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Picture tells complete story
If we want to become more sustainable as a city
we are going to have to make sure we all have a
complete picture. Just about anything with an environmental flavour
has the potential to become a political football and
frequently does. We need to find a way where all
the relevant information can be shown in a neutral
way, where we can all get a good idea of how well,
or not, we are doing in certain areas. Part of becoming more sustainable as a city is a
need for our democratic processes to become
more open. If Christchurch is to work toward
strengthening our environment it can only be done
with the support, and participation, of the public. It
will be a learning curve for all of us. Starting next year, the Christchurch City Council
plans to introduce more direct ways of making sure
everyone has a good chance of getting the whole
picture on how we are going as a sustainable city. One of the most potentially informative steps will
be the adoption of an idea called the Alberta GPI
Sustainable Well-Being Circle Index. The GPI bit
stands for Genuine Progress Indicator. Plainerspeaking
folk might like to call it a graph. Using a circular shape this index will show at a
glance how well, or otherwise, we are doing on a
scale from 0 to 100. It can measure everything from
the sustainability of our energy use patterns through
to areas of social sustainability such as crime and
problem gambling. The index can cover, and track, virtually any area of
our natural and developed world that is deemed
important to our over-all sustainability and well-being. The idea was developed in Alberta, Canada with
great effect. One of the people involved in
developing it is former MP Marilyn Waring, who will
soon be spending some time working directly with
the Council’s sustainability people to help evolve and
adapt the index for Christchurch. It will be a powerful tool, allowing us all to see at a
glance how we are going on a huge number of fronts.
Like any great idea it is deceptively simple because so
much work has gone into developing the idea. It will make a huge difference to both the quality
of information available to the general public and also
in our ability to look at the total functioning of our
city. It is planned to introduce the Index for inclusion
in up-coming Annual Plans. |