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Home  Opinion Sustainability Principles Create Principled Sustainability
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Sustainability Principles Create Principled Sustainability |
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Written by Brenda Broughton
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Friday, 29 February 2008 |
What makes Lions Bay a liveable community ?
What would make it more liveable ?
How are we a complete community ? … In what ways are we not ?
How can we have a smaller environmental footprint and use land more efficiently ?
How do we best protect our green zone both inside and outside the Village boundaries ?
How does Lions Bay become a more sustainable community ?
Lions Bay citizens are both local and global citizens … Village
oriented and committed, while being well educated and caring about the
world that we live in and understanding the ‘tribal’ (local)
responsibility to embrace ‘global’ sustainability principles as an icon
for growth and development. Thus the adage, ‘Think Globally, Act
Locally’. It is in our local actions that the sustainability
principles can be used, whether it is our home, our community or voting
for people who incorporate these principles.
Cheryl Wozny, Publisher of LionsBay.net Community Newspaper, heard my passion in speaking of sustainability issues at a highways meeting last Fall. When she asked me to write an article on sustainability I suggested we ask experts and she suggested I had the passion and knowledge needed. Let me qualify myself, in saying, that I was first introduced to the principles of Sustainability at the beginning of my nine (9) years as mayor of the Village of Lions Bay (1993-2002). The first Liveable Region Strategic Plan for Metro Vancouver (then the GVRD) was debated and adopted during that time. There were many conferences that I attended on the principles of Sustainability and these seminars, meetings and conferences continued throughout the 9 year period. In addition, I participated as a member of the GVRD Planning Committee (1993-2002) where I received a significant education regarding Sustainability principles. At the same time I sat with the Squamish Lillooet Regional District Directors, for meetings pertaining to the Protected Area Strategy for the Sea to Sky Corridor and Britannia Beach environmental reclamation plans.
Sustainability was and continues to be, an area of strong interest for me, most often focussed on Howe Sound. I was a charter Director of the Save Howe Sound Society (in the l970’s). While mayor of Lions Bay, I was the creator and Charter Chairperson of the Howe Sound Community Forum (2000), which includes 3 Regional Districts, 7 municipalities, two First Nations, and the Islands Trust. The Howe Sound Community Forum members signed a sustainability agreement for Howe Sound in the fall 2002 with 21 signatories representing the above bodies. I was the signatory on behalf of Lions Bay.
In the late 1990’s, as mayor, I led the successful opposition to building the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank in the world at McNab Creek in Howe Sound. This would have been a ‘non-sustainable’development by both local and world standard, as the written opposition from Howe Sound community members was overwhelmingly the highest that the BC Ministry of Environment had received in its recorded history. A Lions Bay team prepared a submission which I presented to the BC Utilities Commission and was rigourously cross examined by the proponent of the project. The people of the Village of Lions Bay and the people of the communities of Howe Sound worked together in a combined, significant and sustained effort, leading a values based opposition using sound research and knowledge against a multi-million dollar corporate campaign. The LNG tank was not built. While we opposed this project, our focus was on the issues and not on personal attack, this is also part of sustainability.
I affirmed the principles of sustainability by watching an excellent Shaw Cable program, this month, created and produced by sisters Dr.Vanessa Timmer, environmental expert and Dagmar Timmer, MA, on Sustainability in Metro Vancouver. Globally respected, living locally in Gleneagles.
Sustainability is as a three-legged stool with a triple bottom line. Sustainability integrates the perspectives from each of the three legs: the environment, social community and economy, within a planning partnership. The three elements must be considered together in an integrated planning process, in meeting current needs, while not compromising the ability to meet future needs up to and including 100 years (The Metro Vancouver Sustainable Region Initiative). Sustainability requires that environment, community and economy are each considered in any community planning and new projects.
Rather than debating about the efficacy of one leg of the sustainability stool, the three components are all considered equally important in the creation and consideration of both goal and solution development. The primary question is: What impact does a development, project or zoning decision have on each of these three elements: the environment, the social/community and the economy. To be Sustainable, a project must have a positive or, at least, a neutral impact on these three components. Ideally a project will concurrently advance the environmental good, the social/community good and the economic good. One leg’s values and voice should not win the day over another.
The principles of sustainability integrate perspectives regarding the environment, the community and the economy and each receives equal consideration. A sustainable plan is inclusive of all interests and integrates all three into the planning goals. This is modelled in the Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI) which emphasizes principles of ‘waste not, want not’ with a focus on eco-efficiency and environmental considerations; core social values; and enduring prosperity. While old planning principles looked at ‘minimum cost’, sustainability principles apply the triple bottom line … does it meet environmental, community and economic values of sustainability. Sustainability is based upon consensus building. Thus there are no winners and losers, rather a consensus building process with inclusion of ideas.
I see the ‘seat of the sustainability stool’ as collaborative striving, with inclusive thinking, toward the seat as ‘principled sustainability’. This incorporates the environment, the social community and the economy from integrated and respectful sustainability principles, plans or outcomes. Following the ‘sustainable principles creates principled sustainability’. The projects become sustainable for the local community within the context of both regional and global sustainability goals.
The concept of roundtable discussions with community members is vital to the concept of sustainability, as the community interests will then be reflected in these three core areas necessary for the possibility of creating sustainable projects and communities. Metro Vancouver is currently conducting many roundtable discussions in its review of the Liveable Region Sustainability Plan (LRSP) throughout the region. Metro Vancouver launched the Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI) in October, 2001. Sustainable principles reflected in the SRI are the ‘overarching foundation’ for the Metro Vancouver 2007/2008 review of the LRSP, as it was in the previous 2002 review.
Projects come before us in Lions Bay. To be a sustainable project, the will and interests of the people must be taken into consideration with regard to the environment, the social/community and economic interests.
An example of a sustainability discussion is interestingly a meeting that Cheryl and I both attended, where the Official Municipal community entry signs for the south and north end of the Village were discussed.
The Ministry of Highways is attempting to ‘brand’ each of the Sea to Sky corridor communities in time for 2010 by using a rock ‘façade’ replicating the iconic Furry Creek entry signs. Our community input requested the use of ‘real’ rock to be carved. The 2010 Olympics is the first Olympics to have ‘Sustainability’ as a consideration. Sustainability, remember is not just a word, it is a word with a specific actionable meaning, that is, that the environment, the social/community and the economic input must be considered.
The signage will be in place for the 2010 Olympics…at this meeting, many citizens expressed concern to use ‘real’ rock in our community signage. I spoke to the necessity to take into consideration our Villager’s input and I explained that I thought that I knew of someone in the corridor that could do this work and committed to get in touch with them and email the information to the engineer attending the meeting in charge of the signage. I did get in touch with this artisan, who referred me on to a skilled expert in Squamish with the technical and plant capability of taking on the magnitude of this project with creativity and engineering capacity to fit the scope of the design specifications. This information was provided in an email and by telephone to the Ministry. The Ministry of Highways and this individual were encouraged to meet to discuss the potential of this project. This is an example of taking a community discussion, with a clear expression of ideas and ‘potentially’ influencing the design outcome while the environment and economy are also considered.
The principles of sustainability then bring a wholeness, an inclusiveness, to a project and my bias is, that that leads to a higher standard of excellence. Rather than the three legs competing, as they may have traditionally, to be ‘heard’ or to get ‘their way’, each of the three elements (the environment, the social community and the economy) is included in the planning.
Sustainable principles create principled sustainable projects.. a fully realizable goal.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 February 2008 )
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