NEWS
VANCOUVER, BC (DECEMBER 12, 2024) — The Landform Design Institute is releasing today a new online “short course” on developing a design basis memorandum (DBM) for landform design and mine closure planning. The course features eight video lectures recorded by the Institute’s founder, Gord McKenna, that explain how to prepare to write the DBM, how to craft the DBM vision, and how to implement the DBM.
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VANCOUVER, BC (NOVEMBER 13, 2024) — Mines the world over will now have clear direction on how to ensure their operations result in properly reclaimed landscapes, thanks to a landmark guidance document being released today by the Landform Design Institute (LDI).
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VANCOUVER, BC (AUGUST 15, 2024) — In a preview of Season 3 of Getting Closure, host Mike O’Kane, Co-Chair of the LDI’s Technical Advisors and a member of the Board, sits down with LDI Founder and Chair Gord McKenna to discuss why the 12 principles of landform design are so important.
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VANCOUVER, BC (JANUARY 30, 2024) — The Landform Design institute (LDI) will hold its fourth annual general meeting online Thursday, February 22, from 5 pm to 6:30 p.m. MST..
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VANCOUVER, BC (Dec. 20, 2023) – The Board of the Landford Design Institute (LDI) has set out an ambitious agenda for 2024, after meeting in person for the first time November 23 and 24 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Sept. 7, 2023) — As it approaches its fifth year of operation, the Landform Design Institute is focusing on responding to growing demand for lectures and courses.
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VANCOUVER, BC (March 1, 2023) — At the annual general meeting of the Landform Design Institute on Feb. 27, guest speaker Christine Daly — who was introduced by LDI Chair Gord McKenna as a new member of the Board of Directors — described the importance of integrating “co-reclamation” into the process of restoring mine landscapes or lands to other uses.
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VANCOUVER, BC (February 21, 2023) — The third Annual General Meeting of the Landform Design Institute (LDI) will take place Monday, February 27, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. MST. Dr. Gord McKenna, Chair of the Institute, will host the meeting. All members are invited to attend. The agenda and coordinates are provided below. The meeting will review Institute achievements over 2021-22 and review objectives for 2023.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Dec. 21, 2022) — After the Landform Design Institute’s sold-out short course, held Nov. 2–4, 2022, in Calgary, Alberta, mining practitioners in Canada and abroad are taking a greater interest in coursework that can improve their knowledge of this burgeoning field.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Oct. 19, 2022) — Spaces are still available for the Landform Design Institute’s second in-person landform design short course.
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VANCOUVER, BC (June 6, 2022) — The Landform Design Institute is pleased to be hosting its second in-person landform design short course, which will take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 2–4, 2022.
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VANCOUVER, BC (May 6, 2022) — The Agenda and Coordinates for the LDI Annual General Meeting are provided below. The virtual meeting will take place at 5 pm MST on Tuesday, May 10 and will last 90 minutes. Dr. Gord McKenna, Chair of the Landform Design Institute (LDI), will host the meeting. All members are invited to attend.
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VANCOUVER, BC (April 22, 2022) — The Landform Design Institute will hold its Annual General Meeting virtually on May 10, 2022, beginning with an update on the Institute’s activities by founder and chair, Gord McKenna, followed by a discussion of topics of interest to the Board, Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), and membership.
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VANCOUVER, BC (April 8, 2022) — The Landform Design Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Jasmine Winter as its new Administrator. The Institute has reached the point that expert help is needed to ensure that administrative needs are met, that Board planning and events are well supported, and that student, individual, and corporate member benefits are well communicated.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Feb. 17, 2022) — Participants in the Landform Design Institute’s first two Town Hall meetings, held virtually earlier this month, identified the need for common terminology, clarity in closure practices, and cooperation with like-minded organizations.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Feb. 3, 2022) — As we enter 2022, the Landform Design Institute is capitalizing on the work we’ve achieved so far by embracing an ambitious agenda to create sustainable mining landscapes. To give you a better idea of what our community can accomplish (with your help), please join an online Town Hall on February 8, 2022.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Jan. 24, 2022) — The first issue of the Landform Design Quarterly for 2022 features a close look at the role of women in mining. The essay is based on a presentation delivered by Miriam Clark, Christine Daly, M. Anne Naeth, and Michelle Peters during a technical panel discussion hosted in October 2021, by the Calgary, Alberta, chapter of Women in Mining Canada.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Oct. 13, 2021) — Two years ago, the founders of the Landform Design Institute knew when they filed the paperwork to register the non-profit organization that assembling a community of professionals dedicated to transforming the mining industry would prove an amitious undertaking. What they didn’t anticipate was the imminent arrival of a coronavirus that would disrupt even the best-laid plans.
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VANCOUVER, BC (May 18, 2021) — The Spring 2021 issue of the Landform Design Quarterly, released today, features an example of landform design in action, an essay on geochemical risks at the landform scale, and an excerpt from the new LDI position paper, Mining with the end in mind.
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VANCOUVER, BC (March 30, 2021) — A landmark position paper released today charts a course for the transformation of mine closure and reclamation toward a more responsible and environmentally sustainable practice. Mining with the End in Mind, published by the Landform Design Institute (LDI), makes the case for planning for post-mining land uses even before mining starts, which is the first of the 12 principles of landform design advocated by the Institute.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Jan. 15, 2021) — Amid the extraordinary challenges of 2020, the Landform Design Institute forged ahead to implement its mandate over the year. This included moving its lectures online, launching a podcast, recruiting members, expanding its Technical Advisory Panel, drafting a new position paper, and carrying out a “gap analysis” that will prove integral to the Institute’s workplan heading into 2021. Below is an overview of our achievements over the year, and a look ahead.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Sept. 30, 2020) — Celebrating its one-year anniversary today, the Landform Design Institute (LDI) continues to take great strides forward, expanding its membership, releasing a new podcast series, and preparing a groundbreaking new position paper on landform design.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Sept. 10, 2020) — The Landform Design Institute (LDI) is now accepting new members to join the cause of making landform design routine in the mining industry worldwide.
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VANCOUVER, BC (August 10, 2020) — The Landform Design Institute (LDI) has released the Summer 2020 edition of the Landform Design Quarterly and the third episode of the new Getting Closure podcast series, and has set a date of September 1, 2020, to open the Institute to memberships.
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VANCOUVER, BC (March 26, 2020) – Adapting to the social distancing required to combat the spread of COVID-19, the Landform Design Institute (LDI) has produced a six-part, short-video lecture series on landform design for limited release.
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EDMONTON (Feb. 4, 2020) — Senior engineering students at the University of Alberta got a chance to practice their landform design skills this month following a guest lecture by two of the field’s leading experts.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Dec. 20, 2019) — Traditional mine reclamation isn’t yielding the results society is increasingly demanding, and a more multi-disciplinary approach with clear leadership from mine management and regulators is needed, according to a new Vancouver-based institute focused on the design of post-mining lands.
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VANCOUVER, BC (Sept. 30, 2019) — An independent not-for-profit institute dedicated to making sustainable and responsible mine reclamation a common practice within a decade was launched today in Vancouver, Canada.
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