Natural Step to a Sustainable Canmore

What does it take to build a healthy, vibrant, truly sustainable community? That’s the question the Town of Canmore, along with eight local businesses and organizations, has been exploring under the banner of The Natural Step since the fall of 2004.

What is the Natural Step?

The Natural Step is an international research, education and advisory non-profit that uses an innovative science-based program to help organizations, individuals, and communities understand sustainability and design and implement sustainable practices and behaviors. Created in Sweden in 1989, The Natural Step now has offices in 13 countries and its approach to sustainability has been used by hundreds of businesses, communities, and non-profit organizations worldwide.  Learn more about The Natural Step and the TNS framework.

In 2004, with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley acting as community coordinator, a number of Canmore’s leading businesses, organizations, and institutions, including the Town of Canmore, signed on as “Early Adopters” to be trained in the Natural Step framework for sustainability.  In the fall of 2005 the program was launched at the "Sustaining Canmore" event featuring Dr.Karl-Henrik Robert and Dr.David Suzuki.

Coordinated by The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, The Natural Step to a Sustainable Canmore is a two-year program designed to create both a community-wide understanding of sustainability and a municipal planning approach that integrates the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability.

Early Adopters

In the initial phase of the program, several “Early Adopter” business and organizations are receiving extensive training in The Natural Step framework. Following completion of the training, the early adopters will develop a program to share their learning with the entire community. The ultimate goal is a community that shares a common understanding of sustainability, a common language with which to talk about it, a commitment to building a sustainable future, and a scientifically-grounded, economically-attractive plan to move toward that future.

 

Acknowledgements

The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley and The Natural Step Canada gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the sponsors who made this project possible. Financial Partners for the Natural Step to a Sustainable Canmore are: Alberta Ecotrust Foundation; Alberta Real Estate Foundation; Canmore Economic Development Authority; Community Initiatives Program Alberta; Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Three Sisters Mountain Village; and the Town of Canmore.