Meet LuSEE
The Land-Use Social, Environmental, and Economic decision support system (LuSEE) was developed to evaluate the trade-offs between overlapping values within each Land-Use Framework (LUF) region in Alberta by assessing the relative value of complementary, competing, and conflicting interests. Understanding the values that exist on the landscape and where those values are most highly concentrated can help land-use planners fully understand the trade-offs between different land-use strategies. Alberta has a mandate to create regional plans for each unique land-use planning region in the province. LuSEE aims to positively support land-use decisions in Alberta by providing the Regional Plan decision-makers within each region with key land-use data so that they can make informed choices.
Developed by the LuSEE Project Partners, LuSEE is a proactive, data-centric, repeatable process which encourages buy-in and cooperation from multiple stakeholders. LuSEE spatially identifies areas of importance for a variety of values on a landscape, including forestry, energy, agricultural, municipal, environmental, and recreational, providing decision makers with the tools to evaluate land-use planning scenarios by visualizing complex landscape values across Alberta’s unique land-use planning regions.
A brief history
LuSEE originated in 2011 and has since evolved, seeing expansion from the Lower Peace region into the Upper Peace, Upper Athabasca, and North Saskatchewan regions (totaling over 43 million hectares). Not only has the geographic extent of LuSEE grown, but over 50 datasets have been included in the analysis and are unique from region to region, depending on the landscape values present within each of Alberta’s land-use planning regions.
Have your voice heard
The Regional Plans have the potential to significantly impact economics and land-use for all Albertans. LuSEE aims to involve all communities and stakeholders in the land-use decision making process by allowing them to share their voice and have it heard by land-use decision makers. What can you do to have a say in Alberta’s future? Reach out to your municipal representative today and tell them what you value in the regions where you live, work, and play, and visit www.LuSEE.ca for more information.
