Moving the One Tonne Challenge Ahead in BC
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Moving the One Tonne Challenge Ahead in BC
March 26, 2004
Prepared by:
BC Climate Exchange, hosted by the Fraser Basin Council
and
Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST)
Prepared for:
Environment Canada
Pacific and Yukon Region
For additional copies:
1st Floor 470 Granville St
Vancouver, BC V6C 1V5
Tel: 604-488-5350
Fax: 604-488-5359
climate@fraserbasin.bc.ca
http://www.BCClimateExchange.ca
11.0 INTRODUCTION:
There are a number of groups engaged in climate change action and awareness
projects in BC. With the upcoming launch of the One Tonne Challenge there is interest
from Environment Canada, BC and Yukon Region, to provide the opportunity to
familiarise these groups with EcoAction funding opportunities and upcoming climate
change awareness and action priorities. There is also interest in engaging community
based NGOs in discussions around challenges and barriers they have encountered and
defining what their needs/ideas for action are in moving ahead with projects directed
toward motivating individual action in BC. The BC Climate Exchange (administered by
the Fraser Basin Council) and Better Environmentally Sound Transport (BEST) were
approached by Environment Canada, BC and Yukon Region, to organise and facilitate
workshops with community based NGOs to address these interests.
The key participants were community-based organisations that are engaged in climate
change action and awareness projects. A number of these groups had either received or
applied for EcoAction funding in the past. Input was also received from representatives
of local, regional and provincial governments.
This project was divided into three parts:
PART I : The design and delivery of regional workshops.
PART II: Phone interviews with organisations in smaller communities outside of the
Areas workshops were held (primarily north central and eastern BC).
PART III: Attendance at Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference
This report includes ideas that were brought forward in each of the three parts of the
project and concludes with the identification of key themes and recommendations for
Environment Canada and other organizations engaged in climate change outreach and
awareness projects.
2.0 PART 1 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS
Workshops were held in Nanaimo, Victoria, Kelowna and Vancouver. An excellent cross
section of groups were represented at each workshop. A list of all the organisations that
attended the workshops is contained in Appendix A, which also includes short
descriptions of what each organization is doing in the area of climate change awareness
and action.
2The “Barriers/ Challenges” and “Recommendation for action” coming out of each
regional workshop are identified below under general theme categories. Following the
list of barriers/challenges and recommendations for action is a short description of what
each group identified as action that could be taken within their community. The last part
of each workshop was devoted to identifying these concrete “doable” actions.
During the first portion of each workshop a representative from Environment Canada
Pacific and Yukon Region provided a presentation on Eco-Action funding and Federal
focus on encouraging individual action to address climate change. A copy of this report
is contained in Appendix B.
2.1 NANAIMO
Barriers related to the delivery of programs and projects:
• Difficult to get into high schools to do programs
• Lack of expertise in social marketing
• Difficult to get information on programs out to the public
Recommendations:
• Take advantage of pro-d days for teacher training
• Connect with the Environmental Educators Professional Association (EEPSA)
• Face to face contact with teachers
• Workshops on social marketing
• Workshops on working with the media
Barriers related to organisational capacity:
• Lack of sources of matching funding
• Competition for funding
• Lack of funding opportunities to support the building of capacity within community
organisations
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• Public are unaware of programs such as Energuide for Houses
• Getting the expertise on the ground
• Lack of reliable baseline data (eg. traffic counts)
Recommendations:
• Improve synergy between different organisations’ programs to increase information
sharing and advertising of programs and projects, BC Climate Exchange could play
a role here
3Barriers related to motivating changes in behaviour:
• Most climate change actions require lifestyle changes that are difficult for
individuals
• It is difficult getting people to recognise the impacts of their actions (eg. the results
of climate change actions are less tangible than other actions in areas such as
stewardship activities in natural environment)
• Inadequate public awareness of the efforts some cities (eg Nanaimo) have done to
improve transportation infrastructure to accommodate alternatives (eg. bikelanes
and paths) coupled with inadequate funding for community organisations to raise
awareness and promote the use of new biking/pedestrian infrastructure.
• Lack of accessible, easy to understand information on impacts of actions
Recommendations:
• Link climate change to issues that public understand such as health and air quality
• Build connections to media
• Have leaders/well known community members model behaviour
• Build on federal one tonne challenge campaign to motivate action
• GHG emissions fact sheets which simplify action (identify top five/ten things to do)
• Improved access to print materials as well as web-based information
• Get information out to public regarding what government and industry are doing
• Get information out regarding cost-savings connections
Barriers related to government action/inaction
• Land-Use Bylaws that require low density development
Recommendations for Regional Action:
The group felt that there was a need to increase co-ordination between groups engaged
in climate change awareness and action activities in Nanaimo. The City of Nanaimo’s
engagement with the Partners for Climate Protection program may provide the
opportunity to bring groups together through community forums and encourage synergy
between groups. Connection with media also needs to be built in a collective and co-
ordinated way.
2.2 KELOWNA
Barriers related to the delivery of programs and projects:
• Lack of information for the general public on biodiesel
• Projects would benefit from having people surveyed about their barriers to changing
certain behaviours but most funders want to see instant results and do not want to
4invest in the background research necessary to have successful behavioural
change projects delivered locally.
• Understanding the liability implications of new actions (eg. Carpooling & insurance,
parent drivers replacing school buses, school trips by bike instead of bus, etc.)
