The Greenest City Story
Timeline
A Bright Green Future
The majority of the global population lives in cities, with people moving to cities to find employment and a higher quality of life. People living in cities also consume a disproportionate percentage of the world's natural resources. Cities are where the momentum for becoming liveable, creative, and for living within our ecological means needs to build. As we begin here in Vancouver, others will follow. Even better, cities at the forefront of this tectonic shift will reap tangible and long-term benefits in terms of green jobs, improved health, and prosperity.
To take on this challenge, in early 2009 Mayor Gregor Robertson brought together a group of community leaders holding knowledge and experiences across a range of the most pressing environmental interests our city faces.
This group, named the Greenest City Action Team (GCAT), was given an audacious mandate: to figure out what Vancouver needs to do to become the Greenest City in the world by 2020.
GCAT provided their recommendations to the City in two reports. The first was a set of recommended Quick Start actions [pdf, 5mb] that the City should undertake in the following year (2009-10) to speed up implementation. Most of these 80+ actions are well underway. The second was a report titled "Vancouver A Bright Green Future". It lays out 10 long term goals, suggested a set of targets for 2020 and provided a myriad of ideas of how to make it happen. This was the foundation of the Greenest City work, and provided a clear vision and direction for Vancouver.
Greenest City Working Groups & External Advisory Committees
In February 2010 Council adopted the 10 long term goals and directed staff to determine implementation options. (Read the Council Report)
Ten staff working groups were established to create the draft Greenest City 2020 Action Plans – one working group per long term goal. These working groups were interdepartmental and involved over 60 City of Vancouver staff.
To provide guidance on the 2020 targets and the best course of action to meet these targets, an External Advisory Committee (EAC) was convened for each working group. The EACs consist of business leaders, academics, advocacy organizations, senior levels of government and professionals. Over 100 organizations were represented on these external advisory groups.
Read the report:
Talk Green to Us
In June 2010, the City launched Talk Green to Us, a city-wide brainstorm about how Vancouver might achieve its targets to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. From June to October, the public were invited to submit, comment and vote for green ideas. Over 3,000 people participated in this online discussion, submitting, commenting and voting on more than 700 ideas. Over 3,700 people attended in person events and discussions, and still others were reached through our advertising campaign and direct mail.
This was not a one-way conversation. Throughout the process, City of Vancouver staff responded to comments and questions from the on-line forum. The working groups reviewed all of the ideas submitted through the on-line forum and the status of most of the ideas has been updated to reflect whether the idea was included in the draft Greenest City 2020 Action Plans. This has been an important part of the process - to ensure that dialogue was happening on these critical issues, and also to demonstrate the City's accountability to the thoughtful feedback coming in from people throughout the community.
On January 20, 2011 the Greenest City 2020 Targets were unanimously adopted by City Council. (Read the Council Report)
Talk Green Vancouver
“Sustainability always involves the whole community. This is the profound lesson we learn from nature.” Fritjof Capra physicist, systems theorist and author.
From December to March 5th, 2011 the City of Vancouver, along with many other people and organisations, convened conversations all over the city and the internet about the draft Greenest City Action Plan. Through these dynamic conversations the draft Action Plans were improved, revised and refined.
Talk Green Vancouver was a network of community conversations, events, opportunities, and experiences. The goal? To shape Vancouver’s Greenest City vision and help it become a reality – block by block, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
To help reach out to different multicultural communities in Vancouver, the intro video was translated into Cantonese and Punjabi.
Greenest City Action Plan
On Thursday, July 14th, City Council approved the Greenest City Action Plan! The complete plan can be found in the Council Report available on the City's website.
Next Steps
Now that the Greenest City Action Plan has been adopted, City Staff are working hard on implementation. A summary version of this plan, illustrated with your images, is in the works.
