News release
For Immediate Release
Transition en Commun Receives $500,000 in Support to Place Montreal’s Citizens, Neighbourhoods And Living Environments at The Heart of The Socio-ecological Transition
Montreal, May 9, 2023 – On the occasion of the Montreal Climate Summit, Transition en Commun (TeC), an alliance of some fifty Montreal stakeholders involved in the socio-ecological transition, is pleased to announce the financial support of $500,000 from the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation. It will make it possible to implement a multitude of citizen and collective mobilization actions around common transition projects, to mobilize more members and neighbourhoods with increased consideration for territorial inequities, and to support the activities of the work groups.
Less than six months after its launch in the presence of Mayor Valérie Plante, Transition en Commun already brings together some fifty members around a collective approach for the socio-ecological transition in Montreal in complementarity with the actions of the Montreal Climate Partnership, the City of Montreal and more broadly the Montreal transition ecosystem. Over the past few months, members have mobilized and defined the first four priority themes that will be addressed in the coming months: Neighbourhoods in Transition, Living with Fewer Cars in Neighbourhoods, Housing in Transition and Participatory Democracy. Each theme will be carried out by a dedicated working group that each brings together about fifteen representatives from citizen groups, civil society organizations, City of Montreal departments, institutions and researchers, collectively committed to a co-construction process with the objective of developing new institutional commitments and concrete actions to implement the socio-ecological transition in Montreal at the neighbourhood level.
Stay tuned for new structuring announcements that will be made when summer returns.
Quotes from members of the Transition in Common alliance
«All members of Transition en Commun (TeC) are committed to accelerating the socio-ecological shift for the benefit of the population. To achieve this, citizen participation is essential. We can all contribute to accelerating the transformation of our city. As co-chairs of the TeC Steering Committee, we are fortunate to work with stakeholders involved at the neighbourhood level who are making a real difference on the ground. TeC is a unique opportunity for the City to mobilize all its services to contribute to this social project. It’s motivating to see us moving forward together in this direction. “said Dominique Ollivier and Marie-André Mauger, City of Montreal, co-chairs of the Transition en Commun steering committee
“Living in a healthy environment is one of the essential conditions for the development of the full potential of the young people of today and tomorrow. The urgency to act in the face of the environmental crisis is glaring. We are pleased to support the Transition en Commun initiative, which aims to mobilize citizens and various stakeholders in Montreal to develop a common vision of a socio-ecological transition oriented towards collective well-being,” said Andrea Clarke, President of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation
“The GHG reduction objectives of buildings in Montreal must be achieved, but also used as a lever to develop the power of citizen action, reduce the factors of vulnerability and inequality in the face of the transition and strengthen the resilience of our communities. The Housing in Transition working group brings together diverse partners to work in this direction for existing housing in Montreal. More broadly, it is clear that there can be no socio-ecological transition in Montreal without access to healthy, decent and affordable housing for all. “, says Bertrand Fouss, civil society co-chair of Transition en Commun
“The transition to more efficient, equitable and ecological mobility is first and foremost a reinvestment by our local authorities, according to the approach enshrined by the experts of ‘reduce, transfer and improve’. While meeting the challenge of electrification and improving access to active, public and shared transportation, each neighbourhood must benefit from a rich offer of housing, services and jobs that promotes an active lifestyle and reduced travel in a diverse and dynamic community. We are therefore convinced that an approach rooted in communities, such as the one developed in Transition en Commun, is decisive for the success of all sustainable mobility strategies in Montreal,” explained Blaise Rémillard, Mobility and Urban Planning Officer of the Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal and co-chair of the working group Living with fewer cars .
