Williams Lake: Beyond Imagination

Oct 192010

by Mark Allison

After winning FCM’s top planning award for Imagine Our Future, the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan for Williams Lake led by the Whistler Centre for Sustainability and The Natural Step Canada, it would have been tempting to assume that most of the sustainability work had been accomplished.  Of course, the ICSP is only the tip of the iceberg and the start of any community’s sustainability journey!

Effective ICSP’s are adopted as overarching policy documents, meaning that they should inform and direct all other community plans, policies, projects, and practices.  In the case of Williams Lake, Imagine Our Future immediately led to Creating Our Future, a major update of the Official Community Plan (OCP) being led by the Centre.  This is a unique process we are pioneering in Williams Lake to create a comprehensive ICSP and then fully integrate the ICSP directions into the OCP.

OCPs define the physical blueprint for a community in BC, and they outline key policy directions in areas under local jurisdiction.  As a result, it is an important testing ground for flowing down ICSP directions into the day-to-day decisions by staff and decision-makers on the ground.

The process started with a critical review of community land use to ensure that it was consistent with sustainability and Smart Growth planning principles.  This involved a review of land use as one of two main topics at a major Innovators Summit, a number of focus groups, online surveys, and a review of the resulting suitability mapping.

To ensure that the OCP not only considers the ICSP, but institutionalizes it, it introduces the directions from Imagine Our Future early in the document, followed by a chapter with distinct policy sections in support of each ICSP sustainability strategy.  The Land Use Plan and Development Permit Area chapters then reflect these sustainability directions in land use and development.

Once the draft OCP has been reviewed by the public and approved by Council, the next and perhaps most important phase begins reviewing ICSP and OCP progress regularly using indicators and reporting systems and then working closely with community partners to create the actions necessary to achieve the community’s vision of the future!

Visit the Williams Lake “Imagine our Future” site for more information.

Shifting Whistler's Hundredth Monkey

Oct 062010

by Shannon Gordon

Being called a monkey can, in many cases, incite a negative reaction. According to Wikipedia: The hundredth monkey effect is a supposed phenomenon in which a learned behavior spreads instantaneously from one group of monkeys to all related monkeys once a critical number is reached.

In Whistler’s case, we’re hoping our hundredth monkey is hanging around ready for progressive action. And what might this be in Whistler? Seatbelts? Littering? Smoking? Nope, most of North America can already check these off the list. So how about oh, I don’t know? Let’s just throw one out there: how about behaviour that helps make Whistler a better place to live, work and play?

Well, given that most Whistlerites have a pretty natural ability to see the environment, economy and society together as one interconnected whole, we could have literally thousands of monkeys acting to make Whistler more successful and sustainable, rather than just a hundred.

Think about the number of actions executed by each monkey in our little resort town every day: actions to purchase, to travel, to dine, to recreate, to transport, to package, to clean, to build hundreds of thousands of actions? More? And each of these actions has an impact an impact that usually has integrated economic, social and environmental aspects to it.

Then imagine if each monkey started to shift their thinking one decision and action at a time? If we have hundreds of thousands of monkey actions being executed in Whistler every day and usually (hopefully?) each one is preceded by some kind of decision-making process, then there exists the awesome opportunity to shift our collective behaviour to more closely align with and contribute to a more successful and sustainable Whistler.

This is exactly what the new iShift challenge is going to start tipping in Whistler.

iShift is a new Whistler2020 take action challenge that will help to accelerate our resort community’s progress toward our Whistler2020 vision of success and sustainability. It is comprised of two parts: iShift Business and iShift Citizen, each targeted toward motivating a cultural and behavioural shift within Whistler. It is being facilitated by the Whistler Centre for Sustainability (WCS) and the Resort Municipality of Whistler, with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Department of the Environment.

