57
(CMR) Official Community Plan lays out the
city’s long-term vision for a “vibrant and prosperous [community, with] a strong local economy, stable and special neighbourhoods,
thoughtful development, a diversity of agriculture, and respect for the built and natural environment” (City of Maple Ridge 2014).
As with our other case study, the main objective of the Maple Ridge project carried out in
2017 was to help the City achieve this vision by
assessing current sustainability and providing the
City and its citizens with a customized sustainability assessment framework. Although the City
of Maple Ridge did not at the time explicitly
express interest in aligning their goals with the
SDGs or taking advantage of the SDG framework
in a specific way, we nevertheless used the SDG
framework in the project reported in this
chapter.
5.3.3 Research Methodology
Within a mixed-methods approach, we started
working on the case studies by examining the
related literature and particularly exploring the
current arena of sustainability frameworks, tools,
and best practices. We reviewed a significant
number of sustainability monitoring and assessment frameworks worldwide as well as initiatives
and best practices for planning and assessment in
other communities in Canada and beyond. As
mentioned above, the SDGs and other frameworks and tools helped inform the adjustment of
Fig. 5.2 The province of British Columbia and, in the inset, our two case study municipalities. (Images by TUBS/CC
BY-SA 2.5 and by TastyCakes/CC BY 3.0)
5 Making the SDGs Relevant for Cities: Using the Community Capital Tool in British Columbia
(CMR) Official Community Plan lays out the
city’s long-term vision for a “vibrant and prosperous [community, with] a strong local economy, stable and special neighbourhoods,
thoughtful development, a diversity of agriculture, and respect for the built and natural environment” (City of Maple Ridge 2014).
As with our other case study, the main objective of the Maple Ridge project carried out in
2017 was to help the City achieve this vision by
assessing current sustainability and providing the
City and its citizens with a customized sustainability assessment framework. Although the City
of Maple Ridge did not at the time explicitly
express interest in aligning their goals with the
SDGs or taking advantage of the SDG framework
in a specific way, we nevertheless used the SDG
framework in the project reported in this
chapter.
5.3.3 Research Methodology
Within a mixed-methods approach, we started
working on the case studies by examining the
related literature and particularly exploring the
current arena of sustainability frameworks, tools,
and best practices. We reviewed a significant
number of sustainability monitoring and assessment frameworks worldwide as well as initiatives
and best practices for planning and assessment in
other communities in Canada and beyond. As
mentioned above, the SDGs and other frameworks and tools helped inform the adjustment of
Fig. 5.2 The province of British Columbia and, in the inset, our two case study municipalities. (Images by TUBS/CC
BY-SA 2.5 and by TastyCakes/CC BY 3.0)
5 Making the SDGs Relevant for Cities: Using the Community Capital Tool in British Columbia