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Sustainability Summit 



2008 SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT

Metro Vancouver held its inaugural Future of the Region Sustainability Summit in Vancouver on October 7, 2008. Over 400 people from across the region attended the half day session, including business representatives, elected officials, government staff, community advocates, non-governmental organizations, youth and other citizens.

The next step on a region-wide sustainability journey, the purpose of the Sustainability Summit was to bring citizens from across the region together to collaborate on setting goals and actions for a sustainability agenda meant to take the region forward to 2011, the date of the next Sustainability Summit. Each three years, this strategic, region-wide event will help establish, report on, and monitor the goals and actions set by participants.

Participants at the 2008 Sustainability Summit were asked to vote on “pictures of success”, select three priority actions that would best help deliver success, and identify how to put the selected actions into motion. Nine topics organized into three streams were addressed.

The voting results for the pictures of success and top three priority actions are posted below.

Thank you for participating in the Sustainability Summit, and helping shape the future of the region.

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 2008 Pictures of Success and Actions
Stream 1 - Transportation, Growth and the Economy
Transportation & Growth

Picture of Success

  • Compact and complete communities
  • Affordable, accessible, safe, and convenient transportation
  • Reduced environmental impact
  • Interconnected, multi-modal transportation choices for people and goods direct and respond to growth

3 -Year Actions
  1. Improve integration of inter/intra government planning and funding for land use and transportation that includes climate change considerations.
  2. Increase funding and capacity for public transportation, as well as increasing cycling and walking networks.
  3. Make better use of existing infrastructure for movement of people and goods.
Economy

Picture of Success

  • Innovative, creative, knowledge-based
  • Sustainable, resilient, self-sufficient
  • Vibrant, diverse, inclusive, equitable
  • Prosperous and competitive
  • Life-long learning, self-actualization, quality of life

3 -Year Actions
  1. Support local organic food industry, protect farms, and protect the Agricultural Land Reserve.
  2. Apply concept of ecological limits to the economy, and educate the next generation about wellness economics and eco-footprint reduction.
  3. Create an economic development strategy, including goods and people movement strategy.
Finance

Picture of Success

  • Administratively effective, coordinated, transparent, accountable and prudent
  • Integrated and collaborative
  • Performance-based and streamlined
  • Stable, predictable, with adequate funding
  • Balanced, innovative taxation system

3 -Year Actions
  1. Increase municipal share of taxes collected by provincial and federal governments.
  2. Commit resources (human and financial) to integrating sustainability principles into decision making and operations, including the use of cost benefit analysis, and performance measurement. Audit these processes.
  3. Change tax system, including new financing and taxation capabilities for regional level, redistributing existing tax base.
Stream 2 - Community Livability
Drugs and Crime

Picture of Success

  • Communities are healthy, supportive, safe, and inclusive
  • Culturally diverse, individuals are valued and can flourish
  • Citizens and governments feel a sense of responsibility
  • Proactive and prevention based approach to drugs and crime focused on determinants of health and restorative justice
  • Mental health care and addiction treatment readily available

3 -Year Actions
  1. Invest in infrastructure and programs that support healthy communities, including supportive housing, mental health services, addiction services, and treatment centres.
  2. Establish a regional, multi-stakeholder task force (i.e. government, NGOs, business, community members, justice workers, law enforcement) to develop a comprehensive and integrated approach to dealing with root causes of drugs and crime.
  3. Establish early intervention, treatment for mental health, and education for petty criminals (with accountability).
Housing

Picture of Success

  • Affordable, accessible, and appropriate housing options
  • Safe, secure, inclusive, stable housing available for all
  • Complete communities where you work and play
  • Smart, sustainable, cohesive development

3 -Year Actions
  1. Use incentives and remove barriers (e.g. in building code) for affordable and rental housing.
  2. Implement existing regional housing and homelessness strategies.
  3. Integrate and coordinate public education on housing challenges, shared responsibilities, and how to respond to changing housing needs, including ‘village-style’ complete communities and creative use of space.
Culture and Learning

Picture of Success

  • Cultural and individual diversity is respected and celebrated
  • Permanent funding for arts
  • Every citizen is provided with opportunities to learn about other cultures
  • Unique Canadian identity that balances inclusiveness, shared values, and culture

3 -Year Actions
  1. Build partnerships between businesses, government, education, and the arts community, including joint-use agreements that provide space to create, learn, share and celebrate.
  2. Increase funding for public spaces, the arts, and multi-cultural programs that promote cultural diversity, education, and collaboration (e.g. awards and events with visual impact, and local hubs providing social community services).
  3. Recognize and engage all aspects of the Aboriginal community, including Métis, and urban Aboriginal communities, with representation in municipal and regional governance.
Stream 3 - Environment
Waste

Picture of Success

  • Zero-waste, closed-loop systems, waste is a resource
  • Shared responsibility and accountability of government, business, and citizens
  • Managed locally
  • Global example, leader
  • Reduce (then) reuse (then) recycle (then) recover

3 -Year Actions
  1. Work with provincial and federal governments to implement incentives and penalties to encourage elimination of waste, including product stewardship, legislation, graduated pricing, tax rebates, and the elimination of non-recyclable packaging.
  2. Create hard targets for waste reduction and measure performance.
  3. Strengthen education and awareness campaigns to all sectors about waste and consumption.
Energy and Climate Change

Picture of Success

  • Leader in energy conservation, efficiency of use, and integrated, renewable sources of energy
  • Specific, science-based, continuous GHG reduction targets are being met
  • Self-sufficiency
  • Sustainable regional and transit planning for high-density, adaptive, and resilient communities
  • Active and informed citizens feel personally responsible

3 -Year Actions
  1. Deepen requirements for green building standards for both new buildings and retrofitting existing buildings, and amend building codes to encourage green technology, sustainability, and continuous improvement on energy efficiency.
  2. Enact legislation to mandate “Smart Growth” – complete, dense communities with affordable, efficient transit options as well as walking and cycling networks.
  3. Preserve existing green space, expand bogs and wetlands, and encourage urban agriculture.
Ecological Health

Picture of Success

  • Ecosystems are resilient, protected, enhanced, and restored
  • Ecologically integrated, contained, complete communities
  • Rich biodiversity, green space, and habitat connectivity
  • Citizens that value ecosystem health and one-planet living

3 -Year Actions
  1. Protect or add to connected and enhanced green space (agricultural land, watersheds, bogs, wetlands, habitat corridors, riparian areas, parklands).
  2. Increase municipalities’ financial and legislative abilities to monitor and enforce for restoration, mitigation, and compensation and to use fiscal incentives/penalties for the protection and restoration of ecosystem services.
  3. Develop and deliver comprehensive education and awareness programs – in schools and the public – on the natural environment and the cause and effect and inter-connectedness between ecological health and other key regional issues (climate change, energy, waste, etc.).
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Resources

 Guest Speakers

Milton Wong, Chancellor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University  - bio

Chris Kelly, Superintendent of Schools/CEO, Vancouver School Board - bio

Dr. Michael Goldberg, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia - bio

Jim Craven, Principal, James R. Craven and Associates and former Executive Director, Municipal Finance Authority of BC - bio

Gaëtan Royer, City Manager, Port Moody - bio

 Documents
 
Milton Wong Profile

These videos provide inspiration for participants engaged in visioning exercises.

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Chris Kelly

David Driscoll
David Driscoll


David Marshall


Nola Kate

Fast Facts

Attendance at the 4 discussion forums held in June 2008 included overall participation totalling 292 (96 in Vancouver, 61 South of the Fraser, 52 Central Northeast, 50 North Shore and 33 in Richmond).