Case study: Sunshine Coast completes regional energy and sustainability plan
Sunshine Coast Regional District, BC
ENERGY
The Sunshine Coast Regional District developed two plans that move it toward a more sustainable future.
The first is a broad strategy called We Envision: One Coast, Together in Nature, Culture and Community. It sets out 13 interrelated mini-plans to achieve environmental, social and economic goals. These include protecting watersheds that provide drinking water, reducing poverty, and getting more people to use public transit.
The second plan is an energy plan that sets out a range of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specific goals include enhancing the green building sector and reducing dependency on single-occupant vehicles.
The public helped to develop both plans and will help to implement them.
Results
| Environmental | Economic | Social |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Challenges
- The regional district includes three municipalities and five unincorporated electoral districts.
- The district had to establish baseline emissions profiles and "business as usual" projections for each member municipality, the rural electoral areas and the region as a whole.
- The public and stakeholders had to engage on a wide variety of issues, including energy, transportation, infrastructure, water, agriculture, solid and liquid waste, and recreation.
Lessons learned
- The first step in the process — assessing the work already under way in the various communities — was extremely valuable.
- Such a review can save time and money. It also builds community support and presents a sustainability plan as a logical evolution, building on what has already been accomplished.
- Developing a community GHG reduction plan is a complex and demanding task that requires a full-time staff person.
Resources
- Sunshine Coast Regional District — Water Conservation
- Sunshine Coast Electrical Vehicle Charging Plan
Partners and collaborators
- Sunshine Coast Regional District
- Eleonora Molnar
- John Talbot and Associates
- HB Lanarc
Project contact
Dion Whyte
Manager of Sustainable Services
Sunshine Coast RD, BC
T. 604-885-6819
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