Sustainability planning enables communities to envision an environmentally and economically viable, resilient and healthy future and define practical strategies and indicators for implementing and monitoring their progress towards this goal.
We offer two sustainability planning services:
Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP)
The Pembina Institute provides Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP) services to help communities define and achieve their vision of a sustainable community. Sustainability planning is being encouraged across Canada by the federal government through gas tax funding incentives.
The Pembina Institute believes strongly in working closely with each community to provide an appropriate level of technical expertise, consultation and public engagement to ensure we deliver on the objectives set by the community.
In general, we work with a community to define its vision and goals, and then to identify strategies and actions that will help move it towards its vision. If appropriate, we help the community to set targets and indicators by which it can measure its progress. Above all, we are concerned with helping to create a path to sustainability that fits for, and is based on a real understanding of, each community context.
Through ICSP, the Pembina Institute
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facilitates visioning processes to help the community establish a shared vision of its sustainable future
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helps diverse groups within the community find synergies between their interests as they work towards common goals
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provides recommendations and strategies to assist the community in developing a practical plan for achieving its sustainability objectives
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guides the process for developing indicators to enable the community to monitor its progress in meeting sustainability objectives.
Our Work
The Pembina Institute is working with the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) on a sustainability planning process to develop a long-term vision for a sustainable region, a new mission for the partnership, and a set of sustainability indicators. This project involves working with all 19 CRP members and gathering input from the citizens of the region to help the municipalities, municipal districts and First Nation work together to create a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable region.
The Pembina Institute designed and facilitated a community-based process to develop an ICSP for the City of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. To date, the process has allowed Dawson Creek to create a shared vision for a sustainable future based on input from community members, staff and council.
For more information on our Integrated Community Sustainability Planning services, contact
Jesse Row, P.Eng.
Sustainability Planning Contact
- Director, Sustainable Communities Group
- Email: jesser(at)pembina.org
Phone: 403.269.3344 Ext. 110
Sustainability Indicators
Sustainability indicators can be used to measure the well-being of a community, region or country, and track progress towards established social, economic and environmental goals.
Sustainability indicators go beyond traditional measures of well-being, such as the GDP, that correlate progress to economic growth regardless of whether the economic activity is related to negative events such as disaster recovery, problem gambling or other factors that detract from a society's overall well-being.
Sustainability indicators can help people to understand the relationship between different aspects of their lives. By including indicators related to such factors as resource use, volunteerism, income equality, pollution and service provision, we can gain a far better understanding of the current level of well-being in our communities and what could be done to improve this.
When consistently tracked over time, sustainability indicators can also help communities assess the effectiveness of programs, policies and initiatives by providing an iterative planning tool and revealing the outcomes and benefits of decisions.
Our Work
The Pembina Institute has extensive experience in developing and monitoring sustainable indicators from the regional to the community level.
In 2000, the Pembina Institute developed the Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI) — a set of 51 sustainability indicators — for the province of Alberta. We subsequently updated the indicator reports in 2005 for Alberta's centennial. The Alberta GPI includes 51 sustainability indicators related to a range of social, ecological and economic issues. Our team compiled data and assessed how well we are doing as individuals, families, communities and a province on each indicator. More information about the GPI can be found at FiscallyGreen.ca.
The Pembina Institute has used its experience with the GPI to guide communities in establishing and maintaining a broad set of indicators to monitor and direct progress towards sustainability targets.
Our team works with communities to develop indicators for monitoring and assessing progress towards meeting their sustainability objectives as defined through community energy planning or integrated community sustainability planning processes.
Because each community has a unique vision of its future, we work with communities to build a set of social, environmental and economic indicators that relate to their goals and targets. We also help communities develop methods for collecting, documenting and interpreting data on the indicators so that it can be used effectively. Consistent monitoring of indicators allows communities to assess their progress over time, build public awareness of their communities' strengths and identify areas for improvement.
For more information on our work on sustainability indicators, see our related publications or contact
Jesse Row, P.Eng.
Sustainability Planning Contact
- Director, Sustainable Communities Group
- Email: jesser(at)pembina.org
Phone: 403-269-3344 Ext. 110
Amy Taylor
Genuine Progress Indicators Contact
- Director, Ecological Fiscal Reform
- Email: amyt(at)pembina.org
Phone: 403-705-4954
