Integrated Community Sustainability Planning Course: Take your learning and skills to a new level

Early bird price ends May 11
May 11, 2011 3:15 PM ET

Integrated Community Sustainability Planning Course

Many people recognize that sustainability is one of the greatest challenges of our time and that it will require unprecedented collaboration among municipal governments, local businesses, community groups, and other organizations in order to create the kind of future we want for ourselves, our neighbours, and future generations.

The question then is: “How can you effectively engage citizens and community stakeholders in a dialogue about creating a desirable and sustainable future for their community and develop a long-term plan that provides strategic direction and actions to achieve that future?”

The Natural Step Canada’s unique Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP) approach is designed to engage the community in a process to address the challenges of sustainability and to plan for a desirable and sustainable future.

An ICSP is a big picture, holistic strategy that provides guidance for the entire community and is used to guide the development or alignment of all municipal plans, policies, and decisions (e.g. official community plan, transportation plan, energy plan, etc.), under one integrated decision-making framework.

If you are leading or facilitating long-term planning efforts in your community, we encourage you take your learning and skills to a whole new level by registering for The Natural Step Canada’s Integrated Community Sustainability Planning Course.

Beginning on May 25, this 5-month course is designed around the lessons and experiences of The Natural Step Canada and its partner organizations in community sustainability planning. Via a mixture of online seminars, an in-person workshop (in beautiful Vancouver, BC, from June 15-17), and applied project work, it is designed to provide community leaders, and those supporting them, with the practical knowledge, skills, and tools to lead long-term, participatory planning efforts toward sustainability.

Participants will learn how to embed sustainability throughout a community’s planning, decision-making, and operations. At the end of this course, you will have the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to:

  • Communicate the business or community case for sustainability in general and for integrated community sustainability planning specifically

  • Describe the importance of the backcasting approach of The Natural Step Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development

  • Explain in detail the general phases of integrated community sustainability planning

  • Scope and design an integrated community sustainability plan process

  • Design and facilitate processes to help communities analyze municipal-level systems and theme areas

  • Assist communities in establishing an ongoing framework for analyzing and prioritizing initiatives to bridge the gap between current reality and sustainable success

  • Analyze and contrast different tools and approaches to sustainable community development

Learn more on our web site, in our Course Overview Brochure, and by downloading our complete Course Outline. Be sure to register by May 11 to take advantage of our early bird pricing.

If you have any questions, please contact John Purkis, Senior Manager of The Natural Step Canada’s Sustainable Communities Program at 613.748.3001 x227 or jpurkis@naturalstep.ca.

About The Natural Step Canada
The Natural Step Canada is a dynamic non-profit organization with over a decade of experience helping organizations and individuals understand and make meaningful progress toward sustainability. We envision a sustainable world in which individuals, communities, and businesses thrive within nature’s limits. We strive to inspire, educate, and connect Canadian leaders to accelerate the transformation toward a sustainable world.
 
Through award-winning learning programs and our unique suite of advisory, coaching, training, and process facilitation services, we translate the fundamentals of sustainability into practical steps businesses and communities can take to achieve lasting change.

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