Sustainability and Community Engagement

Robert Causley, OP Contributor

“Meeting the needs of the present gener-
ation without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their
needs.” This is the accepted definition of
“sustainability,” an environmental buzz-
word that didn’t appear
dictionaries until the 1980s.
Sustainability has clearly achieved a
position of prominence, as the theme of
last weekend’s State of the Fraser Basin
Conference was “Sustainability Works!”
The two-day conference was put on by

in most

the Fraser Basin Council, a seven-year-

old organization set up to bring
stakeholders together to resolve environ-
mental, social, and economic
disagreements.

The first day of the conference was
spent defining sustainability, looking at it
in action, and outlining how our commu-
nities and our region as a whole can move
toward it.

Several speakers referred to the “legs”
of sustainability as being the economy,
environment, and society. These parts
function symbiotically—each cannot be
sustained without the others. Every part
has its own “capital”, which we as a soci-

T’enneh Nation, near Prince George, dis-
cussed how his band has taken control
over its own planning process. Becoming
a thriving community that “pays their
own way” requires improved socioeco-
nomic conditions. Yet, as the Lheidli
T’enneh are calling the shots, they can
ensure that any industrial development is
balanced with the traditional ecological
sensitivity of their culture.

Mayor Hugh O'Reilly of Whistler also
spoke about how his town has developed
a sustainable model into not only a pre-
mier tourist destination, but also an
environmentally sound “community with
roots.” The key to this has been commu-
nity engagement, which gives citizens a
voice in the long-term plans and agenda
for future development.

Other communities and regions could
clearly benefit from this “democratizing
of planning,” as one speaker called it. Its
absence is evident throughout BC in the
widespread tension over megaprojects
like the Sea-to-Sky Highway expansion.

But how would bringing the various
stakeholders to the table result in any-
thing other than more entrenchment of

 

fox

heads.

 

Se

ety benefit from and which we must
preserve for the future.

Yet one does not have to look far to
see how economic and environmental
concerns find themselves at loggerheads.
How do these apparently contradictory
interests reach a consensus?

One answer to this lies in a communi-
ty’s social capital, its civil society and
institutions. The leaders of two vastly dif-
ferent communities at opposite ends of
the Fraser Basin gave inspiring illustra-
tions of how this can work.

Chief Barry Seymour of the Lheidli

Hecember 8/200

One does not have to look far to see
how economic and environmental
concerns find themselves at logger-

=

 

a

their incompatible opinions? In a word:
respect. This concept echoed through
and underpinned all of the day’s speech-
es. Nothing is served by pigeonholing
one’s opponents with labels. Instead of
being dismissive, each interest must move
toward working together.

This, in fact, is the work of the Fraser
Basin Council: to facilitate “joint action
and collaboration” rather than “con-
frontation and inaction.” When all of the
stakeholders are brought together and
given a forum where they have a voice,
conflicts can be overcome. When the dia-

 

logue is opened up, groups can move
beyond mere statement of their positions
and try to discover the underlying values
that they share.

Herb George, chair of the First
Nations Governance Centre, explained
this process best when he said, “If we
turn these lights off, gather together in
small groups, and look at the issue of

sustainability from the perspective of our
children...what do we wish to see for
them? What do we wish to leave for
them? We will all agree on the same
thing,”

Strong communities with economic
opportunity and environmental quality:
that is sustainability. Let’s start the dia-

logue.

 

   
  

 

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