• Teachers have no time/ capacity to undertake new programs, no matter how good
the programs are
Recommendations:
• Identify Federal funding available for local non-profits to undertake focus group and
survey work to identify barriers to behavioural change around climate change
activities (NRCan, Environment Canada, Health Canada)
• More connections between Partners in Climate Protection FCM municipalities and
NGOs
Barriers related to organisational capacity:
• Bringing Medical Health Officers on board
• Ways of linking with new delivery partners to strengthen and broaden the message
(eg. Naturalists groups, health professionals)
• Securing the 50% non-federal matching funds to allow EcoAction projects to be
undertaken
• Limited local and regional funds to undertake community climate change projects
• Delivering the message of “less consumption” is almost impossible
Recommendations:
• Have Environment Canada help to generate local donor interest and identify other
matching funding sources
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• A reliable calculator is needed that allows “total footprint” or impact to be measured
and awareness created (not just climate change).
• Displays and promotional material may have limited success in getting people to
change behaviour
• Identifying the “real costs” locally (pine beetles, fires, floods) of climate change have
considerable personal impacts and sensitivities
• Linking health, climate change and daily decision-making for local people
Barriers related to motivating changes in behaviour:
• One of the biggest impacts any person could have on energy consumption is to
become vegetarian but that message will never “sell” federally because the
government also promotes Canadian beef, chickens and pork.
• Identifying local “key influencers”
5• Encourage other organisations to share and encourage action “pledge” forms with
their members
Recommendations:
• Link cycling infrastructure with new development policies and plans
• Incorporate climate change messages into pay stubs
• Spell out the local effects of climate change in economic terms
• Invite local developers to “go geothermal”
• Create more opportunities to learn from leaders
• Build off of the Provincial Climate Change Plan for support and change
• Get communities to add to their “Welcome to…” sign by indicating their tracked ghg
reductions to date.
Recommendations for Regional Action:
Kelowna and Vernon have strong community groups and organisations that just need to
be tapped into to help deliver some of these messages – particularly recreational, sports
and church groups that might have something to gain by including the climate change
message to their constituents. One of the greatest challenges locally is organisational
capacity and volunteer burnout so creating a network where groups can keep each other
up to date is at least one way of staying informed and connected. The value of
networking within the region and with others, including Environment Canada as the One
Tonne Challenge is launched, was stressed repeatedly.
62.3 VICTORIA
Barriers related to the delivery of programs and projects:
• Need for common methodologies – there are already lots of competing tools that
all operate slightly differently
• No money for local groups to access Commuter Challenge
Recommendations:
• Look for multiple access points to your target audience (eg. don’t focus solely on
teachers they are overburdened with materials and programs)
Barriers related to organisational capacity:
• Locating and understanding funding sources
• No money to do campaigning, raising public awareness
• NGOs appear to have more credibility with the public than government but do not
have adequate funds to do public outreach/advertising
• There are too many small projects that cannot have an impact of much significance
• Lack of options for matching funds
• Lack of cohesion with program focus of funding agencies
Recommendations:
• Finding ways to piggy back with research funding
• BC Climate Exchange could play a role in identifying to funding agencies what
community organisations needs regarding matching Environment Canada are and
provide information to community organisations regarding what matching funds are
available.
• Developing partnerships between community organisations and between
community organisations, local, regional, provincial and federal government
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• Difficulty connecting with experts in different areas of climate change to get up to
date information (eg. food distribution)
• Increasing awareness of climate change is complicated – so many issues, all
fragmented
• Danger of multiple competing messages being ignored by the public, difficult to
know what messages are out there
• The “one tonne” concept is flawed as it requires those who are already using less
to do significantly more, and while those who consume more energy only have to
make a few simple changes (eg it is much harder to reduce ghg by one tonne if
you already walk to work, recycle etc.)
Recommendations:
7• Better monitoring at a national level so public can be made aware of Canada’s
progress (or lack thereof) in addressing consumption, emissions reduction, etc.
• Look for opportunities to get media coverage for free (eg. partnering with other
organisations newsletters)
• Environment Canada should encourage/support messaging specific to each
region. The development of these messages is best undertaken by local
community organisations. EcoAction funding should support the development of
regionally specific messaging. BC Climate Exchange could assist by organising
regional workshops around collective messaging.
• Develop clear regional messages/visions/goals. Make sure everyone in the region
is on the same page.
• Increased access to multimedia presentation material
• Easy to access list of climate change awareness resources
Barriers related to motivating changes in behavior:
• Undisciplined as a society to make changes to support sustainability
• Great products available but the public aren’t using them – Not interested?
Scared? Unaware?
• 2 year program not long enough to change individual behaviour
Recommendations:
• Emphasise that Kyoto requirements are actually very slight and won’t require major
sacrifices (provide examples)
• Link climate change to social issues (e.g. health, savings (what’s in it for me?))
