M E M O   /   N O T E   D E   S E R V I C E

 

To / Destinataire

Chair and Members of Environment Committee/Présidente et members du Comité de l’environnment

File/N° de fichier :  

 

ACS2011-ICS-CSS-0005

From / Expéditeur 

Johanne Levesque, Director,

Community Sustainability/Directrice, Services de viabilité des collectivités

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Michael Murr, Manager/Gestionnaire, Sustainability Planning and Development/ Planification et developpement de la viabilité

(613) 580-2424 x25195

michael.murr@ottawa.ca

Subject / Objet

Implementing a Sustainability Mindset - Best practices in Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Decision Making/Adopter une attitude ancrée sur la viabilité – Meilleures pratiques en matière de prises de décisions fondées sur le triple résultat

Date :  02 March 2011

            02 mars 2011

 

 

The purpose of this briefing note is to report back on the results of a Best Practices Scan in Triple Bottom Line Decision Making undertaken in mid-2010 and to discuss how the TBL thinking will be developed going forward.

 

Background

 

As part of 2010 Budget Deliberations, the following direction was given at a special budget meeting for Planning and Economic Development Committee:

 

“That staff in Community Sustainability examine best practices from other municipalities with regards to sustainable decision-making and triple bottom line approaches.”

 

What is Triple Bottom Line?

 

TBL is best thought of as an approach and set of supporting processes to explicitly consider, manage, measure and publicly report multi-dimensional performance. It provides a platform for discussion within the City and community. It is also directly aligned with concept of a ‘sustainability mindset’ and the four dimensions of sustainability (e.g. economic, environmental, social and cultural).

 

Best Practices Scan in Triple Bottom Line Decision Making

 

In response to this direction, a high level scan of 20 organizations (mainly Canadian municipalities) was carried out as the basis for a best practices scan of seven organizations (Calgary, Hamilton, Port Coquitlam, Toronto, Victoria, Whistler, BC Hydro). Key person interviews and a document/website review of the seven organizations were also conducted.

 

This work focussed on the following key questions: How are TBL (or sustainable) approaches integrated into decision-making? What has worked well and what has not? and What tools/supporting frameworks are being used?

 

Key Findings

 

The following is a summary of the key findings:

 

Ø  Few organizations have integrated sustainability (or TBL) considerations into all levels of planning and decision-making

 

Ø  Four distinct approaches are being used:

§  Formal policy statements – which create an explicit commitment to using sustainability (or TBL) approaches to decision-making within the organization

§  Integration into business planning and budgeting processes – where specific tools, approaches or processes are integrated into core business planning and budget processes

§  Integration into specific processes/projects –where tools and approaches are designed for specific processes (such as procurement, major capital projects, land development, etc.)

§  Integration into reporting – the creation of standard section within staff reports that assess a given initiative against TBL/sustainability impacts

 

Ø  Tools that are not designed correctly have little value or are seen as more paperwork

 

Ø  Works best when developed on systematic and integrated basis

 

Overall Conclusions

 

Ø  Municipal approaches to sustainability decision-making and reporting vary widely and most are just beginning (with exception of Whistler)

 

Ø  To be successful, sustainability thinking (the 'mindset') must be integrated on a systematic basis across the corporation and be supported by training.

 

How is the City using TBL Currently?

 

Triple bottom line thinking has been incorporated into a number of project and program decisions made by the City to date, however the specific approach has varied from project to project. The following are two examples:

 

·       Ottawa River Action Planwhich included a range of assessment factors that looked at the environment and social impact of the City’s investment.

 

·         Neighbourhood Planning Initiative – which used TBL in the development of the implementation strategy for the Vars Neighbourhood Plan.

 

Looking Forward - Integrating Sustainable Decision-Making and Triple Bottom Line Approaches

 

As part of the Choosing our Future (CoF) initiative, TBL will be integrated into City decision-making in two ways:

 

1)      Creation of a Sustainability/Resiliency Lens

 

A Sustainability/Resiliency Lens is a tool that informs and assists with the decision making process at many different levels. The Lens will use one common filter that can be applied to different contexts.  Examples of its tailored application include: procurement, capital projects, economic development, development applications, and budgeting.

 

The lens can be applied at the initiation phase of a project or initiative and again at the public decision phase (Council).  It has not yet been determined how and when the lens will be used. One aspect of the lens could be to include a comment on TBL within each committee and Council report (perhaps within a term of council strategic priorities section or other appropriate section). The public reporting of such performance would also demonstrate leadership and accountability to residents.

 

2)    Facilitated sustainability/resiliency self-assessment process

 

In conjunction with the sustainability lens described above, a self-assessment process (and workbook) will also be developed to help City departments operationalize sustainability, including associated strategies and adoption of sustainability targets.

 

The self-assessment process will assess the current environment and help to identify the specific actions that can improve sustainability performance. During the self-assessment process, the Sustainability/Resiliency Lens will be introduced to link the City’s long-term sustainability goals to near term decision making.

 

During the Fall of 2011, four to six pilot sessions will be conducted for selected services and plans to test the process.

 

The use of the tool will require capacity building for both those who will use and apply the tool. 

 

Further information and related recommendations on the development of a TBL lens will be brought forward to Environment Committee as part of the Choosing our Future initiative. Ultimately, the approach taken will need to align with Council’s priorities as determined for each term of Council.

 

Sincerely,

 

Original signed by

 

Johanne Levesque

 

c.c.:      Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager

            Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager, ISCS

            Chris Swail, Manager, Deputy City Manager’s Office, ISCS

            Michael Murr, Manager, Sustainability Planning and Development

            Carole Legault, Committee Coordinator, Executive Committee