Dauphin is the only city in Manitoba to have been invited to compete in the International Small category of the Communities in Bloom (CiB) International Challenge.
CiB Board Chair Susan Ellis, one of the judges for this year's competition, made the announcement at a luncheon held at the Fort Dauphin Museum last Thursday. She said that Dauphin is competing against the following communities from around the world: Ingria, Italy; Velika Polana, Slovenia; Glaslough Tidy Towns, Ireland; Lewisburg, W. Va., U.S.A.; and Sussex, N.B.
Ellis then went on to say that communities in the competition are being evaluated based on six criteria: community appearance, environmental action, heritage conservation, tree management, landscaped areas, and plant & floral displays.
"The focus has changed over the years and we try to be very, very responsive to what is happening on the ground with municipal governments and communities right now... so that means environmental sustainability and climate adaption and mitigation are really important things that all communities are dealing with and all of them [are] doing it in different ways at different levels, so keep up that portion," she added.
She also said that Dauphin fares really well when it comes to heritage conservation and community appearance.
"You guys have pretty much nailed that with all of the efforts that you're making on behalf of the diversity that we witness from this group already," she added.
Susan Ellis later said that the floral displays and landscaped areas act as the front door to welcome people into the community and that it's all the other things that hold it up, lift it up and make the community grow.
More information on Communities in Bloom can be found on their website.
