The Rural Alberta Development Fund has arranged for Hope College to appeal its recent decision to decline support for the launch of the College in Drumheller. The Hope College appeal date has been set for June 8, 2011 in Red Deer.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to highlight the value of the Hope College project to the RADF appeal committee. We believe that some of the uniqueness of Drumheller – that will allow for the success of the project – were missed by the first review of the RADF. We hope our presentation will give the RADF confidence that their support for this project will be a tremendous value to the Drumheller region as well as the general areas of rural Alberta,” Jon Ohlhauser, President of Hope College reported.Hope College Explores “One Health”
Hope College has been encouraged to explore the idea of “one health” to see if this emerging concept can have any relevance to its program options and research interests. Recent global discussions have elevated the idea of “one health” to a level of new significance.
The essence of the idea of one health is to “establish a more holistic approach to preventing epidemic / epizootic disease and for maintaining ecosystem integrity for the benefit of humans, their domesticated animals, and the foundational biodiversity that supports us all,” writes the website www.oneworldonehealth.org
A recent conference sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society with attendees including representatives from the World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others met in Brazil to discuss the possibility of converging interests in public health, animal health and plant health for a holistic approach to stable and healthy communities.
“We are just at the beginning of studying this concept and what, if any, relevance it could have to what we are as a college in Drumheller. The idea is quite intriguing and I think it could offer some additional potential for distinguishing Hope College as a unique and valuable post-secondary educational partner institution in Alberta. We will just have to give it some more thorough consideration,” said Ohlhauser.
