Deadline: 31-Mar-22
The call for nominations for Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM’s) 2022 Sustainable Communities Awards is now open for Canadian cities and communities of all sizes.
Since 2001, FCM’s Sustainable Communities Awards have celebrated the most innovative environmental initiatives in Canadian cities and communities of all sizes.
They honour the sustainability projects that demonstrate environmental responsibility and excellence, and take an integrated approach to yielding social and economic benefits for their communities.
Categories
The winning projects leverage current and advanced technologies as well as best practices in the area of sustainability and can be replicated and scaled up across Canada to achieve national quality-of-life, sustainability and climate goals. The awards honour the most innovative sustainable initiatives in five categories:
- Natural Asset Management: This award recognizes an initiative that excels in including natural assets (such as watersheds, wetlands, and forests) in municipal asset management processes and community services. Applicants need to demonstrate how they have accessed and analyzed relevant data about their municipal natural assets to help their municipality better integrate them into a sustainable service delivery and/or provide a climate change resilience benefit. Plans, strategies, and projects will all be considered.
- Climate Change Mitigation: In this category, they recognize municipal initiatives that advance deep reductions in community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Winning initiatives will demonstrate a holistic approach relevant to municipalities across Canada. Plans, capital projects, feasibility studies, and studies to reduce GHG emissions and advance action across the municipality will all be considered.
- Waste: This award recognizes a program or a project that focuses on reducing or diverting solid waste or recovering resources in an innovative manner that could be replicated by other municipalities. Plans, strategies, and projects will all be considered.
- Affordable Housing Retrofit: This award recognizes achievements contributing to climate change mitigation through deep energy efficiency retrofit projects in affordable residential buildings. Winning initiatives must exhibit GHG reductions and energy savings.
- Community Buildings Retrofit: This award recognizes achievements contributing to climate change mitigation through deep energy efficiency retrofits in community buildings (municipal or non-profit owned). Winning initiatives must demonstrate lower operating and maintenance costs and improvements in energy performance in existing cultural, recreational, or athletic buildings. Eligible initiatives can include a single building or a portfolio of buildings where the majority of buildings are for a community purpose. Plans, capital projects, studies, and strategies will all be considered.
Why apply?
- GMF is a national sustainability leader—as an award winner, you’ll receive local and national recognition and promotion for your initiative.
- Benefits include:
- Recognition from your peers, community, and national media for your municipality’s accomplishments in sustainable development
- Opportunity to showcase and present your initiative at FCM’s 2022 Sustainable Communities Conference
- Individual coaching and support to help you develop a TED Talk-style presentation that will be recorded at the conference and shared
- Showcase your sustainability initiative as a scalable model other communities can learn from
- Receive a digital award badge to share on your website and social pages
- FCM is offering to cover the cost of conference registration and certain travel-related costs for award winners who are travelling outside of their region (for an in-person event). This subsidy is awarded based on need.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants are encouraged to apply for the award category that best represents the primary goal or environmental benefit of the initiative. In addition, applicants will be asked to describe how their initiative achieves multiple outcomes, including social, economic, and secondary environmental benefits.
- Natural Asset Management: All Canadian municipalities and their partners are eligible to apply for a Sustainable Communities Award.
- Climate Change Mitigation: All Canadian municipalities and their partners are eligible to apply for a Sustainable Communities Award.
- Waste: All Canadian municipalities and their partners are eligible to apply for a Sustainable Communities Award.
- Affordable Housing Retrofit:
- Non-profit, mission-driven affordable housing providers, including co-operatives
- All Canadian municipal governments
- Their project partners, which includes:
- Private sector entities
- Indigenous communities
- Municipally owned corporations
- A regional, provincial or territorial organization delivering municipal services
- Non-governmental organizations and not-for-profit organizations
- Research institutes (e.g., universities)
- Community Buildings Retrofit:
- All Canadian municipal governments
- Their project partners, which includes:
- Private sector entities
- Indigenous communities
- Municipally owned corporations
- A regional, provincial or territorial organization delivering municipal services
- Non-governmental organizations and not-for-profit organizations
- Research institutes (e.g., universities)
For more information, visit https://fcm.ca/en/about-fcm/awards/sustainable-communities-awards?utm_source=GMF+Twitter+Nov22+EN&utm_medium=GMF+Twitter+EN&utm_campaign=GMF+Twitter+Nov22+EN