This post is from the draft Call to Action and is now archived. The final version of the Call to Action is now available. Click here to read more about it.
Key Action: The City will host a one-day workshop to discuss the rapidly expanding field of sustainable procurement and to form a sustainable procurement community network. Bringing together Winnipeg’s businesses, institutions and public sector organizations, this network will make it easier to obtain goods and services that support sustainability. This action will result in a new and progressive sustainable procurement policy for the City of Winnipeg.
Cities are critical economic engines. They are hubs for social interaction and centres of cultural enrichment. In serving this role however, these urban centres (including Winnipeg) currently make decisions and act in ways that are unsustainable. We are depleting our economic, environmental and social resources faster than we can replenish them. Sustainability will form the foundation of OurWinnipeg, and the civic government needs to lead by example, promoting sustainable practices throughout the organization and the community.
Sustainability is usually understood as protecting the environment. In reality, it means considering the environmental, social and economic aspects of the community over the long term. It means recognizing the need to balance economic demands with the critical, long-term importance of social, cultural and environmental concerns.
In making decisions, a balanced, sustainable approach considers economic, environmental and socio-cultural resources. It recognizes the full costs of these decisions by supporting long-term financial, environmental and community wellbeing; viewing these issues and the community as a whole as interwoven and as part of an integrated system.
Establishing a sustainable procurement community network and updating the City of Winnipeg’s sustainable procurement policy will create balance for purchasing decisions at both the community and civic government level. This will provide the framework for purchasing decisions that consider the lifecycle costs of any purchased goods and services while also accounting for environmental and social impacts.
This key path is based on what we’ve heard about Sustainability
Next: See the Actions for Sustainability
