Designing for Tomorrow Live
Edmonton May 7 to 9, 2025
Pre-Conference Training
This year we are offering two full-day pre-conference training options. One is geared to planners and engineering designers and the other to landscaping professionals.
Stormwater Design Brilliance
Aimed at stormwater professionals, engineers and technicians at different stages in their career (but also of interest to planning professionals), this course provides an overview of what is needed to make stormwater management designs work harder than ever to achieve multiple objectives.
Given its success in protecting communities from storm-sewer and overland-flow flooding, the dual-drainage approach is one of the central tenets of the recently released CSA Standard “Flood Resilient Design of New Residential Communities” (CSA Group, 2019). Flood resilience comes from setbacks and freeboard combined with storage and conveyance measures. Though the dual-drainage approach is widely used in Alberta, design professionals often have limited appreciation of how these elements can be combined to achieve resilience to extreme rainfall. This course will look at both greenfield and older existing communities, discussing fascinating differences in approaches to analysis between Edmonton and Calgary.
That said, the course will not provide a line-by-line comparison of the Edmonton and Calgary Drainage Manuals, or highly technical overviews of the various formulas to be used in stormwater management design, or what exact input parameters are needed for the various rainfall-runoff models. Rather, the course will provide an overview of the fundamental aspects to be be aware of in the design and review of stormwater management systems, ranging from overarching Master Drainage Plans to detailed Site Implementation Plans.
Aspects to be addressed include flood control, water quality control and ways to minimize impacts on smaller streams, creeks, and wetlands, as well as touching on the topics of climate change resiliency, drought management, biodiversity and vibrant communities (including the potential role of green stormwater infrastructure).
Using examples of typical submissions, you will gain an appreciation of how to go about fitting components together, potential tradeoffs and why.
Past offerings of this course have resulted in stimulating, thought-provoking discussions that have spilled over into follow-up online sessions for participants to get their questions answered and progress in their journey to brilliance.
Resilient Landscaping Summit
Join this dynamic, roundtable-style training event to explore low-maintenance, planet-friendly landscaping practices for both private and public urban spaces. Through a lens of resiliency, you’ll gain a better understanding of how landscaping choices benefit stormwater and how stormwater benefits landscaping. A perfect match.
Taking a materials and methods approach, the course will break down the components of bioretention and rain gardens, which are two emerging infiltration practices in Alberta. From aggregates to media to plant formats, testing and establishment methods, you’ll gain an appreciation of how these practices are put together and why. Bioswales, another type of green infrastructure, will be touched on (no they’re not just another name for bioretention).
Naturalization, which has a variety of definitions, will be discussed. It can mean the use of native plants or plants that increase, a design aesthetic, or merely the absence of mowing. There are benefits to naturalization and even the potential for stormwater credits, but how to go about it and why are not widely agreed on yet. Share your experiences.
A good part of the day will be spent getting to know native plants and nativars that are wildly successful (or not) in our region and how they work together and can be applied in a variety of contexts.
Featuring local real-world examples, findings from innovative research, and expert insights, plan to gain practical knowledge to create successful, purpose-driven landscapes that bring your vision to life.
Check back for more detailed program updates and agendas in February
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