About the Sustainability Plan
"Take Care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of this place."
- Marilyn Hamilton
What is an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan?
An Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) consists of a vision, strategic plan and process for creating the future we want for our community. It is a high-level policy document and participatory process that is comprehensive, community-wide and long-term. An ICSP should be developed by all community partners in order to successfully create the shared future articulated within it.
Integrated community sustainability planning is about transformative change as well as incremental improvements. It is about a new way of thinking, making decisions and collaborating. It's a long-term process that requires leadership, shared commitment, hard work and sustained effort.
Creston's ISCP, Cultivating Creston, is being developed by the Community Sustainability Advisory Team (CSAT), along with the community, and implemented by the community, using a transparent process to ensure accountability. The plan will:
- Provide guidance
It will articulate a vision and priorities that outline what Creston would like to look like and be in the future. It will also define what our sustainability objectives are so we can create a successful community and do so in a way that aligns with the principles for a sustainable society.
- Ensure action
Meaningful community participation and ultimately on-the-ground action toward the vision will be enabled by establishing concrete strategy areas, a description of success within each, and an ongoing action planning process.
- Measure progress
A monitoring system will be developed to track our progress and performance in order to learn and improve.
- Ensure continuous engagement and progress
The ongoing action planning process and decision-informing tools will ensure continuous participation and improvement, building on existing and new approaches.
How do we create the ICSP for Creston?
There is no single way to develop an ICSP, and communities all tackle it slightly differently. However, for Creston, we chose a process that has been used to successfully create ICSPs in other communities (see Resources for more info). Further, it is a very intuitive process - one that we can each use every day in our planning. Simply put, the basic steps that were used to develop our ICSP include:
- Establishing a shared AWARENESS of the relevance of sustainability to our community.
- Creating a shared community-wide VISION for the future. The community was invited to develop and articulate the Descriptions of Success that define a successful and sustainable Creston.
- Understanding our CURRENT REALITY and the gap that exists between it and our vision. This is a reality check to see what our community's situation is today in terms of challenges, assets and existing policies and programs.
- Identifying and prioritizing ACTIONS that move our community from our current reality towards our vision for the future. Once actions are identified, an implementation strategy can be developed.
- Establishing a MONITORING SYSTEM to track performance and report the results on a regular basis. An effective monitoring system can measure progress, as well as communicate success to the community.
- Establishing an ONGOING PROCESS for continuous improvement that includes reviewing results and planning the next actions.
- Developing DECISION-MAKING TOOLS that align the municipality and community organizations with the visions and sustainability principles of the ICSP.
Who is involved?
- Everyone! You!
A successful ICSP is created through effective public participation. We are working with the public to ensure that your concerns and aspirations for the future are reflected and will provide feedback on how the public influenced the decisions.
- Community Sustainability Action Team (CSAT)
The CSAT is the "advisory committee" for the ICSP and its members represent the community's interests in the project. While the community is engaged in reviewing and providing feedback on process documents through two public events and online opportunities, it was the CSAT that is providing the guidance and the heavy lifting on an ongoing basis.
We would like to thank our CSAT members for committing their time and passion for this community to the development of the ICSP.
- Staff
Municipal staff also has an important role in the ICSP process from start to finish. Their responsibilities included:
• Creation of CSAT and participation in CSAT meetings
• Author and distribute communications material to Council, local outlets, website, social media
• Facilitate and participate in public events
• Review draft documents and information
• Provide input at all stages of the process
• Implement identified actions - Council
Council's responsibilities include:
• Adopt ICSP as community's highest level policy
• Champion and incorporate sustainability decision-making into operations
• Lead by example
- ICSP Process Consultants
The Whistler Centre for Sustainability was responsible for providing professional expertise and guidance throughout the development of the ICSP. They took the results of the work with the CSAT, and input from the community to draft the ICSP for Council approval.