Burlington Sustainable Development Committee
Who We Are
The members of the Committee are volunteer citizens who have been appointed by City Council to advise on issues that relate to sustainable development. In our business lives we are architects, developers, engineers, planners and grass roots activists - just about anyone who believes that Burlington is a great place to live and that it is worth the effort to keep it that way. We believe that people have a responsibility to minimize the impact they have on the environment in which we all live.
What We Do
Our role in the community is to promote the Principles and Objectives of Sustainable Development and to advise and assist City Hall staff and City Council members on these issues. We do this by organizing conferences and workshops, submitting position papers to Council and producing videos.
Meetings
This committee meets on the 3rd or 4th Wednesday of each month in City Hall at 7:00 p.m. (subject to change). For meeting dates and times please refer to our on-line Meeting Calendar.
Terms of Reference
- Terms of Reference (PDF)
What is Sustainable Development?
Who we are and what we do is the easy part. Defining Sustainable Development is a much more difficult task.
For many people, sustainable development seems to be a contradiction of terms. How can we maintain what we have if we continue to develop? That seeming contradiction is at the root of the difficulty in providing a concise, all encompassing definition of Sustainable Development. Changes in the community are inevitable. However, to preserve and improve the natural environment and the quality of life for its residents, change and development of the community must be well planned after giving consideration to a wide variety of issues.
The definition of Sustainable Development we use most often is that put forth by the United Nations Brundtland Commission on the Environment and Development: "Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
We hope this brief definition gives you an idea of what this committee hopes to achieve.
Background
In 1990, the City of Burlington declared itself a Sustainable Development Community and established the Sustainable Development Committee as an advisory body to City Council.
The role of this multi-sectoral citizens' committee is to foster dialogue and awareness of sustainable development and to develop methods of integrating economic and environmental planning at the local level.
The revised Principles and Objectives of Sustainable Development were adopted by Burlington City Council in November 1994 to promote and implement Sustainable Development in the City of Burlington. This makes Burlington one of the few municipalities in Canada to have adopted such principles and objectives.