Through a workshop series followed by one-on-one assistance from WCS staff, iShift Business will support local organizations to develop and implement a sustainability action plan. The benefits to each business participant will go beyond the very valuable outcome of a better resort community to include:

  • Reduced operational costs associated with reduced energy and waste production
  • Brand lift due to leadership in more environmentally responsible operations
  • Increased and more loyal customer/client base
  • Greater employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention
  • Improved communications that create a competitive advantage by connecting with customer/client values

iShift Citizen will engage groups of Whistler citizens to create solutions and achieve measurable and practical shifts in behaviour that lead to positive, long-lasting impacts in areas such as food, energy, water, and waste. Benefits to households beyond the prize incentives that will catch your eye can include reduced energy costs, reduced waste, and improved health in your home and your community by reducing C02 emissions and improving air quality. Making changes is easier when we do it together – with friends and neighbors – rather than working alone. By participating in an iShift Citizen group, you can make simple but tangible differences, which amount to significant savings.

Contact us or stay tuned throughout October for the iShift launch and how to become part of the community-wide challenge that will have a ripple effect into the future and beyond our town.

Let the challenge begin to shift Whistler’s hundredth monkey.

Use of the TNS Principles in Whistler's ICSP, Whistler2020

Sep 132010

Written by Shannon Gordon

The first chapter in Whistler’s use of the Natural Step began in 2000 with our adoption of the TNS framework, which was then embedded into the community’s highest level policy, Whistler2020, in 2005. Whistler2020 is the first integrated community sustainability plan (ICSP) in North America to use the TNS framework at all levels of development and implementation.

Whistler chose to articulate the system conditions as sustainability objectives so community members could envision the community’s desired future and then plan step-by-step actions to get there. Colloquial language is included alongside the objectives when presenting the framework especially for the benefit of new audiences. Below is how they are most often presented.

Whistler’s sustainability objectives are to reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to:

1. Ongoing build-up of substances taken from the earth’s crust (Or, use less or different stuff!)
2. Ongoing build-up of substances produced by society (Or, make less or different stuff!)
3. Ongoing degradation of natural systems by physical means (Or, reduce our impact on life-sustaining ecosystems.)
4. Undermining the ability of people to meet their human needs (Or, meet human needs fairly & efficiently.)

These sustainability objectives, along with Whistler’s vision and values, were used to develop the Whistler2020 descriptions of success (DOS) a set of descriptive visionary statements for each of the seventeen Whistler2020 strategy areas. These DOS statements translate or interpret Whistler’s ultimate vision of overall success and sustainability (defined by our sustainability objectives) in order to guide strategy-level outcomes to help inform community decision-making and action planning. Below are two examples of how the sustainability objectives were embedded within the DOS for the Built Environment and the Energy strategy areas respectively.

* The new and renovated built environment has transitioned towards sustainable management of energy and materials
* The energy system is continuously moving towards a state whereby a buildup of emissions and waste into air, land and water is eliminated

Whistler2020′s DOS statements are now being used to guide Whistler’s OCP update, thus beginning the next chapter in Whistler’s integrated use of the Natural Step framework.

The Whistler Centre stewards Whistler2020 and the OCP Update public engagement strategy on behalf of the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Contact us for more information or visit www.whistler2020.ca.

Community Sustainability Planning (Part 2) The Basics of How to do it

Aug 172010

Written by Cheeying Ho

What will your ideal community look like in the next twenty-five years in a climate of rapid global change? How will you approach planning for it?

Sustainability planning helps communities gain insight into their long-term goals for success the goals then shape and inform investment & infrastructure decisions, reducing potential costly short-term & dead-end blunders. Significant benefits accrue to communities moving in the direction of long-term success. As an energizing and motivating conversation for the community it helps to elevate potential deadlock issues, attract new residents and niche businesses, as well as retain and motivate municipal talent. Local economies are prepared for the long-term impacts of climate change, shifting global priorities for goods & services and rising energy prices. Community members commit to maintaining their resilience, networks and quality of life through demographic shifts and other social challenges. Municipalities save significant money over time through reduced energy and waste management costs.