• Need to develop simple, accessible tools
• Partnerships with private sector -businesses (eg. Grocery stores, bike shops)
• Link messaging to personal/community stories
Barriers related to measuring success
• Measuring the success of environmental education campaigns by the tonnes of
reduced GHG emissions is not effective at the local scale (i.e. for small NGO’s)
• Difficulties identifying most effective measurement tools
• Calculator problems: they don’t tell you what you need to know, not asking the right
questions (how do we measure?), only using them because of the need to
manufacture concrete results for funders
Recommendations:
• Development of templates/guidelines for assessing programs
• Development of common methodologies
Barriers related to government action/inaction
8• Need market forces to work with government to create wide-scale vision, deal with
bigger impacts
• Existing revenue streams are thrown into general revenues and not dedicated to
what they’re collected for
Recommendations:
• Tap into different revenue streams for climate change funding (e.g. stamps, toll
booths, eco-taxes)
Recommendations for Regional Action:
There was a large degree of consensus around the need for co-ordinated regional
messaging around climate change and the need to work together to get messages out to
the public. It was identified that given that the CRD is beginning to work through the
Partners for Climate Protection milestones that they could play a leadership role in
developing cohesion regionally by providing the forum for the creation of regional
messages. In terms of getting messages out to the public it was identified that there is a
need for a regional communications plan. One opportunity to connect with media would
be to work with the newly resurrected Enviro News. One issue could focus on climate
change. It was also identified that the organisations in the region engaged in climate
change awareness and action projects could collectively employ the Green Challenge
Society to act as a communal communication and marketing department. To get these
ideas off the ground there is a need for a regional workshop that would focus on coalition
building and regional messaging. The BC Climate Exchange could play the role of
facilitator.
2.4 VANCOUVER
Barriers related to organisational capacity:
• Funding sources are shrinking and organisations are competing for funds for
program development
• Non-profits with charity status cannot spend more than 10 percent of their time on
advocacy work
• There is little funding available for core capacity building in organisations – all funds
are directed towards specific program delivery
• Successes – in terms of social change – can take years to come about – this is not
reflected in funding processes which are usually limited in time
• Many programs, including some social marketing programs, lose their effectiveness
as soon as the funding runs out
9Recommendations
• Develop methods to assist groups in working together to share funding for program
development and implementation, as well as to better collaborate and share
information
• Focus social marketing programs on building momentum for change among “social
innovators” and “earlier adopters” so that they carry on the process of social change
for you once funding programs are finished
• Identify opportunities for entrepreneurs or businesses to take the lead and then
create circumstances where they can pursue a profit while bringing about needed
change
Barriers related to politicising of goals
• Some organisations want to work on greenhouse gas issues, but do not want to use
certain labels such as “climate change action” because they are too political
• Greenhouse gas reduction efforts run the risk of being associated with the “radical
environmental fringe” – they will lose broad public support unless they can be seen
as mainstream
Recommendations:
• Focus on shifting the message so that energy conservation and emissions
reductions are seen as mainstream, and consumption and waste are seen as radical,
fringe, anti-social activities
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• The science of climate change is not always accessible or easily understood, and
there are some fundamental misunderstandings among the public about the
relationship between actions and impacts
• Many people simply do not believe that there is a problem
• The CCAF placed a major emphasis on education, this has been reduced under the
EcoAction program
Recommendations
• The public needs access to straightforward information showing the links between
climate change, health, air quality and behaviour; simple, useable calculators may
play a role in this
• There needs to be consistent and continuous monitoring of baseline public
awareness of climate change issues and relationships between behaviours and
impacts (i.e. smaller cars and greenhouse gas emissions); focus on developing
measurable indicators of this
• People must be made aware that there are ecological limits to our actions
Barriers related to delivering effective messages to the public and motivating
changes in behaviour:
10• There are conflicting theories and ideas around how behavioural change is
motivated. Is information and awareness necessary before change can happen? Is
behaviour an outcome of beliefs and attitudes? Do we need to change peoples’
values? How does change take place? What are the primary motivators for action?
Does bad news and “you should do this” style messaging motivate change? Does
there need to be a crisis before people will act?
• People – especially children – are inundated with advertising that promotes
behaviours counter to needed sustainable actions; organisations have only a small
impact compared to big advertisers
• Peer pressure to conform to consumptive norms is intense
Recommendations/Observations:
• There needs to be an emphasis on creating simple messages that resonate with
people. One approach to take would be to parallel the current negative messaging
on cigarette packages. Government could decide to intervene and force
manufacturers to acknowledge the problems associated with their products (i.e. fuel
mileage and climate change implications of vehicles), another approach would be to
target something like the Hummer and use marketing to make it look silly
• Use terms that are more descriptive than “climate change”; climate degradation?
climate disruption?
• Use a variety of venues to send out messages and promoting awareness: drama,
pamphlets, signs on the front lawns of homes that have engaged in retrofits, movie
stars in hybrids
• Social marketing should be done by people who know what they are doing.
www.cbsm.com provides good examples of social marketing tools. Many projects
miss the point and just end up wasting money and diluting the message.
• Government should run a national social marketing campaign that is pointed, edgy
and appeals to the target groups that need to be reached; current campaigns are
bland and seem designed with the primary goal of not offending anyone
• Messages need to be targeted; TransLink, for example, focuses its marketing on the
“undecided middle”– neither the captive transit users nor the die hard auto users
(the GVRD has demographic data on these subgroups)
• Provide integrated messages about how individuals can take actions. Point out how
actions can: 1st save them time, 2nd save them money, and only 3rd help protect the
environment
• Set up user friendly, one-stop locations (web sites, storefronts) where people can
collect the information they need on contractors, programs, financing, etc.
