Project Sectors
HISTORY
At first glance, Edmonton may seem an unlikely location for an aquatic eco-tourist attraction. Over 1000 kilometres away from the Pacific Ocean, Alberta’s capital city is what many would call “landlocked”. But Edmonton boasts some of the largest and most beautiful green spaces in North America. The city’s major waterway, the North Saskatchewan River, is perhaps Edmonton’s most significant natural landmark and an essential source of energy, recreation, and beauty for the area. The Aquatic Biosphere illustrates the essential connection between Edmonton, the North Saskatchewan River, and the life force of the ocean.
VISION
The Aquatic Biosphere is an exceptionally innovative and unique project. It is a blended construct of people, planet, profit and purpose from a collaborative community initiative that brings together education, environment and economy in a natural alliance. Structured around and integrated with nature and water’s natural beauty and power, the Biosphere will engage community on a local and global scale and draw from the elemental, essential knowledge inherent in the region’s Indigenous histories and cultures.
TOUCHING THE OCEAN
The Aquatic Biosphere project began with a simple thought: that geographically landlocked locations, such as Edmonton, perhaps more than coastal cities, need a connection to the life force of the Earth: the ocean. The Aquatic Biosphere is a project that focuses on aquatic ecosystems, both marine and fresh water, exploring the life that exists in, on and around these interconnected environments. The Aquatic Biosphere is a concept that will demonstrate the life-sustaining connectivity of the global water cycles and the lesser known interdependence between marine and fresh water systems at a time when our most precious resource is becoming scarcer by the day, but more relied upon by the hour. Water is the life-force of all living things, binding human culture and all living organisms together under one shared interest: to protect our aquatic ecosystems and the environment at large.
