Green Directions Vaughan Project Updates
Next Steps
In December 2019, Council adopted the new 2019 Green Directions Vaughan and now it’s time for the City to demonstrate how we lead and how we operate to create a sustainable and resilient Vaughan. Throughout 2019 and beyond, the City will take the following steps to guide Vaughan to help maintain a healthy natural environment, vibrant communities and a strong economy:
- Develop financial and governance frameworks for all 69 sustainability actions
- Gather data to update the 24 indicators used to track progress of Green Directions Vaughan
- Develop engaging communications to provide education to the community on environmental issues and initiatives, update the public on progress and promote sustainability efforts and achievements of the City, businesses and residents
- Explore opportunities for partnerships and collaboration to advance the City mandate
Engagement Updates
Public consultation is a vital part of the city-building process. To develop the new sustainability actions in Green Directions Vaughan 2019, an engagement strategy was used that included:
- Interviews with partners and stakeholders
- A workshop for members of the public (to imagine what a sustainable Vaughan looks like to them)
- An online survey called “All Our Ideas” for rating ideas and suggesting new ones
- Invitations to provide input through email or phone
- A Technical Advisory Committee made up of staff to review and approve sustainability actions
The City of Vaughan re-engaged the public throughout summer 2019 to raise awareness of the new Green Directions Vaughan and obtain a ‘green thumbs up’ of support for the Plan. Staff attended eight city-led events, facilitated four outreach sessions and conducted pop-ups at Vaughan Mills Mall and Promenade Mall – generating 205 thumbs up for Green Directions Vaughan 2019! Feedback received during the summer engagement supported the goals and actions identified in the new Plan.
So, what did we hear?
Page 23 – 27 of Green Directions Vaughan 2019 outlines some of the ideas that we heard from the community to help to create a sustainable Vaughan, and it identifies which sustainability objectives in Chapter 6 incorporate the ideas. The chart also includes a list of suggested individual and community actions that can be done to contribute to sustainability outcomes. Success of the sustainability objectives and actions in this Plan rely on building partnerships and capacity in the local community. The City will continue to work with residents and stakeholders to expand the list of individual and community actions.
Get in touch
If you have any ideas you'd like to contribute towards Green Directions Vaughan, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you - environment@vaughan.ca.
For the social media savvy, take your commitment one step further and pledge your support on Twitter using the hashtag #MyGreenDirection. Snap a selfie of an everyday action you do that’s good for our community and tell us about it. Don’t forget to tag us @CityofVaughan as well as a friend to inspire them to make their own pledge.