Barriers related to government action/inaction
• Governments need to send out consistent messages: One Tonne Challenge
messages conflict with decisions to provide major subsidies for oil sands
development
11• If there are no regulations or incentives for the use of environmentally friendly
technology, then it is not going to be adopted
• Regulatory standards in many cases haven’t been revised since the 1980’s, or have
never been enacted
• The federal government has no clear “sustainability” criteria for its infrastructure
funding programs
Recommendations
• Government should take a leadership role by consistently supporting renewable
energy and reducing subsidies for fossil fuels
• Government must develop new incentives and fiscal measures to motivate action
• GST rebates for residential retrofits or the purchase of hybrid cars
• Incentives for the purchase of high efficiency HVAC, lighting, appliances
• Incentives for businesses that engage in actions with immediate gains, such as
vanpooling
• Incentives for producers (of energy, of products) to reduce energy use or emissions
• Reward and recognition programs for early adopters, innovators, sector champions
• User fees and higher taxes to send out price signals to motivate change (with
revenues used to fund health solutions and sustainable infrastructure)
• Accelerated capital cost allowances on high efficiency equipment
• Support for green lending and eco-mortgage programs
• Removal of subsidies for oil, gas and nuclear, and increased subsidies for renewable
energy sources
• Government must work to overcome barriers to adoption of high efficiency and
emissions reducing technologies
• Reducing transaction and information costs for consumers, building trades,
developers etc
• Opportunities federally to advance a sustainable cities agenda are immediate and
need to be taken advantage of. Federal infrastructure money must be restricted to
municipalities that have adopted climate change/ energy saving/ sustainability
policies for growth.
Recommendations for Regional Action:
The City of Vancouver is very interested in partnerships. It recognises that stricter
regulations and the plans drawn up under the Cool Vancouver program will require
community support. WCEL wants to partner with other groups on its multicultural
environmental citizens program, perhaps by sharing audiences for multicultural
messaging. More generally, the group acknowledged that organisations need to share
both resources and audiences. In some cases, smaller organisations may be contracted
by bigger ones to provide deliverables.
12There may be a role for Environment Canada to creatively link groups together through
the EcoAction funding application process. For example, groups working on public
education programs can be linked to organisations working on major retrofits of public
buildings to develop installations explaining climate change, the need for action, and the
role of building retrofits. Other groups that could conceivably play a role in such linkages
include BCCE, GVRD, AIBC, PIBC and APEG.
There was additional discussion of the need for capacity building within non-
governmental organisations. Most simply do not have the capacity to engage in
sophisticated, large-scale social marketing. References were made to Douglas
McKenzie Moore at UNB and his web site www.cbsm.com, the Frameworks Institute,
and recent CARB advertisements for resources on quality social marketing efforts. The
group reiterated the need for government to ensure that their days to day actions were
consistent with its social marketing messages. The group also recognised the
opportunity to continue to grow “the buzz”, so that people will hear the message in all
kinds of arenas, and what is considered “normal or acceptable behaviour” will be shifted.
Finally, respondents were also reminded that messages of hope and optimism are
needed if sustainability concepts are to be seen as the new norm rather than part of a
radical fringe.
133.0 PART II - Telephone Interviews
The list of organisations to contact for telephone interviews was generated by examining
the list of those who have applied for EcoAction funding in the past, looking through the
BC Climate Exchange data base and connecting with individuals in north central and
eastern BC who are familiar with who is doing what in the area of sustainability. It
became very clear that there are not many organisations in the communities of north
central and eastern BC that are engaged or interested in engaging in climate change
action and awareness projects. In total, five groups in north central BC (Quesnel,
Smithers and Prince George) were contacted and three groups in Eastern BC (Nelson,
Nakusp and Revelstoke). A list of the groups that participated and details regarding the
climate change awareness and action projects they are involved in is contained in
Appendix A.
3.1 NORTH CENTRAL BC
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• Lack of effective and easy to use tools for individuals to do personal ghg emissions
assessments.
• Web-based tools are not an effective way to reach people in small communities as
there is no highspeed internet.
• Much of the information out on climate change actions is very urban focused.
• Forum burnout. The same people attend public information sessions all the time.
There is a need to extend public outreach.
Recommendations:
• Send out information with Hydro bill
• Have flyers and information pamphlets at post offices
• Use CBC radio (a life line in many small communities)
• Local media could be used to get messages out to the public. The media in
smaller communities is very receptive to publishing new material as they are often
looking for stories to fill their pages.
• Chambers of commerce are one possible venue for information distribution.
• Information directed to the public must be simple (eg. identify 10 simple steps)
• More focus on developing information that is specific to the interests and needs of
rural communities. Information on actions needs to be practical and doable.
Information related to energy efficiency is good but must related to community
realities (eg. use of hydro power)
Barriers related to delivering effective messages to the public and motivating
changes in behaviour:
• There are many misunderstandings about climate change. Climate change is linked
14to global warming and warmer weather is not seen as a bad thing.
• It is more difficult for individuals in communities in the north to relate to climate
change than in bigger cities where one can see smog and experience congestion.
Recommendations:
• Regional specific information regarding climate change as opposed to generic
information that is more applicable to larger cities.
• Information on actions that people in rural communities can relate such as energy
efficiency (as opposed to alternative transportation). Idling is another topic that
rural communities can relate to.
• Information linking GHG reduction to air quality and health.
