Communities across Canada are adopting sustainable development as a way to improve quality of life, to reduce costs and to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection. The FCM Centre for Sustainable Community Development (CSCD) offers resources to support that action. We recognize that different kinds of support are needed for municipalities, whether they are large, small, urban, rural or isolated and that support would vary at different stages of a project. We’re quite pleased that we can offer programs and resources that serve each municipal type and each of those stages of project development and implementation.

For many people, it all starts with a good idea. We know that municipal officials are often inspired by the good work of their peers in other communities. For more than 10 years, FCM has sought to inspire municipal leaders through our Community Energy Missions. Each mission brings elected officials and senior staff to Europe to learn from advanced sustainable energy projects. They have brought those good ideas home and planted many ideas for sustainable energy projects here in Canada.

Our 2006 Community Energy Mission brought a delegation to England. For the first time in the 11-year history of the mission, we found that our hosts were just as interested in learning about Canadian examples and best practices. Canadian municipal governments have made significant strides in the past decade, and we now know that many of our sustainable development initiatives can stand with the best in the world.

Our choice for the 2007 mission reflects that accomplishment. To examine some of the best sustainable energy projects in the world, we’ll be going to Alberta next summer.

Work done in the Town of Okotoks is a great example of Alberta innovation, and a great example of how FCM can support a good idea from start to finish. Okotoks’s General Manager, Rick Quail, participated in the 2002 FCM Community Energy Mission. He took an idea inspired by that trip and successfully applied for a GMF grant to conduct a feasibility study. Okotoks later received GMF financing for the resulting capital installation. In June, Okotoks received a national FCM-CH2M HILL Sustainable Community Award recognizing its exceptional work in solar energy.

Over the past few months we’ve been examining the impact of other GMF-funded feasibility studies and field tests. Our survey has found that a very high proportion of them result in concrete changes to municipal practices and infrastructure. It confirms that GMF financing is truly fostering change in communities, change that improves quality of life and environmental sustainability.

We weren’t surprised, because we already know that there is great sustainable development work being done in our cities, towns and communities. Increasingly, this work is being recognized on the international stage. The small west coast community of Ucluelet is an inspiring example. Tiny Ucluelet, with a one-person planning department, was recognized with a 2006 Sustainable Community Award in the sustainable planning category. The district has now also won top honours from the United Nations Liveable Communities (LivCom) Environmentally Sustainable Community Awards. Congratulations Ucluelet and congratulations to all Canadian municipal governments for providing international leadership in sustainable community development. FCM is proud to play a role by supporting and recognizing your good work at all of its stages.

Elisabeth Arnold,
Director,
FCM Centre for Sustainable Community Development

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