The Banff Centre joins Alberta Learning in celebrating International Adult Learners Week, a worldwide event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

As Canada’s only post-secondary learning institute devoted to professional development in the arts, leadership development, and mountain culture, The Banff Centre provides the highest calibre of life-long learning and career development programs and opportunities. Professional development programs during the week of September 8-14 include Quintessence, a summit on the science and art of visualization, Leading for Creativity, a thought forum on creativity and innovation, and the final workshop of Filumena, a new Canadian opera in development.

In today’s world, scientists increasingly rely on designers and artists to help visualize their knowledge. Quintessence is an international think-tank bringing together research scientists, mathematicians, designers, and artists to explore the ways that design skills can make scientific knowledge accessible to a larger community of researchers and the public. Quintessence is one of a series of research summits offered in 2002 by the Banff New Media Institute.

The Centre’s Leadership Development Thought Forum: Leading for Creativity and Innovation is aimed at pushing the boundaries of creativity in business, management, and leadership. Created by the Centre’s Leadership Development programming division, the forum will bring business leaders together with master artists to brainstorm new concepts, examine emerging possibilities, and create perspectives beyond the current cutting-edge in business innovation.

Filumena is a home-grown Alberta opera, based on a true story of love and murder in the mining heyday of the Crowsnest Pass. The project is a co-production between The Banff Centre and Calgary Opera, and this final workshop involves preparing the production for its world premiere this February.

The seeds of life-long learning can be established at an early age, which is one of the reasons The Banff Centre is especially pleased to be the host site for grade ten, eleven, and twelve high school students from the Banff community for the 2002 –2003 school year. "We see this as a terrific opportunity to provide exposure and information to students about many different cultural opportunities and to encourage a lifetime of learning and personal and professional development," says Mary E. Hofstetter, Banff Centre president and CEO. "The promotion of lifelong learning and acquiring knowledge and skills throughout one’s professional life is at the very heart of The Banff Centre’s philosophy and mandate." The students, who will attend class in a specially designed space at the Centre while the Banff Community High School is renovated, will have access to numerous outreach and performance opportunities in the areas of arts, leadership, and mountain culture.

-30-