Community Profile
RD Lawrence Place
Deep in the Haliburton Highlands is a rectangular straw bale building surrounded by tall trees and a wetland. There is a 'three sisters' garden in front, often you can see the proud cultivators digging and chattering. They're all in Grade 3, so it's a lively scene. This is home to the Minden Hills Cultural Centre and R.D. Lawrence Place. Named after Ontario's iconic author, naturalist, and local resident, they've had 3,000 visitors in their first year of operation.
Peeking through cutouts in the walls, the straw bale construction is visible from the inside out. "The building is a teaching tool in and of itself," says Coordinator Sheryl Loucks. Composting toilets, solar panels, grey water collection and more reinforce the sustainability message. It was constructed in only five months by a team of 26 students recruited by Fleming College from across Canada for the Sustainable Building Program. A weekly web update provided public education on the process with photos.
With a mandate to promote reading, writing and deepening respect for natural heritage, outreach and networking are integral to R.D. Lawrence Place. Signing onto the Living Planet Community furthered their key objective "to offer public education around strategies to improve the environment," says Loucks. "The Living Planet Community offers us a wonderful networking tool." "It's not as easy to connect in a rural area, so the Living Planet Community will be an effective way of facilitating dialogue." She continues, "we're hoping to challenge other communities, measure where we're at and be a demonstrator and benchmark to the rest of Ontario on environmental action and GHG savings."
In addition to on-going exhibits, they hold bimonthly events featuring their Writer In-residence. In fall 2009, they'll celebrate Minden's 150th anniversary with a literary festival featuring three Canadian authors and a writing contest. They'll also commemorate R.D.'s birthday with a Great Green Garage sale, to emphasize re-use and highlight local environmental projects, green power and product producers in a trade show.
R.D. Lawrence Place invites students to tour their centre year round. The Grade 3 students with their mentors from the local horticultural society dig the vegetable garden - produce is donated to the food bank. University students have also been out to research and design an interpretive trail in the woods and wetland. Other projects in the works include creating a wildflower garden.
Reaching out to their community for help and offering it back is how the centre is staying connected and "trying to continue R.D.'s legacy of environmental education," says Loucks. "Participating in the Living Planet Community offers us an amazing chance - we're hoping it will cement our relationship with each other, spawn ideas and mean more collaboration."
