Project Partners

H2O Chelsea is a collaborative project involving the Municipality of Chelsea, the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Environment and Action Chelsea for the Respect of the Environment (ACRE). Each partner organization brings different skill sets, resources, contacts and ideas. Not only has this led to a project that is well designed and executed, it has also impacted very favourably on our funding applications. Granters are more confident that a partnership project has a higher capacity to deliver and reach desired outcomes. We encourage any group interested in developing their own community monitoring project to consider the advantages of this strategy.

Action Chelsea for the Respect of the Environment (ACRE) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization incorporated in Quebec, Canada. ACRE was founded in 1998 and incorporated in 2000. Their mission is “to protect the ecological integrity of our community and to encourage an understanding and awareness of ecological integrity and its importance in enhancing quality of life.” ACRE is very active in Chelsea, currently managing the H2O Chelsea project, a habitat restoration project called ARORA, and many other community conservation and environmental education initiatives. ACRE has worked with the Municipality of Chelsea to develop many of the environmental projects that have made the community well-known for its sustainable development practices. The environmental group manages the $150 000 grant from the Fonds d’action québécois pour le développement durable.

The Municipality of Chelsea is a bilingual community of 6000 people in Québec’s Gatineau Hills, north of Ottawa. Their mission statement is: To improve the quality of life for current and future generations, by offering community, cultural and recreational services and activities, the protection and enhancement of the environment and the preservation of territorial boundaries. The community strives to be environmentally-friendly and has achieved success on several fronts, including banning the cosmetic use of pesticides, implementing a wetlands protection bylaw, a comprehensive waste management and composting program, and a prevention-first septic pumping plan. The Municipality hires a Sustainable Development officer to research and implement its environmental initiatives and by-laws, and to be the main resource person representing the municipality in the H2O Chelsea project. The municipality has invested $20 000 in both 2003 and 2004, as well as providing infrastructure resources including: office space and equipment, transportation, communication (municipal newsletter,etc.) and a wide variety of other business-related support through the work of the municipal personnel.

The University of Ottawa's Institute of Environment's mission statement is 'to support interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in environmental research and education and to promote an understanding of the environment in the community at large.' To this end, the IE has been an important resource and partner, providing the H2O Chelsea project with the scientific expertise required to develop and manage a credible volunteer-driven water surveillance program. Dr. Scott Findlay, the Institute's director has played a key role in developing the project, providing students with real-world project experience and engaging his colleagues to actively participate in the project. Student and faculty from the Institute have provided the project with expertise in the areas of sampling design and protocols, database development, laboratory analysis and the analysis and interpretation of sample data.