In 2010, Niagara Region, with extensive community consultation, produced a Vision and eight Goals for their environmental initiative, Sustainable Niagara. The Sustainable Niagara Vision imagines the Niagara Region in 2060 as a leader in economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Urban Strategies, in partnership with Halsall, was retained to help Sustainable Niagara establish a series of indicators that could be used to measure progress toward the Goals. Relying on guidance from the client team, stakeholders and the community, the team used existing Niagara indicators and benchmarks as a foundation for identifying indicators. By the conclusion of the process, the team had established 12 Priority Indicators that directly related to Sustainable Niagara’s eight Goals. In addition, the team articulated a series of monitoring strategies and key considerations that would help move the Sustainable Niagara plan forward. Because community involvement is critical to the continued success of Sustainable Niagara, our team emphasized that the Niagara community must continue to play a central role as the plan progresses.