Keepers of the Water VI: Schedule now available

I am excited to be a part of Keepers of the Water VI, a conference to be held this September in Ft. Nelson.

Much more can be learned about the Keepers here. As a bit of summary, here is a short passage from that at link: “The Keepers of the Water movement was born during the first Keepers of the Water Gathering in Liidlii Kui, Denendeh/Fort Simpson, NWT, held on September 7, 2006. This Gathering was called because the people of the northern Mackenzie River Basin were becoming alarmed with reports of increased turbidity and toxicity, and decreased volume of water in their watershed.”

This September’s conference will also focus on water stewardship in the Arctic Ocean Basin, which is fast becoming the crux of northern energy development, particularly on issues surrounding the Northern Gateway Pipeline (which an independent board of engineers declared yesterday as too risky given the likelihood of tanker spills)  and hydraulic fracturing (Apache Corp. claims to have done the world’s largest frack nearby, using 256 milion gallons of water for a single frack, and then besting that record by more than half a short time later).

The details of the conference – which include a cross-section of activists, policy makers and academics – are now available here.

I am scheduled to speak on the Friday morning and to lead a workshop that afternoon, both are working from the title of my session: Recovering community: water governance, leadership and ethics. Additional lectures in Alberta are planned for just after the conference, the details of which are still being worked out.

I will also try to blog as much as possible during those days as I learn more from others.