In case you’re not keeping up with major events coming to the city, here’s one that might be of interest: The ICLEI World Congress will take place in Edmonton June 14-18.
I have no idea what the acronym stands for and a search of their website didn’t help any. But I did find out that ICLEI is an international association of local, regional and national government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.
Here’s a thought on how we can really show these folks how committed we are to true sustainability. First, let’s take a couple hundred bicycles to the airport and insist that delegates to the conference ride them into town and use them throughout the event. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem, given our hundreds of kilometres of bike paths all over the city that have helped reduce our reliance on cars and the eminently unsustainable petroleum industry. Oops! I think I have the wrong city, so scrap that idea.
Well, at least when they are here they will be able to jump on the LRT, which will take them wherever they want to go in the city — provided, of course, they only want to go to the south side or someplace in the northeast. Maybe we can convince them that having such a small rapid-transit system makes it eminently sustainable.
One of the basic tenets of creating a sustainable urban environment is to make the highest and best use of land, especially for residential areas. Let’s show them how we have firmly committed to the densification of existing neighbourhoods instead of expanding ever outwards. Let’s show them that we have preserved the farmland surrounding the city so that we can supply ourselves with foods that are grown locally instead trucked in from all over the continent. Oops! Once again, I think I have the wrong city.
Though I have no idea why Edmonton was “awarded” this conference, with a little luck, the conference attendees will be spending their “greenbucks” all over the city.
I can only hope that those dollars and euros are the profits from some sustainable activity or another.
Come to think of it, an organization dealing with sustainability is ultimately sustainable, if not effective.
– Terence Harding is a corporate communicator. He’s a keen observer of all things Edmonton; edmontonletters@metronews.ca.