• Information on what other communities are doing (case studies)
Barriers related to organisational capacity:
• There appears to be no real funding sources for small/medium sized businesses
(eg. Energuide audits and support for infrastructure changes)
• Lack of awareness of funding opportunities and deadlines
• Lack of opportunities for funding core positions
• Lack of community networking
• In some communities (eg. Smithers) there is a lot of enthusiasm and energy being
put into developing plans to address air quality and climate change issues.
However, there isn’t money for implementation.
• Lots of community organisations are engaged in different activities related to
climate change action but specific to a particular focus (eg. recycling). There is no
organization that would take on a climate change action project at a broad level.
• Lack of consistency with sustainability projects (eg. there is no one group, such as
a Sierra Club that has core funding and can have a guaranteed life when project
funding runs out.
• It is difficult for organisations in smaller communities to access training workshops
because of distances and cost of travel.
• Groups without charitable status cannot access many funding sources.
Recommendations:
• One Tonne Challenge needs to be attached to existing initiatives.
• BC Climate Exchange could send out monthly updates on funding opportunities
and deadlines. A page on the website could be dedicated to funding with direct
links to application forms and information.
• Take advantage of youth internship/volunteer programs (eg. programs through the
youth environmental network and Katimavik)
• The establishment of a central organization that has core funding and can work as
a networking and information node for rural communities. BC Climate Exchange
can play this role at a provincial level.
• Environment Canada or BC Climate Exchange could assist in bringing groups
together to develop a regional action plan to move the One Tonne Challenge
15ahead. A small amount of funding would be required. The action plan would
identify ways the One Tonne Challenge messaging could be connected to other
projects (eg. airshed management planning, recycling)
• Establishment of a provincial body to assist rurally based community organisations
in accessing funding and capacity building.
• Funding opportunities need to be designed to encourage collaboration between
community organisations.
• Provide funding to smaller organisations to attend workshops related to social
marketing and other topics related to moving the One Tonne Challenge ahead.
• Environment Canada could help facilitate funding for small groups without
charitable status.
Barriers related to government action/inaction:
• Subsidies to the oil and gas industry send out messages that conflict with those
encouraging individual action.
3.2 EASTERN BC (KOOTENAYS)
Barriers related to providing information and increasing awareness:
• Not enough information out there specific to rural communities.
• There is a need to inform people about the impacts of climate change in order to
motivate action. However, there doesn’t seem to be funding available to
communicate about impacts.
• Funding opportunities that support the need to get information on impacts out to
the public and to decision makers as well as supports bring people within the
community together to discuss ways to move forward to implement plans that
address climate change.
Recommendations:
• More information be put out that is specific to rural community realities and needs.
Barriers related to delivering effective messages to the public and motivating
changes in behaviour:
• There seems to be a general sense of fatalism amongst the public. They do not
see that their action will have much impact in the grand scheme of things.
• Community organisations are largely volunteer-based and do not have the
resources to do outreach.
Recommendations:
16• Working with youth to deliver outreach messages and connecting impacts
messages to things they can relate to such as changes in climate resulting in loss
of areas for skiing and snowboarding.
Barriers related to organisational capacity
• So many environmental issues, so little time. The few NGOs in the Kootenays that
are interested in environmental issues find that they can only devote time to a
select number of issues at a time. Issues with tangible results such a forestry and
endangered species are of more interest than those such as climate change where
results are not easily identified.
• There is interest form local governments to move forward with actions, such as
community energy planning, to address climate change. For example, Revelstoke
has an environmental plan that has a large energy component. However, they lack
the capacity to implement plans.
• Training workshops are held in locations that are costly to travel to.
Recommendations:
• Expertise in energy audits and community energy planning be developed at a
regional or provincial level and shared with small communities. For example there
could be an organization of experts who small communities could rely on to assist
with implementing community energy plans. Services would have to be offered as
subsidised rates to make them accessible to smaller communities.
• The Union of BC Municipalities should take a leadership role in identifying and
supporting the need for communities to take action to address climate change.
4.0 PART III – FCM Conference
In February 2004 the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) hosted the 2004
Sustainable Communities Conference in Ottawa. A significant area of focus within the
conference was identification of tools available for communities to improve their overall
sustainability; including partnership building, greenhouse gas reduction (ghg) and energy
conservation and planning. The Honourable David Anderson, Minister of the
Environment provided insights into how his portfolio expansion (to include Parks
Canada, CMHC, etc) would bring a certain focus of environmental management to the
urban or communities agenda. He also recommitted to reaching Kyoto targets to reduce
ghgs, days before addressed in the Prime Minister’s speech from the throne.
More specifically, communities across Canada discussed the challenges associated with
climate change; through the FCM sponsored Partners for Climate Protection (PCP),
local energy planning or specific initiatives underway to reduce ghg production. A
number of innovative partnerships appear to be underway between local governments
and non-governmental organisations –many of which will be reported on through the
PCP website.
17On Day 3 of the conference, Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada
hosted a standing room only session that focussed discussion on federal programs that
support ghg reduction at the community level. Natural Resources Canada identified
industry programs (EnerGuide rebates, retrofits for commercial and residential
buildings), equipment programs (stickers for energy efficiency) and transportation
initiatives (new vehicle emissions standards, EnerGuide labels for vehicles, energy-
aware training for drivers, anti-idling programs and fleet management techniques).
