Toolkits & Microsites

The BC Climate Action Toolkit is a tool for knowledge sharing and collaboration. It provides the latest news, best practices, practical advice, information, and strategic guidance to help BC local governments successfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, strengthen their communities.

The Guide provides an overview of the laws and planning processes that govern watershed management in British Columbia. It has been organized into four main sections: "Accessing Government"; "Issues and topics"; "Laws & Plans"; and "Case Studies".

The BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA) offers a series of "Best Management Practices" (BMPs) on its website, inlcuding: Cross Connection Control BMP; Chlorine Disinfection & Monitoring BMP; Water Distribution System Renewal Planning; Emergency Response Planning; Reducing Water Distribution System Losses; Turbidity Monitoring and Reporting; and Distribution System Cleaning/ Uni-directional Flushing.

Many of these papers are labelled as drafts, and the BCWWA notes that they will be continually updated as comments are received from BCWWA members.

The Clean Air Bylaws Guide (PDF, 3MB) illustrates the extent of local bylaw powers, and demonstrates how bylaws can supplement the provincial legislation, promoting best practices and model clean air bylaws.

The Common Measurements Tool (CMT) was first released in 1998 as an easy-to-use client satisfaction survey instrument that would facilitate benchmarking across jurisdictions. Using the CMT, public-sector managers are able to understand client expectations, assess levels of satisfaction, and identify priorities for improvement. By using the questions set out in the CMT, jurisdictions can also compare their results against peer organizations, identifying best practices and sharing lessons learned.

The Regulatory Best Practices Guide was written to encourage the best possible use of municipal regulatory authority in relation to broad spheres of jurisdiction outlined in the Community Charter. The Guide is available as a downloadable PDF file, (304 KB).

This toolkit was written primarily for local elected officials, municipal and regional planners and engineers, real estate developers, as well as anyone interested in community sustainability and energy opportunities.

The objectives of the Tool Kit are: * to describe how energy is used in communities, and how its use affects the community; * to show that designing for energy supports community livability objectives; * to describe how energy considerations can be incorporated in existing community planning processes; * to make clear that community energy planning can play a vital role in reducing Canada greenhouse gas emissions and so help slow climate change; * to provide some practical advice that will help communities move toward energy sustainability; and * to outline the roles of local government, developers, utilities and senior levels of government in making community energy planning happen in British Columbia.