3. Pilot program development. To extend the investment of this planning project, the Charter could serve as a template to be adopted in other communities to support common ground between school jurisdictions and municipalities in Alberta and beyond.

History/Milestones

Ever Active Schools has deep routes in Leduc, Alberta. Director Brian Torrance co-chairs the Healthy Hearts Committee; Mayor Bob Young has served as chair of the Ever Active Schools Board of Directors; and EAS has led Active School Travel projects in Leduc since 2019. The role of EAS in this project is to facilitate community conversations for stakeholders who wish to participate in the active transportation (AT) charter consultation process; work alongside stakeholders to develop Leduc's Common Ground AT Charter; promote, implement and monitor adoption of the Charter; prototype and pilot programs to increase AST and AT; and, finally, to scale this work to other municipalities.

Actions

Rarely do we talk about transportation (active or otherwise), let alone transportation charters, so the main challenges have been increasing community excitement and awareness of project. That said, after participants attend one of the EAS-led information sessions, they are more informed, engaged, and interested in moving on to the consultation stage. We have worked with local partners to ensure that we are connecting with as many demographics as possible in the City of Leduc (youth, seniors, community associations, school divisions, businesses, etc).

Progress/Outcomes

"This is exciting for Leduc. It's wonderful to be invited into such an important undertaking." – Teacher, Black Gold School Division

The Charter officially launched in September 2023 with support from a variety of stakeholders. EAS will promote, implement and monitor adoption of the Charter, and prototype and pilot programs to increase AST and AT. Read more about the process of building the charter in this blog post.

Interested in learning more or getting involved? Reach out to our team!

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