Founded in 1987, the Nova Scotia Environment and Development Coalition works for sustainable communities locally and worldwide. Through research, education and advocacy, the Coalition highlights connections between the environment and the economy, and between the North and the South ("developed" and "under-developed" nations). We focus attention on the challenge of creating an economy which fits sustainably within the ecosystem, both locally and globally, and which works for people and their communities, rather than the other way around.
The Nova Scotia Environment and Development Coalition involves interested individuals and nongovernmental organizations. Its principal activities to date include a video So Who Lives Here Anyway? Alternative Visions of Sustainable Communities, an education kit: How to Live in the Real World: A Resource Kit about Sustainable Communities, formation of the Nova Scotia Sustainable Communities Network, linkage projects with community-centered organizations elsewhere in the world, and research projects on sustainable alternatives in forestry, fisheries and farming.
Are communities in Nova Scotia and around the world mere pawns in the "global economy"? Or can people work together in their communities to develop local economies that:
The Sustainable Communities Award, presented by the Nova Scotia Environment and Development Coalition, showcases communities and community-centered organizations in Nova Scotia that are demonstrating, by their examples, how people can work together to take greater control of their economic future and ensure a quality environment.
Each year, three finalists are selected, from which an award winner is chosen. But there are no losers; each of the finalists is an inspiring example of a local community working toward sustainability!
Bear River is a small and scenic community on the Annapolis River, a village that is attracting increasing numbers of tourists. Tourists coming to see - the Bear River sewage treatment plant. Yes, Bear River is becoming known across North America (even on CNN!) for its innovative community-based approach to a universal concern of humankind.
For over a decade, the residents of Bear River recognized that they needed improved local sewage treatment. But standard systems were seen as expensive, smelly, not desirable for their village. So the Bear River community examined a range of alternatives, looking for something that would be inexpensive and would fit into the environment where they live.
Meanwhile, a number of pilot projects elsewhere were experimenting with an organic method of waste water treatment, using the sun for energy and plants for filtration, with little in the way of waste products. Bear River saw a possible answer to their sewage problem.
With support from the County of Annapolis, the necessary research was done, followed by construction last winter. Now, in 1995, the first "Solar Aquatics" Waste water treatment system in Canada, and the first full-scale operation in North America, has opened.
In Bear River's system, waste water flows through an initial "blending tank", into a set of "solar silos," on to a "solar pond," a "marsh," various filters, a special unit for ultraviolet disinfection, and eventually as clean water out to the ocean. The silos and marsh are in fact complex ecosystems, complete with floating plant life and animals such as snails. Even the sludge left at the end of the process can be used, through composting on a "reed bed," now under construction. Most of this amazing facility is located inside a greenhouse - where you can find several of Nova Scotia's rare banana trees!
The system is in its early stages, and not all residents of the community are hooked up to the system yet. But already this new facility is generating pride in the community, and in Annapolis County more generally. "It's such a simple system, and it really works!" Far from being an eyesore, the system, located in the center of the village, is actually attractive. Not only that, it is saving money!
Here is a local initiative that is economically sensible and meets the social objectives of the community - using new and innovative technology to reinforce Bear River's long-standing interest in protecting its environment!
Cheticamp is an Acadian town located on the Gulf of St. Lawrence side of Cape Breton Island. It is busy demonstrating by its actions - in a world where Nova Scotians, like so many others, seem to be losing control of their economy - that there are alternatives.
Cooperative enterprises are Cheticamp's approach to sustainable community economics. The town has a long history in this area. Indeed, the town's first cooperative, a fish marketing venture, dates back to 1917, when residents decided they preferred to keep fishery profits in the community rather than selling at low prices to outside fish-buying merchants.
Today, ten co-ops form the economic backbone of the area, providing 300 jobs with a total annual payroll of over two million dollars. The co-ops also pay out a total of $700,000 a year in dividends - to community members, not distant shareholders.
Amazingly, in a community of less than 5,000 people, the combined membership of the local co-ops is almost 13,000. Arriving in Cheticamp today, you might stop in at the Credit Union, visit the co-op food store, and then move on to the senior citizens housing co-op, the youth employment co-op, the insurance co-op, the handicraft co-op (which also includes a restaurant and museum), and of course the fish co-op.
The glue that binds the ten co-ops together in a united community force is the Cheticamp Cooperative Council. The Council was formed in 1987 to bring together the co-ops to deal with common concerns in their organizations, and in the community as a whole. It already has played a key role in the community, being instrumental in saving the local fish plant from financial failure.
Why have Cheticamp and its Co-op Council been so successful? Residents point to a number of reasons: committed leadership, on-going education within the community on the value of cooperatives, a commitment to continuity by reaching out to young people, close links amongst the town's co-ops, and a deep-rooted sense of community, forged from centuries of effort.
Cheticamp provides a fine and long-standing example of a community working together to build itself up. Yet the town faces challenges today; the closure of the fishery has hit Cheticamp as hard as other Atlantic fishing communities - the fishery co-op has been the largest single employer among local co-ops. But with the town's successful track record of cooperation to solve problems, it has developed the strength to survive as a community, on its own terms.
The Southwest Nova Fixed Gear Association (SWNFGA) is a Shelburne-based organization of fishers from southwestern Nova Scotia who share a common use of "fixed" (non-mobile) fishing gear, such as longlines, handlines and gillnets.
In January of 1995, the SWNFGA published a report describing their collective vision of the fishery's future, an "action plan for renewing the Canadian Maritimes fishery, developed by professional, independent fishers and designed for the twenty-first century." The vision presented in that paper stated the desired goals for the fishery: "Our objectives are:
This effort to develop a sustainable vision of the future is notable for a number of reasons:
First, it is grounded in an emphasis on environmental and resource conservation; the SWNFGA calls for a fishery management system that will "protect the resource erring on the side of conservation when scientific advice is uncertain."
Second, it recognizes the importance of the fishery to those in coastal communities who are not directly involved in harvesting and processing - the friends and neighbors of fishers. Hence the goal is not just a sustainable fishery, but sustainable communities as well. The action plan calls for a "conserving, competitive fishery which spreads the economic benefits among those who catch fish and their communities . . ."
Third, the SWNFGA vision takes an integrated, comprehensive view of what "sustainability" is all about. As well as involving sustainability of the ecosystem and of coastal communities, there is an emphasis on sustaining the fishery management system (through "decentralized, cost-effective co-management") and the range of economic benefits produced (for example, through "a fully owner-operated fishing fleet").
In other words, the SWNFGA presents a comprehensive sense of what is needed to sustain livelihoods and communities. While such a broad view of the fishery is not unique to this organization, the SWNFGA's effort comes at a crucial time in the fishery, as visions of the future are hotly debated.
For more information about the Sustainable Communities Network of Nova Scotia, contact the Nova Scotia Environment and Development Coalition, 1657 Barrington Street, Suite 502, Halifax, N.S. B3J 2A1 Canada; tel: 902녮 fax: 902녯 email: ip-scn@cfn.cs.dal.ca.
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