City of Calgary Releases imagineCALGARY Partners Report, Priorities

The City of Calgary has been involved with imagineCALGARY since 2005, first as the organization responsible for launching the preparation of the imagineCALGARY Plan for Long Range Urban Sustainability, and now as one of 47 community Partners committed to the process. There’s no doubt 2007 was a busy year for The City, with several important developments that are helping implement the imagineCALGARY vision.

“The imagineCALGARY Plan has provided us with a framework to focus sustainability initiatives throughout The City of Calgary,” says Linda Spencer, Manager of the imagineCALGARY Transition Team for The City of Calgary. In 2007, The City reviewed the 114 Targets in the Plan and selected 22 Priority Targets where The City of Calgary can make the most difference.

“The Plan is comprehensive, so it was important for us to narrow our focus to goals that we could realistically achieve,” Linda says. “The 22 Priority Targets we selected are long-term, and The City will constantly re-evaluate the strategies we can use to achieve these imagineCALGARY’s goals.”

To further concentrate The City of Calgary’s efforts toward sustainability, three Focus Areas were recently created to provide a framework for the future:

Success of our Citizens
Setting the stage for Calgarians to thrive and have full and rewarding lives by providing a variety of opportunities and support to members of the community, while attending to higher risk populations.

Health of our Rivers and Watershed
Taking a proactive role in addressing decreasing future water supplies and habitats to ensure this vital need is met in our community.

Climate Change
Responding to this crucial global issue by developing Calgary in a resilient, sustainable way.

“The City of Calgary will concentrate on all three Focus Areas, but we won’t try to work on all 22 Targets at any one time,” Linda says. “Instead, we will shift our efforts as necessary to capitalize on emerging opportunities.”

The City of Calgary recently produced an Annual Report to Partners that highlights its 2007 accomplishments as an imagineCALGARY Partner. You can download that document as a PDF here.