Q: What sustainable development issues face the City of Sherbrooke at the present time?

Sustainable development requires us to rethink the way we do things and then make changes–changes in the way we work and even the way we think! These changes are necessary–and not just in the way we carry out our municipal activities; we also have to change our processes, so that the city, its partners, institutions, businesses and citizens can make the right decisions and undertake projects using a sustainable development lens. The main issue is probably to implement these processes of change and to work at them in a concerted way.

Q: How would you define a sustainable community?

As a community whose members all work together to improve their quality of life. To do this, the projects that are undertaken and the decisions that are made must always serve the cause of the community and not exist for the sole benefit of a company or an individual.

Q: The City of Sherbrooke has implemented numerous initiatives to make its community more sustainable. What made Sherbrooke decide to take this route?

It started with the University of Sherbrooke in 2005, which initiated a process aiming to bring together 10 of the region’s largest institutions to work in a more sustainable way. The goal was to share the strengths and knowledge of these institutions and use them to create greater sustainable development, as this group of 10 institutions included both the region’s largest single buyer and its largest employer. The ten institutions, one of which was the City of Sherbrooke, really bought into this initiative. Included in this group of partners are two universities, Sherbrooke’s public transit company, the Société de Transport de Sherbrooke, the university hospital centres and the city. Moreover, this partnership has been able to promote sustainable development to the employees of these institutions, as well as to the clients of the companies and the residents of the city.

Q: Was this a municipal council decision? What sort of consensus was there to decide that Sherbrooke would become a sustainable community?

There was already a consensus amongst municipal Council, to move toward sustainable community development. The invitation from Université de Sherbrooke came to reinforce our belief.

Q: What sustainable development challenges for the city do you face in your position and in your everyday professional activities?

The biggest challenge lies in mobilizing people – and by this I mean the municipality’s employees as much the residents of the city – to commit to modifying the way they do things, to acting in a more responsible manner toward the environment and for the good of the community. People are often convinced that this initiative is right but are not necessarily sure of how to put it into practice.

At the municipal level, we also need to look at the way we work, at our supply system, for example. There is a lot of resistance to change… To install sustainable buying policies in the city would require current laws and regulations to be carefully examined and perhaps even changed. This is no small matter. We have to find ways of tackling these issues and of showing the advantages of this process that are not purely related to economic interest. Furthermore, with the help of the University of Sherbrooke, we aim to train our employees to tackle these issues and to improve the way they see the changes and lessen any resistance there might be.

Q: How do you manage to encourage residents to participate in your move toward a more sustainable community? How do you go about mobilizing the community?

First, we try to set an example. Ever since we signed the declaration with 9 other institutions from the region, promising to work together to make the City of Sherbrooke a sustainable community, we have tried to show what can be achieved when you are committed to working for the good of the community. Some of the institutions that signed the agreement have completed an action plan to make these sustainable measures more concrete, and the city will make its own action plan public in the fall.
With other institutions, we are going to link with organizations, businesses and the people of Sherbrooke to carry out this action plan. In this way, we can bring together existing expertise, mobilize our residents to take steps, and ultimately improve the quality of life of all those who live and work in Sherbrooke.


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