About Us
We are committed to conducting and funding research that supports and enhances land use policy in the province of Alberta and beyond.
Alberta is defined by unique landscapes, from expansive fields and farmlands to roaring rivers and the rugged Rocky Mountains, but Alberta as we know it is changing.
Our population is growing, cities expanding, bodies of water shrinking. All of these changes put more pressure on our landscapes to provide for the evolving needs of Albertans. How we manage the land is key to providing for these evolving needs while recognizing our responsibility to conserve our environment.
Based out of the University of Alberta’s north campus in Edmonton Alberta, the Alberta Land Institute is an independent research institute that funds and conducts land-use related research in order to provide tools for land users and policy makers to balance all the competing interests for Alberta's land base.
The institute’s specific areas of interest include ecosystem services markets; sustainable agriculture: soil health; and land use, resilience and environmental risk. Find out more about these areas of research from our research page.
In just over ten years of operation, the institute has worked with policy makers, organizations, non profit agencies and more, and has contributed more than $2 million dollars in funding for high quality, peer reviewed research.
ALI’s goal is to connect research and policy for better land management of Alberta’s changing landscape.
What We Do
At ALI, we fund and conduct high quality research based on current and emerging land use issues.
Funding
A yearly competitive research grant competition, the Alberta Land Institute funds and conducts research in the following three categories.
- Discovery Research: Research undertaken to identify and examine emerging and future issues critical to the Institute’s mandate.
- Policy Research: Projects focusing on a specific issue of immediate and critical concern to ALI’s stakeholders, providing concrete analysis of policy alternatives, land use instruments, etc., and supported by comprehensive academic research.
- Educational Projects: Projects aimed at translating and transmitting existing or new ALI or other relevant knowledge beyond the academic community in order to shed light on issues specifically relevant to ALI’s partners and stakeholders and to support public discussion and policymaking in Alberta.
Through our call for proposals, ALI has funded over $2M in grant research aimed at enhancing land use policy.
Self-initiated Research Studies
ALI conducts its own research studies in response to ongoing land use issues. We typically seek external funding to conduct these projects.
Student Capacity
We are committed to engaging students in all our research initiatives by providing the opportunity to train and supervise graduate and undergraduate students.
All of our research meets the highest academic standards and has resulted in many graduate theses and peer reviewed publication in leading journals.
Knowledge mobilization
Research findings are shared with policymakers, stakeholders, and the public. We also host and present at workshops and conferences around the world and engage with relevant land use issues through webinars and our podcast, the Land Use Podcast.
Contact us to present at your event
As Albertans make decisions that shape our landscape for generations to come, ALI is proud to contribute an objective foundation for discussion, consensus, and decision-making.