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The Niagara Escarpment Commission hosted Leading Edge 2006: Understanding Our Resources in Burlington, Ontario from October 4-6, 2006. The seventh in a series started in 1994, the conference attracted 250 delegates from across Canada and the U.S.

The conference featured 15 interactive sessions and more than 50 international, national and local experts on the issues driving the public agenda in Ontario right now – smart growth and rural planning, transportation policy, economics and municipal finance, environmental monitoring, energy, and media affairs.

Leading Edge 2006 was presented by the NEC in association with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, the Ontario Heritage Trust, the Canadian Biosphere Reserves Association, and the Embassy of Sweden as well as 16 other key sponsors.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission was established by the Government of Ontario in 1973 to conserve the UNESCO-designated Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve as a continuous natural environment and scenic, working countryside. Research, education and demonstrations of sustainable development are key functions of biosphere reserves. The Leading Edge Conference plays a key role in supporting these objectives.

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