Kingston Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP)

The City of Kingston will create an integrated community sustainability plan (ICSP) to provide a framework for city planning as well as high-level strategic guidance to Kingston businesses, organizations and citizens interested in contributing to the city’s sustainability. This will clarify how specific municipal activities and projects will contribute to the vision of Kingston as Canada's most sustainable city. Development of the ICSP is a “City-led, community-owned initiative” that will lead to the revision of the existing Corporate Strategic Plan to integrate municipal activities in alignment with the ICSP. FOCUS Kingston, a group of volunteer citizens, councillors and city staff, has already worked with stakeholders and the public to establish a vision, and has held a community sustainability charrette. Other initial steps in developing the ICSP include researching other municipal sustainability plans; mapping the sustainability policies, programs and action plans underway in Kingston; and establishing a community advisory group. To establish guiding principles, themes and goals for the ICSP, the project team will consult individuals and organizations in Kingston who represent the four pillars of sustainability. Input will be collected from results based activities including interviews, a sustainability summit, community conversations, targeted sector and public consultations and online surveys. A growing network of stakeholders representing the four pillars of sustainability will contribute to the development of targets, actions, priorities and indicators. The ICSP will be aligned and implemented with current and future municipal and community plans, policies, and programs. By setting high level goals, actions, targets, priorities, and indicators, the ICSP will provide a framework for aligning master plans that are currently underway or planned in the City. The ICSP will include recommendations for implementation, including a governance model and a process for monitoring progress and providing feedback. As a final step in the process, the city will prepare a knowledge sharing report that includes lessons learned.