x appendix 2 - the process
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Appendix 2 The Simple as Dirt ICSP Process
This section contains more details on the overall process that went into creating the ICSP. Included in this section are:
• A flow chart showing the entire process.
• Looking Forward Sustainability Seminar April 1, 2008
• Statistics that were included with the Seminar Handouts
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The Process The Town of Taber devised a Made In Taber approach that capitalizes on the strengths of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. See attached Simple As Dirt Preliminary Discussion Paper for details of the new process.
The Made In Taber Approach
Consideration was given to hiring an outside consultant to lead the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan process, however, the Town chose to appoint a Process Leader and Process Manager from within the Town of Taber municipal staff and that specific external expertise is sought on a per item basis as required. The benefits of an internal sustainability team are fourfold:
• maintain expertise in house for long term Town capacity increase
• keep the process a Town of Taber initiative rather than suffer possible Community resistance to external consultant
• internal manager will be able to monitor outcomes and brief Council on progress in years to follow
• Rather than utilize available funding solely on the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, the Town will maintain funding reserves for application on capital or operational priorities.
In short, having an internal sustainability team provides the surety that the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan will not simply become another study sitting on someone’s shelf but will remain a living and active cornerstone document and the ability, in part, to utilize existing funding opportunities on other project.
A Sustainability Plan allows
the Town of Taber to set the
foundation for its future and
streamline its projects and
practices to not only meet
the expectations of the
citizens today, but also to
provide the framework for
success and prosperity for
future generations.
Extract from Executive
Summary
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The Plan Process
Looking Forward:
Sustainability Seminar
Vision and Community
Issues
Baseline Questionnaire
Sustainable Taber Month
Analyze Data / distill into
key issues for discussion
Goal Setting / Action Plan
Review strengths and
weaknesses in inventory
Identify Emergent Trends
Simple As Dirt Opportunities for
partnership?
Preliminary Descriptions
of Success
Resource Sources
Focus Groups
Council to confirm Values and Vision
Regulatory Compliance?
Social Participation
Population Health
Downtown Revitalization
Sustainable Community Design
Taber Staff Discussion ~ What are we up to?
~ Sharing Knowledge
Engage Public concurrent with Census
Web Based Library, Museum & Town Office Drop Off Points
Media and Information
TCAPS Meeting
Display Boards Getting to Know You (specific target groups)
Optional Sustainable
Events
Municipal Sustainability
Plan
Identify Priority Strategies for 2009 Budget
Local Media Coverage
Apr 08 June 08 Sep – Oct 08 July – Aug 08
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Looking Forward: Sustainability Seminar
In order to successfully achieve a sustainability plan that was appropriate to our small town and reflected the needs and values of the community, Taber partnered with the Town of Coaldale to plan and host the “Looking Forward: A Sharp Focus on Small Town Sustainability” Seminar on April 1st, 2008. The seminar was designed to educate and inform our respective Town councils and administration on sustainability issues pertinent to our local region and community scale, however, its design to fill part of the void on small town sustainability issues was very well received and the seminar was attended by over 60 participants. Delegates included: Elected officials and administration from: Town of Taber; Town of Coaldale; Town of Raymond; Town of Vauxhall; Town of Bow Island; Village of Barnwell; City of Brooks; City of Lethbridge; City of Medicine Hat; Municipal District of Taber; County of 40 Mile; County of Vulcan; County of Cypress Engineers, Planners and Architects from: Scheffer Andrew Ltd; Sturgess Architecture; Focus Corp; Intelligent Futures; Associated Engineering; Stantec Engineering; UMA Engineering To complement the presentations given at the seminar, a selected research book and community fact sheet was provided to each participant.
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Seminar Brochure:
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Seminar Welcome Letter
WELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOME
LOOKING FORWARD: A SHARP FOCUS ON SMALL TOWN SUSTAINABILITY
This is an exciting and occasionally stressful time for rural communities across Alberta. With the
looming infrastructure deficit, increasing demands on limited funds and the ever present push
for environmentally friendly practices, municipalities are constantly being challenged to stretch
their available resources to the maximum. While researching options for our communities, we
discovered that there was a general information gap regarding the challenges faced by small
rural communities, and a lack of resources at our disposal to address “sustainability” issues.
There is an incredible amount of information and technical expertise for large centres but
smaller rural communities do not have that same luxury.
Simply put, we have tried to identify the issues and coral the information that affects us; small
town Southern Alberta. We don’t really have a problem with traffic congestion but changes to
our Highway corridors will dramatically affect our futures; but how to plan for those effects or
how they will manifest themselves is a mystery. The skies over our Towns look clear and sunny
and don’t appear to be falling, so how does climate change fit in? What responsibilities do we
have to the environment and what can be done practically ~ on our scale ~ on our soil ~ and
with our river? And what about our citizens; how do we ensure their health and happiness ~
are our communities inclusive and welcoming ~ is not the feeling of community one of the key
assets and strengths of a small town? Faced with the challenge of finding immediately
relevant and localized information, we were forced to be creative.
This seminar is intended to start filling in the gaps that exist for communities like Taber and
Coaldale and to address the pressing areas that affect our municipalities. By bringing together
the right people to address the right issues, the foundation can be set for Councils to start
thinking in “sustainability” terms. With a customized agenda focusing on small town
sustainability, the information presented is relevant, useful and practical. Instead of intangible
examples with intangible solutions, the intent is to find solutions to address real issues within our
own communities relating to sustainability.
Good planning is essential to our continued success as rural communities in an urbanizing
environment. By joining together and sharing our resources, ideas, ingenuity and experiences,
the partnerships we form today will make community planning more effective now and create
a sustainable future.
On behalf of the Town of Taber and the Town of Coaldale, we would like to welcome you to
this exciting seminar, created to kick start our mutual efforts to build Integrated Community
Sustainability Plans for our communities. This seminar is unique because instead of waiting to
stumble upon the information relevant for our particular situations, we have customized a
program to address head on the needs of our communities’ growth, infrastructure, and
environment and the health and happiness of our people.
Now is the time to start looking forward and we thank you for joining us on this journey.
Your Seminar Coordinators:
Bonnie Farries from the Town of Coaldale & Tania Sprong from the Town of Taber
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Seminar Handout
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Index of Selected Research Provided to Seminar Participants