Rural Routes to Climate Solutions (RR2CS) is an Alberta-based initiative shining a spotlight on the climate solutions that farmers, ranchers and communities in rural Alberta can benefit from. RR2CS is happy to announce that we are seeking a Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL) Coordinator to join our great team of individuals who are working together to support our Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL).
The Coordinator will be responsible for the following activities:
Communications, organization, and logistics for the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a flagship project of RR2CS.
Supporting and assisting the RAL team in the design and delivery of workshops, webinars, group meetings and other participant interactions within the Lab.
The Coordinator will also contribute to and support the rest of the RR2CS team with overall organizational activities, such as webinars, workshops and field days.
Who you are
You’re awesome. Some might say you’re a wizard at the three C’s: communication, coordinating, and comfortability. You make people feel welcomed and wanted. You can take changes in stride, and can thrive when working remotely and independently. We’re not the type to hover over your shoulder, asking “Whatcha doing? Whatcha doing?” At the same time, the rest of the RR2CS team is there to help during times of uncertainty or when clarification is needed.
You’re a delight to speak with, thoughtful, flexible, and passionate about empowering rural communities. Honestly, you’re almost too excited for the future of regenerative agriculture in Alberta (we love that!). You believe in people and their ability to bring about positive change.
If you agree that this describes you, we’d love to hear from you!
What is a Coordinator?
The role is part project coordinator (scheduling, communicating, following-up and logistics) and part facilitator (supporting the design and delivery of workshops, webinars and field days). The Coordinator works alongside the RAL team that currently consists of a Project Manager, Communications Coordinator and Manager. The Coordinator invites, informs, and connects with the participants, who span across the agri-food value chain (agricultural producers, academics, food retailers), and are connected by their vision for regenerative agriculture in Alberta.
The Coordinator has to stay up to date on key issues, ‘who is who’ in the space, and be able to connect and have a sense into what is happening for individuals and the group in order to provide input to the Lab as it evolves.
Experience in facilitating and hosting groups is a plus; flexibility, strong listening skills, planning and project management required. Since RAL is a participants-driven project, there is no one project lead, but the Coordinator is effectively the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions’ point person on RAL.
What is the Regenerative Agriculture Lab?
The “Lab” part of the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL) may evoke images of scientists in white coats in a research facility. That is not the Regenerative Agriculture Lab. RAL is a social innovation lab where participants work together through a series of engagements and interactions (e.g. workshops, webinars, collaborative initiatives) and to respond to a very timely question:
As regenerative agriculture is an evolving system on the cusp of taking off, how do we ensure growing adoption doesn’t jeopardize its integrity or dilute its potential?
The RAL aims to respond to this question by…
- hosting a forum for innovation and collaboration for a network of committed regenerative agriculture stakeholders in Alberta;
- celebrating, learning from and widely sharing the stories of Albertans who have been putting regenerative agriculture practices into action on farms and ranches;
- working on collaborative initiatives that enable regenerative agriculture to accelerate its awareness and impact across all players in Alberta’s agriculture system;
- co-creating a shared vision of a regenerative agriculture system that the future requires of us; and
- generating and exemplifying narratives of regenerative agriculture that bridge the polarization on the topic and invites interest from other agriculture players.
In 2021 the RAL worked with mainly agricultural producers. In Phase 2 (2022-2024) we were able to work with agricultural producers once again and open up participation to other agricultural system stakeholders like extension groups, colleges and research institutes, commodity groups, agricultural inputs companies, government and food and beverage companies. We are currently in Phase 3 where we are tackling multiple projects within the lab, all which aid in accelerating the adoption of regenerative ag in Alberta.
Compensation & Hours of Work
Wages: $27.50-$31.00/hour depending on level of experience. You will be working as a contractor. Contractors are responsible for ensuring that necessary payments for income tax / CPP have been made.
Hours: 32-40 hours/week.
Duration: Early January 2025 until June 30, 2025. Rural Routes is currently fundraising to extend this role beyond June 2025. There is the possibility of a contract extension if we are successful in our fundraising efforts.
Qualifications:
- Strong planning and interpersonal communication skills
- Knowledge of agriculture on the Prairies
- Understanding of rural Alberta social, economic and environmental issues
- A basic understanding of climate change mitigation and adaptation including a good knowledge of agricultural and/or nature-based climate solutions
- Strong team-communications skills for working with the RAL participants, RR2CS team and partners
- Experience and comfort in using online tools and working remotely
Assets:
- Previous experience facilitating and hosting groups (in-person and online)
- Previous experience working for an agriculture organization
- A willingness to problem solve in order to overcome the challenges and evolution the Lab may face
- Related to the above, an ability to ask for help when needing clarity or support
- A sense of humor. Listen to our podcast episodes The Coordinators and What We Do to better understand our sense of humor
Requirements and Expectations:
- Report to the Project Manager
- Participate in weekly team meetings of the RR2CS team and of the RAL team
- There will likely be some travel required for events or in-person strategy sessions Your mileage will be covered by Rural Routes
- Using online tools like WordPress, Google Drive, Zoom, WhatsApp and Trello
- Keep track of and manage your own hours
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume as one PDF and email it to info@rr2cs.ca.
Please include “RAL Coordinator” in the subject line of your email.
Only considered candidates will be contacted for interviews.
Applications will be reviewed every month until the successful candidate is found.
