Engage Cobourg Launches Integrated Community Sustainability Plan Project

The Town of Cobourg’s Communications Department is pleased to announce the launch of the ‘Integrated Community Sustainability Plan’ project on Engage Cobourg, an online public engagement platform designed to gather feedback and comments from residents.

The new public engagement project is seeking public input as the Town looks to develop an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) to help realize the aims of the climate emergency resolution. The Plan will comprise specific and achievable actions that both the community and municipal government of Cobourg will take to build on existing environmental progress and advance new measures to respond to the climate emergency.

Cobourg’s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) will help set the direction for community environmental, cultural, social, and economic sustainability for the next 30 years. In a community planning process from winter to summer 2022, Cobourg residents can help shape the direction of this important initiative.

Background
In December 2019, Cobourg’s Town Council passed a resolution to declare a climate emergency and accelerate a transition towards carbon neutrality within Cobourg in response to the unprecedented global climate crisis. This resolution follows Council’s 2019 – 2022 Strategic Plan, which aims to position the Town as both an environmental steward and model sustainable community, and prior sustainability work done in the 2010 and 2020 Climate Action Plan processes.

Alongside the strategic direction provided by the ICSP, the Town is also leading two concurrent projects to prepare Green Development Standards (GDS) and complete a Green Energy Retrofit (GER) Feasibility Study. The GDS will explore how the urban development process can support environmentally sustainable outcomes that can include, but are not limited to, energy efficiency and management, active transportation, stormwater management, water conservation, and solar readiness. Meanwhile, the GER will evaluate the potential opportunities, resources, and tools available to retrofit multi-family residential buildings with energy-efficient and renewable energy systems with the ultimate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from residential sources.

These projects (ICSP, GDS and GER) will be informed by several different inputs, including the sustainability context of Cobourg, established standards and lessons learned from other communities in Ontario, municipal and regional priorities, and stakeholder feedback.

How to Participate on Engage Cobourg
Share your thoughts on the current state of sustainability in Cobourg by:

• Completing the survey, available until Thursday, March 17, 2022.
• Participating in a Current State Workshop on the evening of Thursday, March 3, 2022 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Sign up for the workshop using this link.

You can also subscribe to project updates to stay informed about future project phases and declare your intent to participate in sustainability initiatives emerging from the final plan in 2023 and beyond. Dates will be updated throughout the process.

Visit engagecobourg.ca to view the complete public engagement project and to learn more.

Register on Engage Cobourg Today!
Residents of the Town of Cobourg are encouraged to create a profile online and participate in current public engagement projects. To register on Engage Cobourg visit www.engagecobourg.ca and click the Register Today! button. For questions or help registering please email communications@cobourg.ca.