HUNTSVILLE - The Town of Huntsville and the University of Waterloo, in co-operation with the federal government, announced the creation of a world-class research and learning facility for environmental and ecological sustainability, to be built in Huntsville, Ontario.

“The establishment of a world-class educational facility has been identified in the Town of Huntsville’s 2008 Community Master Plan,” said Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty. “Today we are proud to see this opportunity, with the assistance of the federal government, move forward.”

“Minister Clement shares our vision and today we share the dream taking a giant step towards reality. Without Tony and his desire to make it happen, this project would have taken many more years,” added Doughty.

This new facility will be used to support G8 activities in June of next year and, thereafter, will be fitted up for occupancy by the University of Waterloo in the fall of 2010.

The new UW Summit Centre for the Environment will be located on the Summit Campus overlooking Fairy Lake. It will also have access to the Summit Centre, currently under construction, with its many related facilities. As such both summt centres will be located near many downtown amenities, including a 400-seat Algonquin Theatre, restaurants and accommodations. Huntsville’s environs offer an ideal location as a living laboratory for ecosystem and social sciences research, with nearby biosphere reserves, conservation reserves and provincial parks.

Endeavours undertaken at the UW summit centre will include research, teaching, training and conferences -- comparable to such noted centres as The Banff Centre in Alberta or the Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan. The centre will deliver undergraduate and graduate courses and workshops on related topics. It will also offer training programs for mid-career professionals in such areas as ecosystem restoration, strategic environmental assessment, sustainable tourism, environmental planning and green business.

The centre’s research program will involve ecology, climate change, tourism, land-use planning and local economic development. The centre will service students, government agencies, universities, consultants and non-governmental organizations. The university anticipates that up to 3,000 researchers and students will use the facility annually. Many of them will work with a new Centre for Ecosystem Resilience and Adaption, which will be housed in the facility.

“This is a wonderful example of what a community and university can accomplish when they develop mutually beneficial partnerships,” said Deep Saini, dean of UW’s faculty of environment. "The Town of Huntsville will enjoy employment and other economic benefits that are generated by an academic facility and the university benefits from having such a robust environment in which to teach and conduct research.”

The facility will cost an estimated $9 million. It will include laboratories, seminar and meeting rooms as well as dormitory space for up to 50 students and faculty. The town will build, own and manage the facility, with capital funding secured from various federal programs. UW will lease the facility. The university will deliver the programs and provide all research-related furnishings, including $200,000 to equip a wet laboratory.

In closing Mayor Claude Doughty stated: “Today we have a partnership forged from the intellectual capital of the University of Waterloo, the financial capital and support of our federal government and the cultural and natural environment of the Town of Huntsville as we all strive for excellence together.”