INTRODUCTION
Under the broad umbrella of sustainable development, The Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth has implemented various actions which are changing the role and method of business for local government. A new focus has been developed which is moving the Region towards decisions that will help create a sustainable community.
The sustainable community initiative started in 1989, when the Region's management team decided that mechanisms were needed to better coordinate budget decisions with Regional Government policy goals and objectives. At the same time the Region's Official Plan and its Economic Strategy needed to be reviewed and questions were being raised about what direction or philosophy would guide these comprehensive reviews.
Research prepared by the Planning and Development Department recommended that a philosophy which incorporated the many concerns, issues, and trends facing the community would provide a framework for decision making. Sustainable development, with its emphasis on environmental, social, and economic issues, and on development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, was identified as that philosophy.
Formally initiated in 1990, Hamilton-Wentworth's sustainable development project has been an ongoing effort for over six years. This project has thousands of citizens involved in a variety of activities leading to the development of a community vision, a broad strategy for making the vision a reality, and actual implementation of those recommended actions.
Long range planning and policy documents like the Regional Official Plan for Land-Use, and other policy documents, such as, the Community Economic Strategy and the Transportation Review, have been revised to reflect, as expressed in the community vision, the goal of creating a sustainable community.
In October, 1993 our efforts, both past and planned, were recognized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) when they designated the Region as the Canadian model community under the Local Agenda 21 Model Community Program. Hamilton-Wentworth is now one of only 14 communities around the world which serve as role models for creating a sustainable community. More recently our activities were recognized by Environment Canada when it selected Hamilton-Wentworth to receive, in the local government category, the 1994 Canadian Environmental Achievement Award and again in 1995 when the Region was one of nineteen communities from around the world profiled at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.
Over the last five years, Hamilton-Wentworth has taken some creative steps towards changing its mode of operation. Sustainable development and the goals of the community vision have become the basis for change in decision making.
HAMILTON-WENTWORTH'S SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY INITIATIVE
The sustainable community initiative was formally launched in June 1990, when Regional Council created a citizens Task Force on Sustainable Development. This group was mandated by Council to explore, in cooperation with its fellow citizens, the concept of sustainable development as a basis for review of all regional policy initiatives. Over two and half years, this group met with over 1,000 fellow citizens and developed a community vision called, "VISION 2020: The Sustainable Region", and over 400 recommendations for making the vision a reality.
Although described in detail in the attachments, briefly the public participation process followed to develop the community vision involved:
Other activities included a media campaign, newsletters distributed to every household (150,000 copies), television programs, staff seminars, and exhibits in major shopping malls.
In February, 1993 the Task Force formally completed its mandate when it presented Regional Council with its three final reports:
Regional Council adopted these reports as a guide to all future decision making. Reflecting this decision a number of actions have occurred, in order to bring the decision making process in line with the future vision of Hamilton-Wentworth.
The first major action has been the revision or development of long range planning and policy documents. On June 7, 1994 Regional Council adopted a new Official Plan for Land-Use called, "Towards a Sustainable Region". A key policy document in the Region's efforts to implement VISION 2020, the new Official Plan, incorporates directly almost 100 of the 400 detailed recommendations made in the VISION 2020 reports.
On November 1, 1994 Regional Council adopted the Renaissance report as its strategic plan for long term economic development. The primary goal of the new economic strategy is: to incorporate sustainable development principles into community economic development activities. Two other major long range planning documents, the Transportation Review and the Comprehensive Municipal Pollution Prevention Plan have been developed to reflect the goals of the vision statement. These actions will help ensure that decisions made about the long term future of our community reflect the directions of VISION 2020.
The second major activity has been the actions of the Staff Working Group on Sustainable Development. This group, compromised of senior staff from all departments, was mandated by Regional Council to develop mechanisms for formally integrating the principles of sustainable development and the vision statement into the process for development of the capital budget and departmental work programs. On August 16, 1994 Regional Council directed staff to use the "Sustainable Community Decision Making Guide" as developed by the Staff Working Group, as a tool, to assist them in the evaluation of all proposed and existing policies, programs, and projects. In June, 1996 Regional Council mandated the Working Group to begin work on revising procedures in the areas of:
The third major activity revolves around specific projects being undertaken by the Region to implement the detailed recommendations made by the Task Force. There are a number of actions ranging from the development of a bicycle commuter network to the construction of combined sewer overflow reservoirs. A community status report on the implementation of the 400 detailed recommendations made in the VISION 2020 reports will be presented for community review in October, 1997.
The final major activity started by Regional Council, centres on measuring Hamilton-Wentworth's progress in relation to the goals of VISION 2020. Although there are a number of activities, the two major actions are the Sustainable Community Indicator's Project and the Annual Sustainable Community Day.
In October, 1996 the Region put on the Third Annual VISION 2020 Sustainable Community Day. The primary goal of this event is bring the community together to examine progress made in relation to the goals of VISION 2020. This year the Day was changed to a month long Festival involving tours and workshops on three different weekends, the Children's Sustainability Fair attended by 2,000 children, the first ever Crazy Commute Challenge, the involvement of over 150 community groups, businesses, and government agencies and was attended in total by almost 3,800 people.
Background research has been completed for the Sustainable Community Indicators Project in 1994 and a community consultation process was followed in 1995. The final set of 29 indicators, as approved by Regional Council, were presented as a community report card, at the Third Annual Vision 2020 Sustainable Community Day on October 19, 1996. These indicators will be monitored on an annual basis and serve as a starting point for evaluating whether our community is moving towards the goal of becoming a sustainable community.
Essentially the intent of these two projects is to develop mechanisms for measuring our decisions and actions and create some accountability between these decisions and the goals of the community vision. The process tries to help the community set the priorities for the coming year which in the future will then be linked to the development of the Region's and hopefully other agencies' budgets and work programs. Through this process it is hoped that the decision making process of government will become more open and understandable to people in the community.
SUMMARY
Through its sustainable community initiative Hamilton-Wentworth has started the process towards change in the operation and purpose of Regional Government. The community visioning process has created a focus or goal against which we can measure all decisions made by government, business, community groups, and individuals. The community, as a whole, has been given the opportunity to be part of the decision making process and consequently influence the future of our community.
Although there is still a long way to go before Hamilton- Wentworth becomes the sustainable community of Vision 2020, a solid foundation has been created through the visioning process. From this foundation, structural change and changes in decision making are occurring and will continue to occur throughout Regional Government and the community.
The success of our community visioning process is being recognized by communities and agencies around the world. Over two hundred requests for information have come from agencies such as, the National Association of Counties in the United States, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and municipalities in countries ranging from New Zealand to Brazil. Many are looking to Hamilton-Wentworth for its experiences in creating a community vision and its resulting influence on the overall decision making process.
Several Appendices NOT included here are included in the downloadable RTF (Rich Text Format) version: