My home does – Whistler2020. It’s why I live here – because this place takes sustainability seriously – to the tune of 15 task forces, with over 180 members who are annually involved in its implementation. Sorry for the jargon – for making it happen. They meet, recommend actions to achieve the plan, monitor its success (or lack of movement in a successful direction) and plan some more.
If your community doesn’t, then why not? There is an abundance of information on how to do this, which has been documented and distributed for years. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA – has a Sustainability Planning Tool Kit to help cities develop these plans. It contains the 10 success factors for planning that have been tested in other communities.
Sustainability planning is necessary to ensure your community is resilient into the future. There is no excuse, really, for your community not to have one.
If your community does, are you involved with it? Are you able to be involved in it? Have you read it?
One of the keys to successful sustainability planning is bona fide public engagement. If you are not a part of the plan, then it just isn’t happening, as far as I am concerned. I’m not talking about you not having the time to get involved, I’m talking about the ability to get involved.
Public engagement, citizen involvement, however you want to characterize it, is how a plan becomes a living, breathing reality. You want change? You have to be involved.
If you aren’t – demand to be. If your community has no plan, demand one be created.
