In the mid-1980s, Drs. Art Quinney, Len Wankel and others from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation realized that Alberta was missing something vital.
That something was a way of connecting physical activity and health professionals with resources, research, and each other. Quinney, Wankel and a team of academics worked with the Government of Alberta to develop a research and education centre that would do this job. In 1989, with funding from the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation, a new centre was born: the Alberta Centre for Active Living (originally called the Alberta Centre for Well-Being).
The Centre is now hailed for being ahead of its time. "I cannot recall any entity with an organized approach to both resource and e-information development and dissemination that was 'there' as early and that was as effective in reaching many interested folks and researchers, not only in Canada, but across the world," says Dr. Adrian Bauman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney in Australia.
On September 24, the Alberta Centre for Active Living celebrated 20 years of innovation and service with clients, stakeholders, friends, and founding partners the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation and the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.
Over the years the Centre and Faculty have maintained a close relationship, working together to generate and disseminate an impressive body of research in physical activity.
Since 1995, they have collaborated on the biennial Alberta Survey on Physical Activity, which monitors the physical activity levels of Albertans.
The Workplace Physical Activity Framework, a research project of senior research associate and faculty member Dr. Ron Plotnikoff, provided the evidence for the centre's widely used Physical Activity @ Work website. This website helps employers and employees incorporate physical activity into their workplace.
Many research associates who began their careers at the centre have gone on to academic careers of note. One of the first research associates was Dr. Dru Marshall, now deputy provost for the U of A and the chair of the centre's Executive Management Group.
"The Centre has been a training ground for physical activity researchers who have gone on to distinguished research and teaching careers-some of the names that come to mind are Kerry Mummery, John Spence, Ron Plotnikoff and Tanya Berry," says Quinney. "The knowledge translation and research dissemination roles that the centre has played for these and other researchers have been invaluable in helping practitioners stay up to date with recent research and evidence-based practice."
The centre has also played a unique role for the faculty in promoting healthier aging through active living. "The centre was instrumental in relieving the pressure on the faculty during times of great demand for community and professional support on aging," says Dr. Sandy Hartley, professor emeritus in exercise gerontology.
"The joint involvement in projects, such as 101 Ideas for Active Aging and Active Independence: The Home Support Exercise Program, has done the province of Alberta proud," Hartley says.
Centre director Judith Down says the relationship between the Centre and the Faculty has been critical to its success.
"This relationship has been one of the things that enabled the Centre to develop the reputation it has today as one of Canada's premier advocates of physical activity," says Down. "Many physical activity researchers in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation are known worldwide - and we have direct access to these researchers. That's a rare privilege."
Alberta Centre for Active Living website: www.centre4activeliving.ca
Academics from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation who helped found and build the Alberta Centre for Active Living.
- Dr. Art Quinney, then a faculty member, later dean of the faculty, and then senior advisor to the provost at the U of A, now retired;
- Dr. Judy Sefton, earned her PhD in the faculty and later served as the centre's first director;
- Dr. Gerry Glassford, former dean of the faculty; and
- Dr. Len Wankel, former faculty member.
Many Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation researchers past and present have worked with the Alberta Centre for Active Living as research associates, affiliates, coordinators, and advisors:
- Dr. Tanya Berry
- Dr. Jochen Bocksnick
- Dr. Shawn Fraser
- Dr. Enrique Garcia Bengoechea
- Dr. John Gartrell
- Dr. Tammy Horne
- Christina Loitz (PhD candidate)
- Dr. Dru Marshall
- Dr. Kerry McGannon
- Dr. Kerry Mummery
- Dr. Ron Plotnikoff
- Dr. John Spence