When it comes to municipal sustainability planning, there is a shift in focus toward looking in the mirror. A growing number of municipal governments want to be role models for sustainability leadership in their community. Indeed, many are facing increased pressure from community members and stakeholders who are demanding that their municipal government lead by example.

The result is that many municipal governments are working hard to create cultures of sustainability within their organizations themselves. This means integrating sustainability into the day-to-day decision-making within the municipal corporation and embedding sustainability into the fabric of their organization.

This shift in focus is apparent in the Fresh Outlook Foundation's latest Community Sustainability Snapshot, a report on what local governments across Canada are doing to enable and encourage sustainability in their communities.

In order to help Canadian municipalities and communities respond to the evolving sustainability landscape, The Natural Step Canada recently refined our services and resources. Our new Service Cycle for Sustainable Communities helps municipal governments and community groups move toward a sustainable future by working closely together to answer the following key questions:

1. How can our municipal government embrace sustainability and set an example for the community?
2. How can we achieve long-term sustainability and resiliency for our community?
3. How can we empower community stakeholders to lead change toward sustainability?

To better reflect these new areas of focus and our unique suite of service offerings to address each question, we have launched a new section of our web site dedicated to our Sustainable Communities Program. We hope you like what you see and encourage you to provide us with your feedback.

Recently, we also announced our 2011 Integrated Community Sustainability Planning Course. Via a mixture of online seminars, in-person workshops, and applied project work, participants will learn how to embed sustainability throughout their community’s planning, decision-making, and operations. The course runs from May to October with a 3-day in-person session in June in beautiful Vancouver, BC. Learn more and be sure to register soon to take advantage of our early bird discount!

As well, over the next few months, we will be working with members of The Natural Step Exchange and Stephanie Bertels from Simon Fraser University to create a municipal version of the Network for Business Sustainability’s Executive How-to Guide: Embedding Sustainability in Organizational Culture. If you are interested in helping to inform this new municipal resource or would like to be notified when it is available, please contact us.

In the meantime, we encourage you to learn more about The Natural Step Canada's new Service Cycle for Sustainable Communities and contact us to discuss how The Natural Step Canada can help take your community’s sustainability journey to the next level.