News:

Melbourne Principles Project

On January 6, 2005, Brian will be taking part in the first of three teleconferences as part of the Canadian Working Group for the Melbourne Principles Project along with councillors from the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Welland and the township of Wainfleet, Ontario.

A similar working group has also been established in Australia.

The purpose of the project is to increase elected officials' capacity to align long-term planning with sustainability principles.

There will be 5 steps:

1. Establish a working group of cities in Canada and Australia
   
   
2. Develop a mechanism for using the Melbourne Principles
   The mechanism will assist councillors in aligning long-term planning approaches in local governments with the basic elements of sustainability as noted in the Melbourne Principles. The mechanism is likely to be a three-pronged approach that consists of, for each of the ten Principles: i) a series of questions; ii) case studies; and iii) checklists.
   
   
3. Develop a process for elected officials to practically use this mechanism
   Councillors will be engaged in a discussion as to how and where the mechanism should be applied. This process will be based upon substantial experience by ICLEI in training and building of support for implementation of sustainable development activities in local governments with both Councillors and Council Officers.
   
   
4. Test the mechanism with Councillors from key local governments
   The project will also provide an opportunity for elected officials to apply the mechanism in a systematic manner. This activity may include the participation of local governments other than those on the working group. This activity will be carried out after teleconference two (late January 2005).
   
   
5. Publish and distribute the mechanism and process as hardcopy and / or web-based

The main outcome of the project will be a mechanism (in the form of questions, case studies, and a checklist) that will assist local governments—whether urban, rural, small or large—in aligning their long-range planning in a manner that is consistent with the Melbourne Principles for Sustainable Cities.

The Melbourne Principles are outlined in the attached file.

This project is being organized by ICLEI. ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability was founded in 1990 by local governments at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

Its mission is to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions through cumulative local actions.

ICLEI is a democratically governed membership association of cities, towns, counties, metropolitan governments, and local government associations. Its headquarters is located in Toronto, Canada.

See www.iclei.org for more information.