However, the One Tonne Challenge (OTC) took centre stage, with recognition that the
program earmarks $45M over 3 years. It was announced that a OTC National
advertising campaign of approximately $26M would serve as a backdrop to local pilot
partnership projects, totalling approximately $19M and be reinforced with a host of
“tools” such as a ghg calculator, handbooks and downloadable information. In addition
to the national “one-size-fits-all” multi-media advertising, Environment Canada pledged
to have a more localised presence at points of purchase (like home shows) to provide
decision-makers with climate change information around home appliance purchase and
home renovations. EcoAction was identified as the primary federal funding mechanism
for local Climate Change projects, although attendees expressed frustration that the
program offers only $3M nationally and was underfunded.
Local governments and NGOs were recognised as having the greatest ability to
influence change in behaviour and identify champions in ghg reduction. Criteria for
selection of One Tonne Challenge community pilot projects was to be shared at a later
date, once prepared. Interest in that opportunity was considerable and most in the room
pressed for more information. Attendees also expressed concern that a very significant
investment was being made in a social marketing campaign to change some very
personal behaviours but it appeared that the federal government had not sufficiently
invested in analysing what would prompt those behavioural changes. Given that one
day prior, an entire session had been devoted to community based social marketing and
the need to undertake focus group analyses to identify barriers to change, the lack of
assurance on the part of Environment Canada that such research had been undertaken
and was available, resulted in both anger and frustration.
Unquestionably, those attending FCM understand the operational challenges of building
sustainable communities and are the key participants and supporters Canada needs to
reach our Kyoto targets. At events such as that, they share successes and failures from
an on the ground perspective. As the federal program on climate change emerges,
clearly, the one of the greatest opportunities for partnerships will include events and
programs directed to connecting these already committed municipalities with non-
government organisations, such as those engaged in BC through this project.
185.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 KEY THEMES:
Funding
There were a number of barriers and challenges concerning funding that were similar for
most parts of the province. Of particular concern is the limited amount of matching
funding, which was not as much a problem years ago when there were a number of
provincial or private foundation funding programs to access. At the same time it seems
that there is often a lack of cohesion between the funding priorities of the federal
government and those agencies that do have potential matching funds. The limited
length of project funding was also seen as a problem when it comes to social marketing
type initiatives that can take several years to have measurable impacts. Concerns were
expressed that there are few sources of funding to assist in advertising programs at a
local level. A lack of core funding to allow organisations to deliver straightforward
messages of climate change was seen as a gap that threatened even the most stable of
participants.
It was also pointed out that in the larger centres (Vancouver and Victoria) competition
between groups for funding is an issue. Organisations in smaller communities struggle
with the fact that funding sources are primarily project focused and there are very limited
sources for core capacity building. In many cases project proposals are written by
volunteers leading to a high rate of volunteer burnout. As well, in smaller communities
where there may be community support for plans to promote action to address climate
change, even local governments lack the capacity to implement plans.
Information Available
Common barriers and challenges related to the type of information available to the public
included: a lack of access to expert knowledge of the impacts of certain actions such as
food purchasing, a lack of expertise on the ground to implement programs such as
energy audits in smaller communities, a lack of simple easy to access information on the
benefits of certain actions (eg. a top ten tips), lack of information individuals can connect
with (eg. links to health and air quality) and a lack of reliable baseline data against which
to measure the outcomes of action projects.
In smaller communities it was identified that much of the information out on climate
change and individual action tends to be more urban in focus. There appears to be very
little information available that rural residents can relate to. There were also questions
raised around how information is put out to the public and the need for organisations
engaged in climate change awareness and action projects to be trained in social
19marketing. Environment Canada was expected to be a source of information on barriers
to changing behaviour, as the One Tonne Challenge is launched.
Access to Information/Tools and Training
Many organisations were concerned that they are beginning to refer to the one tonne
challenge in their messaging but are still not clear on what types of tools, and messages
will accompany the official launch of the One Tonne Challenge. With regard to
accessing information and tools it was made clear by organisations, in both larger and
smaller centres, that web-based information and tools must be accompanied by printed
materials. In rural areas where many are still using dial-up access and many people are
not hooked up to the internet web-based tools and information can not be easily
accessed. As well, many people find their use of web-based tools inconvenient in
addition to challenging and would prefer to have hard copies.
With respect to training, many of the groups outside of major centres feel left out as
training opportunities such as workshops, forums and conferences are usually held in
larger centres and would require spending already limited funds on travel.
Community Networking
A common issue in both large and small communities is the lack of community
networking. Organisations tend to get very focused on their own projects and lose sight
of the connections to other organisation and their projects. This can result in multiple
messages being delivered in communities and limitations of organisations from taking
advantage of opportunities to share information and promote each other’s programs and
projects. It was pointed out by a number of participants that more effective community
networking can result in more efficient use of project funding.
Organisations appear reluctant to take time away from their own projects to organise
events focused on identifying links and opportunities to work collaboratively. However,
when opportunities emerge, such as the workshops held through this project, groups are
very happy to participate. In both smaller and larger communities it was identified that
opportunities related to community networking should involve local government as well
as community organisations.
205.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
There were a number of common themes among the recommendations from the various
workshops. The following is a summary of recommendations for Environment Canada
and other federal government agencies who are taking the lead on the One Tonne
Challenge. However, other organizations, including the participants in the workshops,
BC Climate Exchange, and Better Environmentally Sound Transportation may be able to
work with the federal government in implementing these recommendations.