Creating a plan for a more sustainable and successful community may be one of the most important public engagement initiatives undertaken by a local government. Engaging a community in the creation of an inspirational vision and strategies for moving toward that shared vision is, in effect, creating a strategic plan for your community that addresses economic, social and environmental goals.
Developing a community sustainability plan generally follows these steps:

1. Work with the community to create a shared vision of a desired and successful future. Identify ‘descriptions of success’ that describe this desired future.
2. Consider where the community is now – this is the ‘current reality’.
3. Determine the steps to move from the current reality to your identified descriptions of success. This is the action-planning and implementation stage that will take the community towards its vision, and make the difference between just a plan and a robust, ongoing process.
4. Align governance structures and corporate and community culture with the vision using a variety of decision-informing tools.
5. Measure performance and track progress.
6. Repeat steps 3-5.

A shared commitment to basic sustainability objectives will strengthen and help to guide the entire community planning and implementation process. These sustainability principles (adopted from the Natural Step) are:

1. In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:
2. Concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust
3. Concentrations of substances produced by society
4. Degradation by physical means

And, people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.

For example, Whistler is applying the above sustainability principles in decision-making. One method is through the use of the transition guidelines below.

Whistler’s Sustainability Objectives suggest that we should transition toward a more sustainable future by:

1. Increasing energy efficiency; preferring energy from renewable sources, metals that are abundant in nature (e.g. aluminum, iron), materials that are natural and biodegradable (e.g. glass, wood, organic cotton, water-based), materials that are managed in tight technical cycles(e.g. recycled or reused), items made from recycled materials.
2. Preferring materials/chemicals that are natural and biodegradable (e.g. glass, wood, organic cotton, water-based chemicals), materials/chemicals that are managed in tight technical cycles (e.g. recycled or reused), items made from recycled materials, organically grown and untreated items; using less.
3. Using less of nature; preferring fast-growing crops (e.g. hemp, bamboo, etc.), materials from well-managed ecosystems, re-usable, recyclable, items made from recycled materials; using previously developed lands.
4. Safe working and living conditions, access to education, sufficient resources for livelihoods, political freedom, inclusionary and transparent decision-making; affordable products and services.

Stay tuned for our next blog about the importance of community engagement in developing an ICSP…

Community Sustainability Planning (Part 1) What does it mean for my Community?

Jul 062010

Community sustainability is a buzz term that can mean many things. Fundamentally, it is about creating communities where there is a resilient economy fostered by a vibrant community and supported within a healthy environment.

One approach to community sustainability planning is what’s become known as ‘integrated’ community sustainability planning. Since sustainability problems are often complex and overlapping, they cannot be solved in isolation, and are best addressed using a comprehensive, systems-based approach that addresses the root of the problem, rather than only the symptoms. For example, toxic effluent in rivers affects fish health (environmental), which affects people (social) and financial prosperity (economic). All of these elements and their connections must be considered to arrive at effective solutions.

An Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP) is as much a process as it is a plan. The end result is more than a document: it is in fact an on-going process of engaging stakeholders in the community in co-creating and updating a vision of a sustainable future and linking that to realistic planning and collaborative action today. ICSPs emphasize long-term thinking, collaboration between departments and between sectors, engaging community stakeholders, creating partnerships, and continuous monitoring and evaluation.

Keys to Successful Community Sustainability Planning:

* An ICSP should be guided by a vision of a community in a sustainable society, and be created by all those whose actions it is meant to guide.
* At the heart of this sustainability planning approach is a commitment to a bottom-up participatory process that engages those affected by decisions and those who will be responsible for implementing parts of the plan. Just as important is to design the process so that the time and energy that participants put into the project benefit both themselves and the wider community.
* The planning process should combine planning and action by implementing easy first actions (low-hanging fruit). Often these first actions are efficiency improvements that generate savings that can be invested in more challenging measures later. Sometimes it is even effective to begin implementing these actions while the planning process is still underway. This parallel action/planning process can create buy-in among a diverse group of stakeholders and increase their enthusiasm for the planning process.
* The approach to planning is holistic, systems-based, and integrated as opposed to addressing issues in a fragmented, case-by-case basis. This requires a focus on building capacity among the participants to see the planning process from a big picture perspective.
* Ongoing education and training programs, monitoring the effectiveness of actions with indicators, all guided by the vision and sustainability principles, help institutionalize change and keep adopted practices going over time.

