Choosing our Future:
From Vision to Action

What Can We Learn From Other Cities and Communities?

Leaders in urban planning have taken the challenge to develop a new way to “grow” cities for the future. Since the 2003 International Gas Union (IGU) competition on 100-year planning, more cities understand the necessity of taking a longer-term perspective to planning for community sustainability. This is reflected in various recent municipal initiatives and the growing Sustainable Cities: PLUSnetwork.

The following examples provide an overview of important sustainable planning initiatives being done by other cities:

imagineCalgary

Whistler Comprehensive Sustainability Plan

imagineCalgary

Leading Canada in economic growth with its population recently surpassing 1,000,000, the City of Calgary is at a crossroads. This unprecedented growth, together with technological change, demographic shifts and global challenges like climate change, requires new models of collaboration between community, business and other public institutions to meet the needs of citizens in the future.

imagineCalgary is an initiative to create a 100-year vision for a sustainable Calgary, and includes targets and strategies over 30 years to realize that vision. The process was initiated by the City of Calgary in June, 2005 and was championed by the imagineCalgary Rountable, comprised of nearly 40 citizen volunteers.

The Planning Process

There were three phases to the imagineCalgary process:

1. Visioning: Between May and November, 2005, Calgarians were asked five questions about what they valued about their City and their hopes for the future. The answers were translated into a Vision of a sustainable Calgary 100 years in the future.
2. Strategies and Targets: Between November 2005 and April 2006, 5 interdisciplinary working groups used systems methodology to set targets for improvements and strategies to help reach those targets.
3. Legacy: Between June 2005 to June 2006, Calgary organizations and community leaders were engaged to develop a legacy plan outlining the means to foster and maintain widespread support and coordination to realize the vision, including annual progress reports.

Sustainability Principles and Tools

imagineCalgary was based on the Melbourne Principles for Sustainable Cities. The only internationally-ratified set of sustainability principles for cities, they outline a simple set of statements about how a sustainable city would function.

imagineCalgary encompassed systems thinking rather than using the more traditional problem solving approach. The Earth Charter Community Action Tool (EarthCAT), a software tool developed for use by communities seeking to create sustainability plans, was used to identify five community systems that help meet human needs: built environment, economic, governance, natural environment and social. These systems formed the basis of the five working that reviewed each other’s draft targets and strategies in order to consider system interconnections.

Highlights/Innovation

With over 18,000 Calgarians participating, imagineCalgary is the largest visioning process ever attempted in the world. Another important aspect was the high degree of personal contact with many thousands of people taking part in one-on-one or small group discussions at hundreds of visioning sessions.

imagineCalgary embraced all aspects of community life with the aim of making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. People, buildings, commerce, roads, businesses, government structures, skills, incomes, plants and animals, history, churches, schools and countless other elements were considered.

Implementation

There are many seeds of sustainability growing in Calgary (see http://www.imagineCalgary.ca/imagineCalgary_long_range_plan.pdf). City funding took ImagineCalgary through to its presentation at the World Urban Forum in June 2006, with the Legacy plan fostering implementation by the collaborative efforts of community organizations and leaders. In September 2006, Calgary City Council voted to formally become a partner of ImagineCalgary and to help develop a communications plan and update City plans, which align with the vision.

In 2007, the imagineCalgary Transition Team at the City of Calgary developed a governance framework for the imagineCalgary Partnership. Three Committees were created to provide direction for the imagineCalgary Partnership, and to ensure the vision of the project is realized throughout the community.

The Steering Committee, Communications and Awareness Committee and the Collaborative Action Committee have representation from a wide array of imagineCalgary Partners, and are responsible for making the vision of imagineCalgary a reality.

Partner organizations are providing resources to the Committees to help ensure their progress. The Calgary Health Region supports the Steering Committee, The City of Calgary resources the Communications and Awareness Committee, and the Collaborative Action Committee is resourced by The Calgary Public Library.

Visit: www.imaginecalgary.ca/

Whistler 20/20

[PDF format]

Whistler 2020 is the over-arching vision and strategic plan for the resort municipality of Whistler. Led by the municipality, in association with a number of community and business partners, it covers 15 years and is a step on the longer journey towards a sustainable future to be achieved by 2060.

Whistler is a mountain resort community that will host the 2010 Olympics. In the next 50 years, almost all of the infrastructure systems in Whistler will have been replaced or retrofitted. It is timely to ensure that the new systems are integrated and sustainable – and to consider the significant political, technological and global challenges related to water, energy, food and climate change.

The Planning Process

Whistler 2020 was developed in four phases. During phase one, success factors were developed and five alternative futures were explored and assessed with respect to sustainability in phase two. Phase three involved crafting a blended future, guided by Whistler’s values and sustainability principles, that was transformed into Whistler’s vision in phase four. Volume II of Whistler 2020 outlines strategies and actions in 16 areas to achieve the vision as well as targets and a monitoring program.

Public engagement shaped each phase of the planning process. Task forces of community members and experts were created for each of the 16 strategy areas from more than 40 organizations.

Sustainability Principles

Whistler 2020 developed four objectives based on The Natural Step Framework, a ‘systems perspective lens’ for looking upstream to anticipate and avoid problems and cover all aspects of sustainability. Whistler will eliminate its contribution to:

1. Progressive build-up in concentrations of waste derived from the Earth’s crust
2. Progressive build-up in concentrations of materials produced by society
3. Ongoing physical degradation of nature
4. Undermining of other people’s ability to meet their needs.

Highlights/Innovation

Whistler 2020 was awarded first place in a United Nations-endorsed international competition because of its application of the Natural Step Framework to a holistic and integrated long-term approach to sustainability planning in a community. A balance between various components of the community, excellent organization and partnership agreement strategies were other highlights.

Implementation

Volume I of the comprehensive sustainability plan containing the vision, values, priorities and directions, was adopted by Council on December 6, 2004. Council adopted Volume II containing the 16 strategies on August 2, 2005. Amendments to Whistler’s Official Community Plan are being enacted to facilitate implementation while Whistler’s partners are adopting relevant components of the framework and principles.

Implementation actions underway informed by Whistler 2020 include:

• A retail strategy to determine the optimal mix and positioning of retail in Whistler
• Upgrading the sewage treatment plant with significant environmental enhancements
• Locating the Olympic athlete’s village through a public consultative process and studying how to incorporate renewable energy and green building standards into the design
• A comprehensive review of resident housing policies and programs

Whistler2020 was developed by the community, and for it to be truly effective it needs to be both supported and implemented by the community. The creativity, direction and execution of the plan is a product of the ongoing dedication and commitment of Whistler2020 Partners, community task forces, and the many organizations and businesses that are making its vision a reality on a daily basis.

Lessons Learned

Nine key process lessons were determined based on the evaluation of the Whistler 2020 process. Key ones include:

1. Clearly and honestly define the purpose and scope of participant engagement upfront.
2. Strike an appropriate balance between widespread community input and expert involvement.
3. Invite critics to participate in the process where possible.

Visit: www.whistler2020.ca

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