Support the Development and Promotion of
Regionally Specific Information “Some of the information
Information that is specific to different regions must be about One Tonne
developed if people are going to be motivated to take challenge doesn’t seem
action. Environment Canada should include regionally relevant to rural BC,
specific information (based on research of what motivates therefore it is difficult to get
people in that area) in the One Tonne Challenge people on side.”
promotional materials. Case studies can be effective in –participant
this regard. Particular attention should be given to
developing information that will speak to residents of rural communities, such as the
energy efficiency of homes and vehicles, and smart driving practices such as anti-idling,
tire pressure, etc. Support needs to be provided to ensure that the information that is
specific to different areas gets out to the public within that region. Consider providing
funding for regionally focused advertising in conjunction with national advertising.
Link Climate Change Action to Issues of Importance to Individuals
Given the challenges related to climate change and climate change action messages
(i.e. not compelling enough or personal), it is important to link climate change action to
more motivating issues such as health, safety and economy which individuals can relate
to. Funding opportunities should also recognise the importance of these links.
Design Funding Programs that Consider Project/Organisational Realities
Consider longer timeframes and necessary research funds for social marketing projects.
Given that matching funds are limited, consider allowing a larger portion of matching
funds to be in-kind. Consider designing funding opportunities focused on core or
organisational capacity building. Cultivate a funders network and provide information on
existing funding opportunities to potential matching funders so that they can evaluate
their priorities in light of the federal investment. Since land-use decisions affect
community energy consumption most, establish funding programs that support
municipalities in adopting sustainable development policies.
21Conduct Workshops on Social Marketing
Everyone agrees that outreach on climate change needs to move beyond providing
information to encouraging behaviour change. In order to do this, it is important to
provide opportunities for community organisations to be trained in social marketing. This
could involve providing funding for the organization of a provincial social marketing and
climate change conference which would include travel funding for groups in smaller
communities. Another option would be to provide funding for a series of workshops in
different parts of the province to be lead by an expert in social marketing such as
Douglas Mackenzie-Moore. Reinforce this action by increasing funding for local
research necessary to undertake successful social marketing programs.
Create Simple and Accessible Handout Materials to
Accompany Web-based Tools “ The predominant
Web-based tools aren’t used by everyone, which means that challenge for our
simple and accessible handout information in needed. Handout pilot project was
information must be simple (eg. identify top ten steps to take with having the public
references to additional resources that can be easily accessed via provide feedback on
the web or other means). There is no need for different our website” -
organisations to “re-invent the wheel”. Handout materials must be participant
distributed to community organisations that will assist in distributing
it to the public. Information must be regionally relevant.
Encourage Climate Change PEO Hubs to Assist with Community Networking and
Identifying Sources of Matching Funds
Hubs like BC Climate Exchange have a major role to play in bringing community
organisations and local governments together to identify connections and develop co-
ordinated, community focused plans for action.
Continue to Seek Feedback from Participants
Networking opportunities and connections between local NGOs and the Federal
government need to be reinforced, especially with the launch of the One Tonne
Challenge and the emerging cities or communities agenda. NGOs believe themselves
to be the delivery agents of the One Tonne Challenge and should be considered
partners in delivering Canada’s Kyoto targets. Keep the lines of communication open
and plan for more feedback.
22APPENDIX A - LIST OF WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS AND TELEPHONE
INTERVIEWEES
List of Workshop Participants
NANAIMO
Nanaimo Recycling Exchange –Veronica Nicholson
• Operate a recycling depot
• Organize a community market for household items
• Do workshops in schools focused on reducing wasted and buying in the
community
• Have done workshops on food in the past
• Are currently developing an energy workshop/climate change workshop focusing
on transportation choices, would like to get into the high schools
Earth Festival Society – Marion Pape
• The Earth Festival Society started a few years ago with an energy forum that was
held in Courtney BC. At the forum all types of forms of energy alternatives were
showcased
• Working on Saltspring Island with the Saltspring Island Conservancy to develop a
community energy plan for the island
• Doing baseline study on consumption patterns up to 2010
• Looking at improving transportation infrastructure (eg. for cyclists)
• Beginning to look at sustainable food
City of Nanaimo - Rob Lawrence
• Council recently passed a motion supporting Nanaimo’s participation
in FCM’s Partners for Climate Protection Program
• The City is looking to develop partnerships within the community
Nanaimo Area Land Trust – Gail Adrienne
• Haven’t yet done anything specifically related to climate change
• Land protection focus
• The board is redefining focus and exploring ways of connecting with climate
change
Greater Nanaimo Cycling Coalition – Jim Alix
• The GNCC started in 1996
• Major projects have included: bike week, earth day
• Would like to train CAN bike instructors and put on CAN bike workshops
23Energy Wise Technologies – Matt Salkeld
• Delivers Energuide for houses in Duncan and communities further north up
Vancouver Island
24Green Communities Nanaimo – Chad Henderson
• Have been doing climate change education for the last 4 years
• Have been delivering Energuide for Houses
• Have been doing green home visits
• Run an enviro centre in a local mall
• Were selling LED lights over Christmas
• Run a car share co-op which is linked to the car co-op in Vancouver
• Helping to create a new organization – Energy Solutions Vancouver Island
VICTORIA
Capital Regional District (CRD) – Andy Liu and Michelle Harns
• Applying for Green Federal Municipal funds to fund milestones 1-3
• Looking at reducing GHG emissions and energy use in all CRD
programs
BC Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection – Jenny Fraser and Ted Sheldon
• Working with FCM, Fraser Basin Council, Environment Canada and the GVRD to
expand the GVRD’s GHG action guide provincially
• Conducting integration study to assist with community energy planning and
airshed and water management
• Conducting an air quality/GHG conflict study to identify which activities reduce air
particulates and GHGs
• Working with municipalities to raise awareness and develop strategies around
climate change adaptation
• Participating in development of a CRD Transportation Management Association
Friends of Renewable Energy BC – Scott Davis
• Share information and encourage alternative energy sources (microhydro, solar
etc.)
