Sustainable Communities

On January 21, I had the privilege of hearing from an individual that is striving to make Victoria's communities more sustainable. The Capital Regional District's Climate Action coordinator Sarah Webb came to our classroom to present some grand ideas. Sarah graduated from UVic with a Biology degree then went on to become the university's first Sustainability coordinator in 2002! She reminded us that the Environmental field is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds. So, although I may graduate with a BSc, I may go on to become a geographer, teacher or something else. There are no limitations, this can be exciting and scary at the same time.

Sarah has been faced with many questions concerning the environment since she started at the CRD. Some of these include: What are the hopes of Victoria? Who are the stakeholders? What's the cost of engaging/not engaging the community? What's the timeframe we're dealing with? What tools/methods work most effectively? Her job as the coordinator is to increase public awareness/engage the public on climate change's impacts and to develop strategies to reduce emissions. She works with all forms of governments on climate-related programs, policies and legislation.

One of the goals of the CRD is to become carbon neutral by 2012. Also, the province of BC has committed to cut emissions by 33% by 2020. I've had the privilege of actually working with Sarah during my major project this year. We are creating an inventory of businesses, hotels, and tourist attractions that exemplify sustainability/low carbon operations in the greater Victoria region rather than concentrating on downtown. Another objective of our project is to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of the tourist industry in the Capital Region. In the end we hope to create a “low carbon vacation guidebook” for visitors and locals to use when they are looking for a place to eat, sleep, visit, etc. I am very excited about this, as it provides businesses that are making a difference to get their names out there. I also obtain quality work experience with a recognized organization along the way!