Stay tuned for our next blog about the basic steps to creating a community sustainability plan…

Whistler's OCP Update

May 192010

Written by Naomi Devine

Over the next 12 months, Whistler’s Official Community Plan (OCP) is being updated and community engagement is crucial every step of the way. The OCP update will be a collaborative process lead by the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and supported by the Whistler Centre for Sustainability.

The importance of the OCP a regulatory document that has implementation power similar, yet distinct, from Whistler2020, our comprehensive sustainability plan is significant in that it is a document that will enshrine the community’s vision and priorities within a provincially recognized legal framework. This is another example of how Whistler2020 is a living, thriving vision it does not sit on a shelf, and it has an ongoing, adaptive role as we move toward success and sustainability.

The last OCP update occurred in 1993. But the OCP is an organic document, constantly updated through the ongoing operations of Whistler’s local government. The significance of this update is that it will allow Whistler to clearly state how, and with what regulatory tools, we will move forward from a period of rapid resort growth, culminating in the successful hosting of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, to a stable, mature four season destination resort community with a resilient tourism economy.

The kickoff event for this OCP update will be the third annual Apres in Action, in the Grand Foyer of the Whistler Conference Centre on May 26, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Last week, a questionnaire was launched online at whistler.ca) for the community to identify key OCP issues.

Want the inside scoop? Some of the issues already on the Apres table: air and water quality, smart growth, rideshare and bicycling benefits, how non-car owners deal with garbage, moving transit toward the frequency we had during the Games, energy conservation, tourism market trends, affordable housing, longer Library hours, and adding another ice arena. These are just a few.

The Apres keynote speaker is Patrick Condon, senior researcher with the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability where he holds the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments. Condon will speak about best practices in community sustainability, how Whistler can stay on the cutting edge, and why OCPs are an important part of the process.

After Condon’s talk, participants will have an opportunity to have in depth discussions on the topic areas of the OCP: the natural environment, land use and development, transportation and utilities, climate action, energy and resources, economic viability, Whistler’s quality of life, and neighbourhood vitality.

Apres isn’t the community’s only opportunity to engage with the OCP update events throughout the summer will be used to gather input and feedback. Further, working groups will be established in the fall to review and provide feedback on draft OCP work. Community members can even host their own working group meeting around their kitchen table and invite friends and neighbours to participate.

Meaningful community engagement is the norm in Whistler. The Whistler Centre for Sustainability has been an innovator in this area and is supporting the OCP review by leading and executing the public engagement strategy, and assisting with the integration of the vision and principles of Whistler2020 into the OCP policies.

Bill 27 The Importance for Local Governments in BC

May 052010

Written by Cheeying Ho

Bill 27 in BC is the Local Government Statutes Amendment Act, which requires all local governments to include targets, policies and actions for reducing GHG emissions in their OCPs by May 31, 2010. While these targets can be specific GHG targets, they can also be non-binding aspirational targets, which need only to indicate the potential or intention of a community to work toward targets based on current inventories.

Those of us who wanted to see the Provincial government push harder to get targets and action plans in place to start seeing significant progress in GHG reductions may be disappointed that these targets are aspirational, and that policies and actions only need to provide general direction. However, having a requirement for any type of targets, policies and actions is a hugely important first step for most local governments who are still trying to come to grips with understanding GHG emissions, inventories, carbon tax, etc. Having targets mandated into an Official Community Plan is the first step in entrenching energy and emission reduction intentions into a regulatory document.

An OCP governs land use decisions in a community, and land use-related factors such as buildings and transportation together account for at least 50% (often much more) of a community’s GHG emissions. Until we better integrate land use, transportation, building design, construction, location decisions, we will not be able to achieve meaningful GHG reductions.

Bill 27 may not be the answer for our communities’ challenges in reducing GHG. However, it is the beginning, as we will inevitably see increasingly more robust best practices for matching targets to the realities of the scientific consensus, identifying strategic actions to best bridge the gap between our current performance and our identified goals, and policy creation that best leverages a local government’s legislative opportunities to effectively drive change toward a lower-carbon economy.

