An Environmental Plan for the New City of Toronto: How to Make It ...

Executive Summary
The new Environmental Plan, an initiative of the Environmental Task Force, is an
important undertaking for the newly amalgamated City of Toronto as it will set the
context and recommend actions for environmental / sustainability planning and
governance at a pivotal time in the city's history. As the content and structure of the
Environmental Plan are being developed, it is important to identify how the Plan might
best be implemented – how it works.
This paper reviews the experiences from 6 cities around the world, chosen for the
diversity in approach, innovation and success in preparing an environmental or
sustainable plan. The case studies include Hamilton-Wentworth, Canada; Seattle, USA;
Lancashire, UK; Vancouver, Canada; Manchester, UK; and Goteborg, Sweden. They
were reviewed from the perspectives of framework/structure, process of development,
and implementation - how is the plan translated into action Who is accountable
Frameworks for Applying Sustainability in the City of Toronto, a companion paper to this
work, written by Lisa Salsberg, was assessed for implications on the implementation
aspects of the Environmental Plan.
Important criteria emerged form this review which has lessons for implementing an
Environmental Plan in Toronto: identifying a compelling Vision; establishing Community
Ownership; the need for Adoption/acceptance beyond initiating department; a document
that is Simple/easy to communicate; providing tangible evidence of progress through
Monitoring - Measurement of progress; Ensuring action through a variety of
mechanisms; Ensuring a ‘Living‘ document; and establishing a Comprehensive
framework for sustainability which the Environmental Plan is part of.
The paper concludes with the following 7 recommendations for Implementation of the
Environmental Plan:
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