What’s New: In Brief (February 05, 2008)

The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) is hosting the 4th International Symposium on Flood Defence (ISFD4) on May 6-8 in Toronto at the Westin Harbour Castle.The theme is the management of flood risk, reliability and vulnerability. As recent flood disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Asia made abundantly clear, all countries are susceptible to the damaging effects that major storm and flood events cause, the ICLR notes in a release. ISFD4 provides a unique opportunity to bring an interdisciplinary group of flood experts together to share critical knowledge from regional and international perspectives. Register online at: http://www.flood2008.org/flood/

The Co-operators has announced a new member, the Amalgamated Dairies Limited (ADL).ADL joins the ranks of a number of agricultural organizations from Atlantic Canada, forming the group of co-operatives, credit unions and like-minded organizations that make up the ownership group of The Co-operators Group Ltd, a release notes. “We are delighted to welcome Amalgamated Dairies Limited as a new member-owner of The Co-operators,” Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, said in the release. “The Co-operators has strong agricultural and rural roots in Canada. Through the years, the organization has forged strong relationships with our agricultural members in different regions across the country, and we look forward to continuing to do the same in the Atlantic with ADL.”