Is your community prepared to meet its Bill 27 requirements?

Local Government (Green Communities) Statues Amendment Act, (Bill 27) 2008

Climate Smarter Getting Down to Business in Whistler

Apr 122010

Whistler’s ongoing transition to a lower carbon resort community took another step forward last year as 11 local companies worked to better understand their specific carbon footprints, and to adapt their operations toward a better way of doing business. During the fall and winter of 2009, a number of Whistler SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) took on the climate change leadership challenge and put their collective shoulders to the greenhouse gas reduction (GHG) grindstone – and you know what, they’re quite likely to improve their financial bottom lines while they’re at it.

In 2008, direct carbon emissions from Whistler’s commercial, residential and institutional sectors tallied just more than 126,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). While this represents a two per cent reduction versus 2007, and is more than 10 per cent below 2000 levels, our community still has a long way to go to achieve our shared climate protection goals. To reach these goals — a 33 per cent reduction from 2007 levels by 2020 — there is little doubt that we need leadership across all sectors of our community.

An innovative shared learning program delivered by Climate Smart (a subsidiary of Ecotrust Canada) and the Whistler Centre for Sustainability (WCS) has started to build Whistler’s low carbon leadership. Supported by the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (RMOW) Climate Action and Innovation Fund and the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, this first cohort of climate leaders undertook the process of compiling a full inventory of their respective energy expenditures and carbon emissions. Working with this baseline they learned skills and techniques for setting reduction targets and evaluating the return on investment (ROI) for specific reduction strategies. The first six businesses to finalize their inventories and start into their reduction strategies had a collective carbon footprint of  roughly 2,200 tCO2e with an average individual footprint of approximately 350 tCO2e/year. Evaluating these inventories revealed that the largest sources of emissions were travel-based, followed by space heating, landfilled wastes and electricity.

More importantly, highlights from these businesses’ new reduction strategies include:

  • a workplace social marketing campaign for improving energy conservation at Gone Bakery, Moguls and Zogs;
  • a fuel efficiency based fleet replacement and waste reduction strategy at Canadian Snowmobiles;
  • a tenant communication strategy aimed at reducing building energy use at the Whistler Housing Authority;
  • installation of occupancy sensors and a waste reduction strategy at Nicklaus North Golf Club;
  • fleet efficiency investments for tours and guest transport at Blackcomb Snowmobiles;
  • increased use of biodiesel and an improved ride sharing program at Glacier Creek Contracting;
  • more occupancy sensors, LED lights and expanded in-room recycling bins in guest rooms at the Residence Inn, Coast Whistler; as well as
  • a full climate neutrality commitment from Peak Ventures.

Interested in Getting your Whistler-based Business Involved? The next Whistler-based Climate Smart training cohort is scheduled for May 17 and June 24th. To find out more, contact Dan Wilson at the Whistler Centre for Sustainability at dwilson@whistler.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

About ClimateSmart: Climate Smart is a Vancouver-based social enterprise launched by Ecotrust Canada in 2009. It is a leading provider of carbon tracking tools, training and technical support to small- and medium-sized businesses. Its online greenhouse gas management tool for SMEs was rated No. 1 in North America by Carbonzero (climatesmartbusiness.com).

About the RMOW’s Climate Action Innovation Fund: In July of 2009, the RMOW became the first municipality in BC to approve a policy that formally directs the local government’s carbon tax rebate (CARIP) to support improved carbon management capacity across the community. For more information: search “CARIP” on www.whistler.ca.

