The Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership Society (ALIDP) was founded in 2008, born out of a recognition of the need for innovation in stormwater management practices, first highlighted by presentations at the 2004 Alberta Lake Management Society conference. It was identified at that conference that only eight percent imperviousness led to the loss of biological integrity of small salmon-bearing streams in the Pacific Northwest, which was a figure much lower than had been previously thought to cause such impacts.

A nucleus of professionals from industry, municipalities and Alberta Environment were inspired at this event to meet regularly, leading to the inaugural Innovations in Urban Development conference in Cochrane in 2006. This was followed by the formal establishment of the ALIDP as a Society in 2008. Since then, the ALIDP has run a variety of conferences and training sessions throughout Alberta, sometimes in partnership with other organizations.

The ALIDP promotes innovative, integrated, interdisciplinary multi-solving approaches (phew!) that are cost-effective over the long run (and sometimes in the short run as well). The organization works both top-down and bottom-up, from policy to grassroots hands-on projects. In between, it concentrates on providing a platform to advance knowledge amoung professionals through its, e.g., working groups, research and demonstration initiatives, and networking opportunities.

While the ALIDP is a provincial organization, it also works at the regional, national and international level, taking local insight to a broader audience and bringing applicable learnings back home to you.

Learn more about the ALIDP at https://alidp.org