WORKSHOPS

Workshops (optional / concurrent)  

• Crash Course: Communicating Complexity with Niki Wilson – $75/person
  Pyramid A
  Great ideas lose their power when they are buried in jargon, lost in the weeds or are just…too long. This hands-on, two-hour workshop is designed for professionals who need to explain complex topics – data, strategy, research or processes – to people that don’t speak the lingo. It could be your manager, your team, the public or the media. We’ll go through techniques used in effective and impactful communication, then write and practice an “elevator pitch” that can be used to deliver your message to a specific audience. Come with a real idea or message you want to sharpen.
• Celestial Circles: Measuring Success for Municipal Circularity – $75/person
  Pyramid B
  Led by Reeve Consulting and Dillon Consulting
  The workshop titled “Measuring Success for Municipal Circularity” will explore how local governments can transition from measuring waste diversion to measuring circularity, while continuing to support data-driven decision-making and accountability. In this shifting landscape, municipalities face challenges in defining and measuring waste management performance, and understanding how they are doing compared to other communities. In this session, participants will learn about innovative frameworks and metrics being adopted in Canada and abroad, including single-metrics and tiered performance frameworks. Attendees will gain insights into options to overcome challenges such as data availability and quality, and leverage the opportunity to better communicate the impacts of efforts deployed. The workshop will also highlight collaborative opportunities for developing new metrics and sharing best practices on how to use measurement frameworks to drive continuous improvement. Hands-on activities will allow participants to leave with tangible actions for next steps, and will also allow participants to hear from each other, and collaborate to come up with shared solutions.
  Moderators: Amanda Chouinard, Reeve Consulting and Alida Kusch, Dillon Consulting
  Presenter: Tessa Vlaanderen, Circular Futures
  Sponsored by Dillon Consulting Limited
• Super-Sonic Circularity: Building a Made-in-Alberta Circular Supply Chain – $75/person
  Pyramid C
  1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

  In 2024, online copycats threatened Edmonton-based apparel manufacturer Unbelts’ primary revenue stream. But in an against-all-odds pivot, founder Claire Theaker-Brown leveraged the one thing online marketplace giants couldn’t compete with: an agile, hyper-local supply chain with built-in circularity practices. Now, the award-winning Certified B Corporation has a new product line and renewed sales momentum – and in this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn the creative, thrifty strategy applied by the Unbelts team. Topics will include:

  • How to “circularize” a traditional linear supply chain, one step at a time

  • How to think outside the box (and your current Rolodex) in the hunt for Alberta suppliers

  • How to turn operational vulnerabilities into your greatest strengths

  Participants will leave with practical circularity steps to apply within their own enterprise, and a new network of potential collaborators.

  Sponsored by sonnevera international corp.

• The Circular Plastics Taskforce – A Canadian Odyssey, An Alberta Exploration – no cost
  Ballroom ABC
  1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

  The Circular Plastics Taskforce (CPT) was established in 2020 with a vision that all plastic packaging put on the market in Canada be collected and recycled in keeping with market needs, creating a circular economy. Led by Cascades, Circular Materials, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), Danone Canada, Éco Entreprises Québec (EEQ), Keurig Dr Pepper Canada, ProAmpac and Recycle BC, the CPT aims to strengthen existing and emerging markets and contribute to improving the industry’s performance through optimization solutions and research projects.
  This session will focus on the CPT’s mission, provide an overview of its current initiatives, and discuss its role in supporting the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) across multiple provinces. Following an inspiring panel, participants will be invited to share their ideas in a workshop aiming to identify key opportunities around plastics in Alberta and discuss on how the CPT could foster local efforts and tangible projects towards plastic circularity in the province.
  Sponsored by Circular Plastics Taskforce