SUSTAINABILITY CHARTER

from the City of Powell River website:

Sustainability Charter 11/28/2007
On 31 October 2007 Council unanimously adopted the following resolution:

“That the City of Powell River initiate the development of a Sustainability Charter to set the principles for achieving social, cultural, environmental and economic sustainability in the Powell River area and that the Powell River Regional District, Tla’amin First Nation and the public be invited to participate in the development of the Charter.”

“The Charter could provide a framework for our community to renew its commitment to a balanced lifestyle” states Mayor Stewart Alsgard. He notes that the concept of sustainable development comes from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development and he quotes Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland: “Sustainability is the principle of meeting needs of the present generation in terms of the environment, the economy and social systems while promoting a high quality of life but without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Mayor Alsgard comments that consideration should be given to developing an inclusive city-regional charter, with participation from Sliammon First Nation and the Powell River Regional District, taking into account the development of an agreed upon regional growth strategy and the proposed intergovernmental planning project.

A community engagement process with focus on the four aspects of sustainability – economic, environmental, social and cultural, will take place on Saturday, 19 January 2008 at Dwight Hall at 0900. The purpose of the meeting is to elicit the community’s vision of sustainability and choice of sustainability indicators. From there, the City will proceed with preparing a draft sustainability charter, undertake a public review of the draft, preparation of the final version and then present to council for adoption.

Contact - Stan Westby, CA, Chief Adminstrative Officer