Rural Routes to Climate Solutions in Alberta is hiring a Project Coordinator!
About Rural Routes to Climate Solutions
FARM SOLUTIONS = CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
Farmers and ranchers can play a pivotal role in building the low-carbon economy of the future. Especially in Alberta, home to one-third of Canada’s agricultural land and two important carbon sinks—grasslands and the boreal forest. The wildrose province also has some of the best solar and wind power resources in Canada.
Climate solutions are often viewed as being an inconvenience to our everyday lives. But farm solutions are climate solutions and many of them have multiple concrete benefits that go beyond stopping climate change: improving soil fertility; creating new economic opportunities; protecting biodiversity; energy independence and building resiliency against droughts and floods. It is a win-win strategy.
Rural Routes to Climate Solutions is working producers and other members of the rural community to put this win-win strategy into action. By providing learning opportunities to better understand climate solutions, we are empowering rural Albertans with the tools to reap the benefits of climate solutions for themselves and their communities.
WHAT WE DO
We run workshops and farm field days and produce a podcast series all in Alberta so agricultural producers can find out more about the climate solutions that work best on farms and ranches. We cover topics such as:
- Soil Carbon Sequestration;
- Perennial Cereal Grains;
- On-Farm Solar and Energy Efficiency;
- Protecting Biodiversity to Increase Yields and;
- Operating Passive Solar Greenhouses.
Our workshops and field days are usually free for participants and are led by experts from industry, universities and governments. They are an unique opportunity to meet and talk to leaders in various fields and exchange ideas with other producers. Our events are modelled on a ‘human library’ concept meaning the idea is to not only learn from the presentations, but to talk to the presenters and other participants one-on-one between presentations or between stops on a farm tour for example. Our participants bring as much knowledge and expertise to our events as our presenters.
We also recognize that producers do not have a lot of time to attend workshops and farm field days and that is why we do what we can to make sure information from our events is available online either via the Farmer’s Blog or our podcast series. Podcast episodes can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play and you can stream episodes from our website or SoundCloud.
Job Description
Rural Routes to Climate Solutions is a central Alberta-based project providing learning opportunities for Alberta’s agricultural producers—farmers and ranchers—to find out how to benefit from climate solutions. The Stettler Learning Centre manages the project and is seeking a project coordinator to assist our project lead (Director) in undertaking the following activities:
- Organizing and running events like workshops and farm field days;
- Organizing and hosting webinars for agricultural producers;
- Using multiple social media platforms to engage agricultural producers on the issues we cover;
- Developing our Farmer’s Blog;
- Researching and recruiting expert speakers for our events.
The ideal candidate must be able to work remotely and independently and has some experience with agriculture. You must be able to work from home or at a working space you have organized on your own. You will be required to check-in with the Director at least once a week.
Qualifications
- Capable of using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram;
- Strong communications both written and oral; in a team environment and in conducting outreach for the project;
- Knowledge of agriculture in Alberta—actual farm experience will be an asset;
- Knowledge of the issues facing rural communities in Alberta;
- A basic understanding of climate change mitigation and adaptation—a good knowledge of climate solutions that are applicable to agriculture will be an asset.
- Good event and logistics management skills (booking venues, catering, accommodations and flights, etc).
Requirements
- Work remotely but closely with the Director;
- Although this position allows you to work from home, there is some travel required for our events, which do take place in rural Alberta. Expect to have to travel at least once a month;
- Have access to reliable phone and internet connections;
- Have access to reliable transportation;
- Have access to a suitable working space;
- Ability to use Google Drive and Microsoft;
- Ability to keep track of your own hours;
Assets
- Previous experience in agriculture or an agricultural organization;
- Previous experience as an organization’s or company’s communications officer;
- Experience in producing video and/or audio;
- Knowledge of any of the following: soil carbon sequestration, on-farm renewable energy and energy efficiency, passive solar and geothermal greenhouse growing, biodigesters and perennial cereal grains.
Job Details
Term:May 1st, 2019. The end date is currently March 31st 2020, but if additional funding is secured, the position will be extended.
Wage & Hours: Payment will be based on $25 per hour, 30 hours per week. This is a contract position, thus the individual will be responsible for ensuring that necessary payments for income tax, CPP, EI have been made and submitting monthly invoices. Note: working hours are flexible and can be structured around another job like an on-farm job to a point. Workshop and field day dates are not flexible and the project coordinator is expected to attend all of these events (they occur once a month), even if they take place on a weekend.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume as a PDF and email it to dleahy@stettlerlearning.com by 11:59pm on Monday April 22nd. Please include “Project Coordinator Application” in the subject line of your email. Only successful candidates will be contacted to arrange for interviews.
In the event a successful candidate is not found, the application process will be re-opened.
When applying, please indicate that you saw this posting at Youngagrarians.org.
Learn More About Rural Routes to Climate Solutions
Website: https://rr2cs.ca/
Facebook: @ruralroutes2climatesolutions
Instagram: @ruralroutes2climatesolutions
Check out their other Solar Lab Coordinator position.