Sustainability
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The four City of Kingston Sustainability videos above feature City workers and other Kingstonians committed to making Kingston Canada's most sustainable city. Look for them in local movie theatres.
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We Have A Vision
Kingston — Canada's Most Sustainable City. It is a vision that is fully expressed in the community-built Sustainable Kingston Plan. This integrated community sustainability plan initiated by FOCUS Kingston contains goals tied to themed areas to support the four pillars of sustainability: environmental responsibility, social equity, economic health and cultural vitality.
The City, a Community Partner to the Sustainable Kingston Plan, has committed to achieving its objectives. The Plan, and the City, use the definition of sustainability contained in the Brundtland Report of 1987: "meeting the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."
How the City pursues sustainable goals:
Kingston's Strategic Plan 2011-2014 [PDF 4.2MB] demonstrates how the City aims to apply sustainable thinking to all of its programs, services and facilities. A full listing of efforts specifically aimed at making the City more sustainable is available at right. The list below is only a snapshot of what the City is currently doing to improve sustainability. The highlighted initiatives below are categorized under pillar headings, but it is easy to see that most support more than one pillar — THAT'S sustainability:
Environment
- Kingston Transit Redevelopment Plan, 2011-2015 [PDF 4.4MB]
- Waste diversion programs (Green Bin, Blue/Grey Boxes). Goal: to divert 65% of residential waste from landfill.
- Solar photovoltaic installations on City rooftops
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) policy for City buildings
Social
- Municipal Fee Assistance Program (subsidized transit and recreation for low-income Kingstonians)
- Community Gardens program
- Freeing up public land for affordable housing.
- Accessibility planning to remove barriers and encourage inclusivity.
- Community Investment Fund. Provides grants to community programs.
Cultural
- Kingston Culture Plan
- Newcomers Web Portal
- Historic and "In Sir John A.'s Footsteps" walking tours
- Reviving the "Spirit of Sir John A." Engine 1095
- City of Kingston Arts Fund
Economic
- Planning to support the revitalization of Williamsville
- Supporting North Block redevelopment strategy
- KEDCO's promotion of City-developed employment lands
- Brownfields' redevelopment
- The City's annual municipal capital levy is subject to a capital policy which adds an incremental 1% annual increase to the tax levy for capital infrastructure purposes. This allows for responsible asset management ensuring the longer-term sustainability of the municipality's capital infrastructure and reducing current infrastructure deficits.
More about Sustainable Kingston
Sustainable Kingston (see link at right), a not-for-profit corporation that receives funding from the City with its own Board of Governors, oversees the community-built Sustainable Kingston Plan. The City is one of more than 60 Community Partners contributing to the Plan's Community Action Inventory. Individual citizens can also make a pledge of commitment to the Plan.
Contact
For more on the City's sustainable efforts, please contact Daniel Shipp, Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator, at 613-546-4291, ext. 1263 or dshipp@cityofkingston.ca.
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