Town of Gander Integrated Community Sustainability Plan

The Town of Gander developed an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) with a cross-referencing tool that all departments could use to judge the overall sustainability of decisions and projects. The ICSP aimed to integrate all existing community planning initiatives. This involved taking advantage of Gander’s participation in projects whose goals were to quantify energy consumption and to develop a fully integrated modern waste management system. Lessons learned from a previous experience in public consultation were to be used to broaden the variety of tools given to residents and stakeholders, so they could participate more deeply and engage more comfortably in the planning process. Possible techniques to supplement public meetings included online surveys, direct mail, newsletters, and invitations to attend hands-on community evaluation workshops. The ICSP documented the consultation process and its results — a sustainability vision and community goals, plus a sustainability action plan for achievable development projects that responded to identified community needs. The action plan included measurable objectives, a monitoring plan, cost estimates, and potential partnerships. It would annually review the goals and targets from all municipal plans. The simple, low-cost, but effective consultation techniques that Gander planned to use — “better” rather than “more” —were designed to be shared with and replicated by other medium-sized municipalities across the country.

(Project description from original funding application)