Living Cities Canada: Green For All
Living Cities Canada: Green For All is a pan-Canadian project launched in 2021 to advance green infrastructure (GI) in cities and towns across the country. It is coordinated by Green Communities Canada (GCC) with support from a team of partners including the University of Toronto, Green Infrastructure Ontario, and local environmental partner organizations in each of the five communities across Canada where the program is being piloted:
- Environment Lethbridge – Lethbridge, Alberta
- London Environmental Network – London, Ontario
- Green Venture & Environment Hamilton – Hamilton, Ontario
- ACAP St. John – St. John, New Brunswick
- Petitcodiac Watershed Association & the Garden Cities project – Dieppe, New Brunswick
The aim of the project is to create Living Cities – communities where green infrastructure, like trees and woodlots, rain gardens and bioswales, green roofs and walls, wetlands and parks, is:
Equitable
GI is prioritized in locations with the greatest environmental and social need.
Abundant
GI is the new normal; it is implemented widely and championed by diverse stakeholders.
Thriving
GI is installed, maintained,
and functions well over the
long-term.
Living Cities Canda will drive change from the “top-down” and from the “bottom-up” through two key strategies:
1. By building municipal capacity, support, and action for green infrastructure
To build municipal capacity, the project team is assembling a “Living Cities framework”: a document that synthesizes key learnings about how municipalities in Canada and around the world have successfully implemented equitable, abundant, and thriving green infrastructure. Using this framework, the project team will collaborate with stakeholders to craft “Living Cities policy pathways” in each of the five pilot communities. These pathways will chart a course forward on what policies, plans, strategies, processes, and instruments can make each community a Living City.
2. By growing public awareness, support, and action for green infrastructure
For GI to become the “new normal,” everyday people need to understand what GI is and how it benefits them and their communities. GCC is developing a scalable engagement campaign and messaging that will support local partner organizations to tell exciting and powerful stories about GI and to involve community members in the movement.
In March 2022, the Living Cities project team held a virtual forum that brought together green infrastructure practitioners, researchers and advocates from across the country. Explore the forum agenda, presentation slides, video recordings and summary note here.