Public Spaces Make Community

Mar 292010

Written by Cheeying Ho

Aside from the amazing athletic events, the inspirational feats achieved, and the great sportsmanship displayed throughout the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, what was it about the Games that made it such a wonderful, energizing and community-building experience in Whistler and in Vancouver? It was the public spaces our typical streets, parks, civic centres that were converted into hubs of activity: music, arts, celebrations, dance, food. These were the gathering places that brought together people of all ages, backgrounds, origins and countries to celebrate, connect, and have fun all important elements of a vibrant community. What attracts most other people, it would appear, is people. (William H. Whyte)

Why are public spaces so important to community vibrancy? Public spaces bring people together, and together, people create a sense of place and stronger community. Placemaking is not just the act of building or fixing up a space, but a holistic approach to creating vital public destinations that promote community commitment and involvement. It capitalizes on a community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, creating good public spaces that promote health, happiness, and well-being. (Project for Public Spaces) By providing a public place for people to congregate, many great things can happen. Here are just some examples:

  • Identifying a community vision
  • Seeding conversations for creating the future
  • Putting people first for example, if you plan communities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.
  • Providing place for public markets supporting local farmers and food, and getting people close to their food sources
  • Spontaneous dancing in the streets
  • Creating vibrant downtowns great for local business

In Whistler, the success of Whistler Live! was apparent in all the plazas that were animated with music, video, awards ceremonies, and other activities that drew people out in all weather conditions. It didn’t seem to matter what band was playing on the stage; people congregated to be with other people, to soak in the festive atmosphere, and to partake in the vibrancy that seemed to permeate the air throughout the community. It’s the main reason why Whistler designed the pedestrian-oriented Village to create a sense of vibrancy and place, and the Winter Games was a fantastic way to take advantage of the Village structure and animate it even more.

Learning from Project for Public Spaces (PPS), a successful place has four key qualities: sociability; uses and activities; access and linkages; and comfort and image. PPS uses the Power of Ten concept to think about places beyond singular uses, activities and features to create great places: Each place needs 10+ things to do; a destination needs 10+ places; a city/region needs 10+ major destinations.

When we think of the places created during the Games, they fulfilled the 10+ things to do rule…..so when we think of our own communities every day, do they meet the Power of Ten concept, and if not, how can we create places that do?

Will Whistler turn up for Pemberton’s Earth Hour challenge to turn down?

Mar 252010

Written by Shannon Gordon

The History: Whistler had one of the most substantial reductions in BC during the 2008 Earth Hour (reduced community electrical load of 5.6%), but we then completely eradicated that performance with an INCREASED load during Earth Hour 2009 of 1.4% – one of the worst results in BC. The same year as our poor showing, Pemby did a fantastic job of turning it off: achieving a 4.6% reduction in electrical load and placing them second in the province.

So, for Earth Hour 2010 on Saturday March 27th at 8:30pm, it’s time to show our neighbouring communities (and ourselves!) that Whistler’s competitive spirit runs almost as deep as our commitment to our Whistler2020 vision: to be the premier mountain resort community – as we move toward sustainability.

We can do it Whistler! We’ve been training for this event for a while now as evidenced by the Whistler2020 Energy Strategy, our Integrated Energy, Air Quality and GHG Management Plan and on-the-ground actions we’ve had in place for some time. To get things rolling, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (our local government organization) has already committed to turning off the heat tracing in Whistler Village and the lighting at most municipal buildings.

Here’s an important tip for you from our Whistler Centre for Sustainability associate and energy guru, Ted Battiston: Electric baseboard heaters consume about 250 watts per lineal foot of heater. An average living room might have 5-7 feet of baseboard (consuming about 1,500 watts) – that’s the equivalent consumption of 65-100 compact fluorescent light bulbs. So in addition to turning off your lights on Saturday (and all the days that follow), make sure you drop your thermostats during Earth Hour and find other fun ways to keep warm!

In addition to these Earth Hour ideas from BC Hydro, here are energy consumption stats for the average Canadian home that can help you focus your reduction efforts Saturday and everyday thereafter:

  • Heating and Cooling 45+%
  • Appliances 30%
  • Water heaters 13%
  • Lighting 11%

More about Earth Hour: Earth Hour has moved rapidly from being a single event in Sydney, Australia in 2007 to a global hour of action. It’s anticipated that more than one billion people in more than 100 countries around the world will turn off their lights and other energy-using devices for one hour. The goal is to raise global awareness about climate change.

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