• Developing a lecture series
VanCity – Detlef Beck
• Climate change is a priority
• Looking strategically at investing in communities
• Developing products to link growing business to community investment (eg. 0%
hybrid car loans, green home renovations)
City Green – Cory Waters
• Victoria based EnerGuide delivery agent
• Did no-cost energy audits of Anglican churches (CCAF project)
25• Working with BEST to build capacity within workplaces to encourage alternative
transportation choices
• Creating a climate change “action station” that demonstrates ways individuals can
reduce GHG emissions
• Working with the CRD to do a baseline study of transportation choices in the CRD
Wild BC - Susanna Solecki
• Deliver educational materials to school teachers and other educators (currently
using Pembina kit)
• Have been trying to get climate change into the curriculum over the past 2.5 years
• Working with BC Climate Change to develop brochure highlighting top climate
change educational resources
Lifecycles – Kezia Cowtan
• Delivering climate change and food miles project to schools (CCAF funded) –
encouraging purchasing of food grown locally
• Have created a web-based program to assist individuals in tracking how far their
food has travelled
• Engaged in a Go Greenways project which links climate change action with the
development of city greenway plans
Royal Roads University – Rachelle McElroy and Sarah Heinrichs
• Promoting alternative transportation, energy efficiency and waste management
(composting)
• Have developed a “Power yourself to RRU” program where green commuters log
on and record sustainable commuting miles
• Have electric vehicles on campus
• All new development must be LEED certified
Cowichan Green Communities – Tara Burghardt
• Perform healthy home visits
• Have started a community garden
• Oversee Cowichan Valley Cycling Coalition (advocating for better cycling routes)
Cowichan Tribes – Claire Hutton
• Green ideas not primary importance
• Poor infrastructure for alternative transportation
Municipality of Saanich – Carolyn MacDonald
• Conducting climate change training workshops for Saanich staff
• Working on Partners for Climate Production milestones
26Groundworks Learning – Maeve Lydon
• Run a local sustainability centre
• Engaged in a community mapping project (will launch a regional greenmap in the
spring)
• Work with University of Victoria environmental studies students on community
projects
• Developed a “training for the trainers” program linking green activists with
architects
Veins of Life Watershed Society – Kari Fisher
• Involved in stream restoration and watershed cleanup (e.g. the Gorge)
• Would like to conduct an anti-idling campaign for BC Ferries (need funding)
Endless Summer – Dean
• Working on plan to “green’ the Royal Oak bus exchange (to involve increasing
amenities to encourage bus use)
KELOWNA
Okanagan Science Centre – Sandy Dixon
• Working on a climate change exhibit for 2005.
BC Cancer Agency Prevention Program – Lori Borchert
• Hosted forums that include air pollution message
• Public education, building credibility
• Barrier is getting people to be receptive to the health message
SENS/Changing Lanes – Janet Denison
• Working on a carpool database with carpool.ca
• Working to promote cycling infrastructure
• Surveying barriers to choosing alternative transportation
S.E.N.S – Terry Dyck
• Working on a car-free day
• Challenge is delivering message with health twist
• Opportunity in looking at climate change from an economic perspective
Morning Star Enterprises – Tanya Leeson
• Works on social marketing and looking for links with climate change projects
• Working on “eco-house” project in partnership with Aquilla
27North Okanagan Naturalists Club– Pat Westheuser
• Working on green space acquisition
• Species protection
Science Opportunities for Kids (SOKS) – Jennifer French & Shannon Kuhn
• Operate a kids 6-12 program
• Looking at how to make climate change more meaningful to kids
• Want to develop an action and field component –anti-idling
• Challenge in that fewer kids are walking or cycling to school but opportunity is
can provide fun ways to encourage kids to change
• Looking for actions/pledges
City of Kelowna– Emma Hallas
• Working on social marketing study for TDM
• Targeting school children and supporting “off-ramp” program
• GO Green commuter challenge
• Looking at carpooling program
• “cash for clunkers” program starting
Central Okanagan District Parks – Alison Campbell Urness
• education program in parks
• endangered species linked to spaces
• one tonne challenge display
Outdoor Discoveries– Roseanne Van Ee
• working in community
Kelowna Cycling Coalition – Grant Rice
Teacher - Rhyne Jacobson
VANCOUVER
City of Vancouver – Sean Pander
• Cool Vancouver Program:
- approved corporate climate change action plan includes: building
retrofits, right sizing the vehicle fleet, biodiesel,
- draft of community climate change plan developed: focusing on single
- family home retrofits, greater bus service in the city, TDM measures,
advocacy, other
- want to launch corporate climate change challenge GVRD vs. other
corporations
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