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DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Join the League of Leaders! Building on over fifteen years of parks systems leadership training, the Canadian Parks Council (CPC) and the Canadian Parks, Protected, and Conserved Areas Leadership Collective (CPPCL) are pleased to present a suite of engaging online programs and services to support effective and equitable leadership for the entire parks and protected areas community.
Program & Service Framework
Transformational Leadership Through Transformative Learning
From capstone projects, communities of practice, information sharing and training inventories, to providing opportunities to connect with colleagues across regions and jurisdictions, CPPCL programs are designed through a lens of transformative change.
We are committed to facilitating:
- Experience
- Critical reflection
- Dialogue
- Holistic orientation
- Authentic relationships
Our learning experiences are:
- Nature based
- Evidence based
- Project Based
- Team Based
- Creative
And incorporate techniques of:
- Blended delivery
- Intergenerational exchange
- Intercultural collaboration
- Flexible engagement
Mezirow, J., & Taylor, E. W. (2009). Transformative learning in practice: Insights from community, workplace, and higher education. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco.
Leadership Development Programs
Built on over ten years of parks systems leadership training, the CPPCL online and in-person collaborative programs hone core leadership skills by exploring specific issues facing parks and protected areas and applying them to real-world challenges with proven approaches and tools. We help you apply your leadership skills by exploring specific issues facing parks and protected areas and applying them to real-world challenges. We help you reconnect to the the natural world and your landscape through independent solo tasks while also building a collaborative pan-Canadian network of Parks and Protected Areas Leaders who can support each other—and their organizations—long after programs conclude.
Residency Program
~130 hours • Cohort project • Team learning
This seven-month transformative leadership program begins with a one-week eResidency (half-days, online) with guest presenters, breakout workshops, and service-learning panels mixed with nature breaks and opportunities to connect to local issues. Participants complete pre- and post-tasks, present cases from their organization, and develop a team capstone project aimed at advancing parks leadership. The program wraps up with a three day face-to-face Capstone Residency to share project work and apply skills to real-world cases. Each program focuses on core leadership themes with different sub-themes.
Accelerator Program
~ 80 hours • Individual project • Team learning
This focused, practical program begins with work defining a real issue facing each participants’ parks or protected areas organization, followed by learning skills and accessing experts and resources to support the development of a way forward. Participants engage in directed learning, active participation in online forums, and live guest workshops, all tailored to issues facing the group. Participants will collaborate with peers from other agencies and organized to exchange ideas. At the conclusion of the program, participants will present a proposal to a diverse panel of park leadership experts for feedback and to spark action.
Leadership Primers
Explore crucial topics affecting parks and protected areas in Canada through self-directed activities, case studies and readings/videos, and dialogue with other participants.
Leadership Primers are available at no cost and can be completed at your own pace (~12 hours to complete).
Youth Knowledge Gatherers Program
Each year, CPPCL hires a team of youth/students (aged 15-30) for fall and winter contracts. Throughout their term, Youth Knowledge Gatherers are partnered with participants of Leadership Development programs to not only engage and network with current park leaders, but to also provide new insights and learning opportunities for current park leaders.
Workshop and Event Support
The parks, protected, and conserved areas community across Canada is supported by a wide range of organizations. CPPCL aims to support these organizations in kind by offering guidance to create transformative, collaborative, and nature-based programs and events. We specialize in interactive, online, and experiential programs.
The CPPCL Collective has assisted with hybrid and in-person events such as regional and national conferences, AGMs, and organizational workshops. Many of these groups also host their legacy content on the CPPCL Collective platform.
Contact CPPCL if you are interested in collaborating to create an inclusive and transformative event.
Research Network & Annual Research eSummit
Whether natural or social science, local or Indigenous knowledge, or integrated research, effective park leadership requires the best available evidence–and an understanding of how to use it. Parks Canada Agency and the Mount Royal University Institute for Environmental Sustainability–as well as affiliated academic institutions–aim to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners in parks and protected areas by establishing a pan-Canadian reseach network.
Research Network
The Canadian Parks Collective Parks and Protected Areas Research Network was created as a knowledge exchange and dissemination network, as part of an outcome of a collaborative knowledge mobilization research project and a pre-conference workshop at the 2019 Canadian Parks Conference.
This platform is intended to facilitate interaction between individuals, organizations, and governments dedicated to the advancement of effective park management and related desired outcomes such as increased social equity, biodiversity conservation, multi-stakeholder governance, and healthy communities through access to diverse sources of knowledge.
Annual eSummit
The Parks and Protected Areas Research Network Research eSummit will bring together Knowers (scholars/knowledge keepers), Doers (practitioners), and Learners (students, new hires) to share knowledge and build a network across the parks and protected areas field.
This event combines online collaboration with activities to connect with nature wherever you are, as well as opportunities to network with colleagues both near and far. The Research eSummit also includes a pre- and post-session regional challenge workshop in your own time zone and a year-long monthly webinar series. All sessions are offered with simultaneous French/English interpretation.