Sustainable Development Strategy 2003

Output :

SD Training activities

Achievement #1:

Modifications were made to the department project assessment tool to help officers more easily identify sustainable development projects.

Output:

Websites

Achievement #1:

Regional offices improved the integration of commitments made through SDS 2003 into regional business plans.

Achievement #2:

Corporate Administration maintains a Green Team section on its Intranet page, including announcements, green tips, and links to the SDS and Frequently Asked Questions.

Output:

Employee Orientation

No activity in fiscal 2005/06

Output:

Promotion of generic SD information and updates

WD’s Green Team actively promoted green ideas to department staff during the year.

Accomplishment #1:

Seven green tips for office and home were distributed via WDNet email notices to staff, and posted on the Green Team web page.

Accomplishment #2:

The Green Team celebrated “WD Green Dress Down Day” on March 17, 2006. A challenge was also issued to staff to record their greening practices on that day. In total, 34 per cent of WD staff participated in the challenge and many more supported the Green Day by dressing in green.

Accomplishment #3:

Consistent with Public Works and Government Service’s Office of Greening Government Operations (OGGO), WD’s regional offices incorporated green practices into office procedures including green procurement, promoting the use of direct deposit and recycling of office products.

Accomplishment #4:

All offices recycled cans, bottles, plastic, and various types of paper, including newspaper, and encouraged the use of glass plates, cups and glasses for meetings rather than plastics.

Output :

WD investments in projects that develop and commercialize environmental technologies and processes

Achievement #1:

In the 2005/06 fiscal year, WD contributed approximately $5 million towards 36 projects. These projects contributed in whole or in part to the development and commercialization of environmental technologies and processes.

The following lists highlight some specific examples of projects related to environmental technologies supported by WD:

British Columbia:

• A solar water heating acceleration project for B.C Sustainable Energy Association.
• Delivery of technology commercialization support services to post secondary institutions.

Alberta:

• A PTAC-led (Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada) program to develop and implement environmental technologies in Canada's upstream oil and gas industry.

Saskatchewan:

• Purchase and installation of a 3D Virtual Reality System for the Saskatchewan Research Council. This system has many practical environmental, energy and mineral resource applications.
• Produce design templates for cost effective, efficient, sustainable, and profitable integrated ethanol-cattle feedlot facilities.

Manitoba:

• A one-year commercialization test of a kinetic turbine under real prairie conditions. Information developed from the study will be used to install the turbines in remote areas and develop clean energy opportunities for Manitoba.
• Red River College to develop and build a solar powered car, and continue the development of the vehicle technology capabilities of the College.

Objective:

Public and private partnerships and joint ventures

Accomplishment #1:

Of the 36 environmental technology projects supported by WD, 22 (61 per cent) involved partnerships with other federal and/or provincial government and 23 (64 per cent) involved partnerships with non-government organizations.

Accomplishment #2:

Examples of other key partnerships and joint ventures resulting from WD-supported environmental technology projects include:

• With the support of WD-BC, Seabreeze Powercorp, the District of Squamish, and the CFDC of Howe Sound have formed a partnership to facilitate the development of a sustainability initiative that showcases leading technology and expertise of Canada. This partnership will explore the feasibility of wind energy and the general level of community support for such an effort.
• WD partnered with the University of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro to test the commercialization of a kinetic turbine that operates at higher than current flow rates. This project is developing information regarding reliability and power shaping capacity of these turbines in Manitoba’s rivers and is part of the development of a Clean Energy Centre at the University of Manitoba.
• WD-Alberta, the province of Alberta, NSERC, Iunctus Geomatics Corporation and Telus, in partnership with the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre, to conduct research on how satellite images can be used for different applications including resource management, energy and global climate change.
• WD-SK and the province of Saskatchewan have partnered with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute to build a biodigester facility at their site in the City of Humboldt. This biodigester will be used to convert waste materials such as manure, slaughter waste, and municipal waste, into gas for heat or power generation or sludge for conversion into fertilizer. The Jericho Group in British Columbia grew out of rRoundtable meetings that preceded and followed the Environmental Technology Forum. The Jericho Group is a strong and growing high-level partnership of innovative leaders from within the eEnvironmental tTechnology sector and includes representatives from private sector companies and industry associations, non-government organizations and academic institutions.

Objective:

Attraction of new investments to R&D in environmental technologies

Accomplishment #1:

These 36 projects leveraged additional investments of $11 million.

Output:

WD investment in projects that enable western Canadian communities to improve their social, environmental and economic sustainability

Achievement #1:

In the 2005/06 fiscal year, WD contributed over $9 million towards 72 projects that will help western Canadian communities improve their social, environmental and economic sustainability. The following highlights some specific examples of these projects:

Achievement #2:

• The Imagine Calgary initiative aimed to engage citizens, community leaders and other stakeholders in the development of a 100-year vision and a 30-year strategy for the City of Calgary as a leader in sustainable urban community planning. Results from the initiative were presented at the World Urban Forum in Vancouver.
• The creation of the CitiesPLUS network, a unique project with the Sustainable Cities Foundation, enabled the participation of western Canadian regions and communities, including several aboriginal communities along with cities and communities from developing countries to recruit and build capacity in order to do long-term planning as well as document and share their experiences in long-term sustainability.
• The North American Solar Challenge event had an impact on education as well as technology development. This staging event in Manitoba supported and promoted the use solar technology. The Solar Challenge encouraged students to get involved in solar energy.
• WD-SK partnered with the city of Saskatoon and the Province of Saskatchewan to remediate three contaminated city lots in inner city Saskatoon. This project is made possible through the collaborative efforts of this unique tripartite partnership.

Output: Intergovernmental partnerships with communities

Accomplishment #1:

Of the 72 projects supported by WD to enable western Canadian communities to improve their social, environmental and economic sustainability, 32 (44 per cent) involved partnerships with other federal and/or provincial government, and 49 (68 per cent) involved partnership with non-governmental organizations.

Output:

Attraction of new investments into communities

Accomplishment #1:

These 72 projects leveraged additional investments of over $22 million.

Output:

SD Web site on Internet (including Sustainable Resources online Tool for SMEs)

Achievement #1:

The Annual update of SDS 2003 was posted on the web in October of 2005.

Output:

SD-related conferences

Achievement #1:

WD provided support to 30 SD-related conferences. Conference topics included water, waste, sustainability, and alternative energy.

Output:

Access West magazine articles on SD

Achievement #1:

The Access West Winter 2006 issue was a special issue focused on sustainable development. Articles topics included:

• What is sustainable development?
• A wind energy part in St. Leon, Manitoba
• A study on the hybrid vehicle sector in B.C. and the establishment of an Alternative Vehicle Centre
• Strengthening fuel cell research in Canada
• Cardel Place in Calgary awarded Alberta’s first LEED Gold
• A Red River College solar vehicle at the 2005 North American Solar Challenge

Output:

Research reports

Achievement #1:

WD supported a number of SD-related projects. The Greater Vancouver GreenGuide is one such project that promotes urban sustainability in action, and highlights key sustainability projects in the Vancouver region.