Smart Planning for Communities Initiative

Community Presentations 

The Regional District of Central Kootenay held a series of presentations to discuss the Smart Planning for Community Initiative.  As well, a survey was completed by local residents aimed at giving you the opportunity to identify priority sustainability issues and solutions in your community.   Click here for a copy of the presentation.

Please contact Monty Horton at 352-8159 or mhorton@rdck.bc.ca if you have any questions.

What is Smart Planning?

Smart Planning is a process for envisioning and planning for the long-term well being of communities. Smart Planning builds on existing planning tools in B.C. It provides a framework that helps communities plan for their own needs while ensuring that the needs of future generations can be met. Smart Planning emphasizes:

• long-term thinking;
• broad scope;
• integration;
• collaboration;
• public engagement and education;
• implementation; and,
• monitoring and evaluation.

What is the Smart Planning for Communities Initiative?

In response to the call for Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP) in the 2005 Federal/ Provincial/ UBCM Gas Tax Agreement, the Provincial Ministry of Community Development facilitated the creation of the Smart Planning for Communities initiative. Administered by the Fraser Basin Council, Smart Planning for Communities is a B.C.-wide collaborative initiative to assist local and First Nations governments in addressing their long-term sustainability challenges by providing resources and tools for planning socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable communities.

The initiative consists of the following key components:

• BC-wide network of Sustainability Facilitators supported by leading-edge sustainability practitioners and experts
• An information-sharing and resource network that will develop and expand linkages among sustainability experts, resources, and communities, and
• A "first-stop" website linking to sustainability planning resources.

“Effective sustainability planning requires that you know where you are, that you can decide where you want to be, and that you have the means to know and to communicate your progress toward getting there” (Sustainability Planning Partners).

Please visit the Fraser Basin Council's Smart Planning for Communities site for more information on the initiative, e.g. Sustainability Facilitator’s contact information and links to funding, tools and resources.

Step 1 – The Community Assessment - COMPLETE

The Community Assessment is a pre-planning phase that is intended to gauge the RDCK’s readiness to engage in the Smart Planning for Communities Initiative. The community assessment is the first step towards more comprehensive sustainability planning, and is designed to help communities take stock of:

• priority areas in the community
• the plans and capacity currently in place to address these priority areas, and
• next steps towards moving forward with sustainability planning

A community assessment enables local governments to develop a sense of where they are with current planning and what their capacity is to move forward with Sustainability Planning. It allows them to determine their gap and where they need to start in order to move ahead. Some communities might start by educating staff and council about sustainability; others might determine ways to ensure their planning processes are more integrated.

CLICK HERE for the final Community Assessment Report, and SUPPLEMENT.  Note:  Appendicies have not been included, but are available by contacting Monty Horton at mhorton@rdck.bc.ca.

Step 2 – Initiate Core Planning Projects

This step initiates the priorities identified in the community assessment. It can include approaching the development of a variety of different plans with a sustainability planning “lens” as well as the development of a community sustainability vision and the identification and development of a sustainability planning framework to assist in the establishment of targets and actions. The Natural Step and Smart Growth are two examples of Smart Planning approaches (of which there are many) that have been used in BC. The Natural Step focuses on working more effectively with natural systems, identifying practices that are unsustainable, and implementing actions to address them. Whistler used this approach to guide its Whistler 2020 process and the City of Dawson Creek is using it to inform their sustainability planning process. Smart Growth encourages communities to engage in planning processes directed at land-use with a focus on reducing urban sprawl. The City of Maple Ridge, the District of Squamish and the Town of Oliver have used Smart Growth. Other communities that are moving ahead with sustainability planning have chosen to design their own approaches. Examples of this include the City of Rossland, the District of Ucluelet, and the City of Quesnel. Quesnel is focusing on the possibility of developing a “green economy”.

Step 3 – Implementation

Implementation moves plans into action and ensures that plans and actions remain fresh and relevant over time. Beyond the application of a sustainability planning “lens,” the RDCK will demonstrate that current decision-making frameworks and/or administrative processes may need to be revised to ensure successful implementation of new approaches.

Useful Links

BC Climate Action Toolkit

Green Bylaws Toolkit

Ministry of Community Development, Smart Planning for Communities Initiative

RDCK Contacts

Monty Horton
Planner
Regional District of Central Kootenay
Box 590, 202 Lakeside Drive, Nelson, BC V1L 5R4
Phone: (250) 352 8159 Fax: (250) 352 9300
Email: mhorton@rdck.bc.ca

Ramona Mattix
Manager of Development Services
Regional District of Central Kootenay
Box 590, 202 Lakeside Drive, Nelson, BC V1L 5R4
Phone: (250) 352 8191 Fax: (250) 352 9300
Email: rmattix@rdck.bc.ca

Smart Planning Initiative

Final Community Assessment (462.1 kB)   Supplement to Final Report (301.7 kB)   Smart Planning for Communities March 18, 2009 Presentation (2.6 MB)   Smart Planning Community Survey (363.8 kB)