Region of Victoria
From Common Energy UVic
What is the University of Victoria's region? That turns out to be a difficult question to answer. Is it just the political boundaries of the Capital Regional District[1]? Those are certainly important for creating proposals and sustaining change. However, in relation to the many flows, both local and global, of energy and materials that create the ecology and economy of the region, these political boundaries are arbitrary and limiting. For example, when considering our food system, should we place an invisible bubble over the CRD and ignore everything else?
To become sustainable and prosperous, the people in the region must create an economy that fits the ecology of which we are part. In relation to climate change, what is the relationship between the people, the economy, and the ecology of this land that could be replicated across the world to give us a "fair" share of the sky? From the practical to the profound, much information needs to be gathered about our region and many questions need to be explored.
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[edit] General Information
As part of the development of a Community Energy Plan a GHG inventory has been completed for the Capital Regional District. The The Greenhouse Gas and Energy Use Inventory for the Capital Region 2004 maps out in detail the direct emissions and energy uses in the region. This work is being done as part of the Partners for Climate Protection initiative to mobilize Canadian municipalities for local responses to the climate crisis.
It is worth remembering that the data from the direct emissions and energy use is far from the total emissions caused by the consumption and economic activity the region. The embodied energy in the products that we import and consume is a large and elusive category that must be considered in our total impact, and ultimate sustainability. To get a sense of this impact, consider that international shipping is one of the fastest growing sources of emissions in the world, and one of the most difficult to regulate.[2]
[edit] Higher Education Institutions
[edit] Camosun College
Camosun College has 17,000 students and 1,000 staff and faculty. It offers university transfer programs as well applied programs and career and trades training at its two campuses.
The Camosun Students for Environmental Awarenessis actively promoting sustainability initiatives on campus. Most notably, the successful campaign to switch the college to 100% post-consumer waste paper.
[edit] Governance
The regional governance body is the Capital Regional District. It is composed of 13 member municipalities.
[edit] Municipalities
[edit] Oak Bay
Oak Bay has recently broken ground with the creation of a Climate Crisis Task Force. Common Energy worked with the Oak Bay Green Committee to make the Mayor and Council aware of the broad support for this initiative and the urgent need for it. The Task Force has a six month mandate to create a plan for the municipality. Here is a letter from the Oak Bay Green Committee describing the achievement.
