The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide - Democrats Against UN ...

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The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide mechanisms were needed to improve coordination between municipal budget decisions and policy goals and objectives. Sustainable development was identified as the appropriate philosophy to incorporate the many concerns and issues facing the community, as it emphasized a balance between social, environmental, and economic issues. In June 1990, the Regional Council formally launched the Sustainable Community Initiative by creating a Citizens’ Task Force on Sustainable Development. This group was instructed to consult with the community to explore the concept of sustainable development and how it might be applied in the Region. The Task Force was given the following mandate: • to develop an overall vision to guide future development in Hamilton-Wentworth, based on the principles of sustainable development; • to establish a public outreach program to increase awareness of the concept of sustainable development and to act as a vehicle for feedback on potential goals, objectives, and policies for the Region; • to provide input as to how the concept of sustainable development could be turned into practical applications through Regional initiatives; • to demonstrate and articulate in detail the usefulness of the sustainable development concept in view of the Region’s long-term planning policies; and • to provide direction to staff and the Economic Development and Planning Committee, who would be using the concept to guide their review of the Region’s Economic Strategy and Official Plan. Through a consultation process lasting two and a half years and involving over a thousand citizens, the Region developed a community vision called VISION 2020:The Sustainable Region.VISION 2020 describes, in broad terms, the type of community that Hamilton-Wentworth could be in the year 2020, if the community’s actions follow the principle of sustainable development. Implementing VISION 2020 The community consultation process highlighted 11 key areas that require major policy shifts if the Region is to become sustainable. These include: • natural areas and corridors; • improving the quality of water resources; • improving air quality; • reducing the amount of waste; • consuming less energy; • land use in the urban area; • changing modes of transportation; • personal health and well-being; • community empowerment; • the local economy; and • agriculture and the rural economy. Additionally, the consultation process identified 300 detailed recommendations forVISION 2020. The implementation of the VISION 2020 document, the 11 key areas targeted for policy change, and the 300 recommendations are supported by a system of monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of performance and progress towards sustainability. This system has http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (146 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide five main components: • the definition of concrete performance targets based upon the 11 target areas and their respective action recommendations; • the institution of an internal, municipal decision-making process to assure that all departmental proposals to a Council Committee—including policies, budgets, and work programs—are reviewed according to their contribution (or contradiction) to VISION 2020; • the creation of a set of performance indicators to monitor progress towards implementation of VISION 2020; • the convening of an annual “Sustainable Community Day,” where the municipality, citizens, and other sectors and institutions come together to share their actions and progress towards VISION 2020; and • municipal staff review of VISION 2020 itself, based upon the indicators and the outcomes of the Sustainable Community Day. This reporting and feedback system is illustrated in Figure 21. Signposts on the Trail to VISION 2020—Sustainable Development Indicators The Sustainable Community Indicators Project began in the summer of 1994, in partnership with the ICLEI and McMaster University’s Environmental Health Program and the Health of the Public Project. The purpose of the project was to develop a set of indicators for measuring the community’s progress against VISION 2020. The Indicators Project provided a set of measures to monitor the implementation of VISION 2020 through key statutory plans such as the: • Regional Official Plan, called The Sustainable Region; • Regional Transportation Review; • Comprehensive Municipal Pollution Prevention Plan; and the • Renaissance Project (the strategic plan for long-term economic development). The indicators will serve as a critical mechanism in linking projects together by emphasizing the overriding goal of VISION 2020. The first step in the development of indicators was the distribution of a questionnaire to the participants in the first annual Sustainable Community Day in June 1994. This questionnaire provided municipal staff with an indication of the kinds of conditions and trends that residents consider indicative of progress towards sustainability. Through a review of these findings and existing programs and initiatives, the Indicators Project Team drafted a first set of 60 indicators. These were grouped into the 11 areas for policy change that are targeted in VISION 2020. A target was then defined for each potential indicator. The following criteria guided the selection of indicators: MEASURABILITY The indicator must be measurable and not a statement of intent or vision. It should be sensitive to any improvement or deterioration in the condition it targets. Results should be useful to decision makers. COST/EASE OF COLLECTION Data needed for the measurement of the indicator must be available on a frequent basis to monitor trends, and must be accessible at a minimal cost. Ideally, the data should be drawn from existing research and/or monitoring programs. CREDIBILITY AND VALIDITY The indicators should be unambiguous and their relevance should be self-evident or easily understood by residents of the Region. The standards of measurement should be consistent over time so that indicators will be comparable from year to year. http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (147 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
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