Prospering & Preserving: King Township's Integrated Community Sustainability Plan

King Township will develop an integrated community sustainability plan (ICSP) to replace the township’s strategic plan. The new plan will provide a vision and a cohesive policy framework to guide decision making, helping the township achieve economic vitality, develop a culture of environmental leadership and establish a strong identity. The ICSP will be rooted in four pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, socio-cultural and financial. The planning process will be rooted in an ecosystem-based framework that can incorporate new information and findings. This allows for an adaptive “learning by doing” process guided by vision, capacity, stakeholder engagement, political will and community involvement. The ICSP will include several key pieces: a strategic environmental plan; policies, mechanisms and strategies to manage growth sustainably; plans for natural heritage protection projects; and policies on waste management, water, transportation, energy and community engagement. The ICSP will integrate sustainability issues across multiple departments. The first steps in developing the plan will be to identify issues and objectives, evaluate the township’s sustainability assets and create a communications strategy. Researchers will document sustainability best practices and case studies, producing expert research papers and educational tools. The township will hold community consultation sessions to share the research with a full range of stakeholders and obtain input into a 20-year vision and sustainability framework. The research and consultation phases will include a municipal residential intensification study and a community mapping project. The township will “test drive” its vision and sustainability framework through neighbourhood consulting sessions and other mechanisms. The insight gathered will help in developing an implementation strategy. The township will then prepare the final ICSP, including a monitoring plan and reporting framework.

(Project description from original funding application)