“It was clear that we needed a “Neighbourhood Space” committee at Transition en Commun. I mean no one knows the neighbourhood better than its residents and community organizations to determine the priorities of the socio-ecological transition. The Espace Quartiers allows us, actors in the field, to discuss our needs, to learn from the good or not so good deeds of others, but above all it allows us, the actors of Montréal-Nord, to raise awareness among other neighbourhoods about the importance of equity. I see the Espace Quartier as a place where it is possible to create solidarity between neighbourhoods in order to mobilize together for the good of historically marginalized communities. I mean, we have no choice if we really want to achieve a socio-ecological transition. We will all have to unite and mobilize in Montreal-North, Bordeaux-Cartierville, RDP, CDN-NDG, etc. because the socio-ecological transition involves giving back and prioritizing the neighborhoods of racialized communities,” says Fatima Gabriela Salazar Gomez, Hoodstock/Paroles d’Exclues, Member of the steering committee and the Espace Quartiers de Transition en Commun
“In its latest report, the IPCC highlighted that urban initiatives carried out in collaboration with cities and a variety of civil society actors have a high potential for impact, and that citizen mobilizations are drivers of change. Transition en Commun is working in exactly this direction, by developing close collaborations between the City of Montreal, civil society, Montrealers and researchers, for a just and democratic transition, nourished by a diversity of knowledge and in a posture of co-construction, sensitive to the daily challenges to be overcome on the ground, in neighborhoods and in organizations . “, explains Sophie Van Neste, co-chair of the Transition en Commun knowledge committee, Holder of the Canada Research Chair in Urban Climate Action (INRS)
About Transition en Commun
Transition en Commun (TeC) is an unusual alliance that brings together many citizens, civil society organizations, representatives of the City of Montreal and other institutions around a process of co-construction of a shared vision of the socio-ecological transition. Through its bold structure, TeC brings out, popularizes, celebrates and mobilizes an amalgam of actors and collectively gives itself the means to implement the transition for the benefit of local communities.
TeC’s vision of the socio-ecological transition, aligned with Montréal 2030, is based on several key axes, including neighbourhoods and local life, citizen participation, democracy and the creation of commons, the social economy and social innovation, equity, diversity and inclusion by strengthening the link between social justice and the environment, as well as culture and the creation of a mobilizing collective narrative.
This initiative is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, Montréal en commun, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Montréal Climate Partnership.
The members and partners of TEC
Transition en Commun brings together more than fifty Montreal actors mobilized for the socio-ecological transition:
ACEF du Nord, Ahuntsic in transition, Borough Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Office of Ecological Transition and Resilience of the City of Montreal, Ecological Transition Campus, Catalyst Bronx Lasalle, CDC Centre-Sud, CDC La Pointe, Montreal Urban Ecology Centre, Canada Research Chair in Urban Climate Action at INRS, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart Communities and Cities, sustainable and resilient, Chemins de Transition, Coalition Climat Montréal, Coalition montréalaise des Tables de quartiers, Concertation Montréal, Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal, Conseil d’économie sociale de l’île de Montréal, Conseil Interculturel de Montréal, Conseil jeunesse de Montréal, Conseil des Montréalaises, Coop Carbone, Coop Celsius, Centre de recherche sur les innovations sociales, Chaire Alban D’Amours en sociologie de la coopération (ULaval), Critic Collectif de recherche, Culture Montréal, Data studio inter-universitaire sur la transition socio-écologique, Demain Verdun, Direction de la santé publique de Montréal, Espace pour la vie, Front commun pour la transition énergétique, Fondation David Suzuki, Hoodstock, Institut des villes nouvelle génération (Concordia), Institut Karl Polanyi (Concordia), Institut du Nouveau Monde, Interloge, Laboratoire d’innovation urbaine de Montréal, Locomotion, Paroles d’excluEs, Partenariat Climat Montréal, Pole sur la ville résiliente UQAM, Projet collectif, Regroupement des éco-quartiers, Service de la diversité et de l’inclusion sociale de la Ville de Montréal, Service de la culture de la Ville de Montréal, Service de l’expérience citoyenne et des communications de la Ville de Montréal, Service du développement économique de la Ville de Montréal, Service de l’habitation de la Ville de Montréal, Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité de la Ville de Montréal, Service de la planification stratégique et de la performance organisationnelle de la Ville de Montréal, Service des grands parcs du Mont-Royal et des sports de la Ville de Montréal, Solon, Territoires innovants en économie sociale et solidaire – TIESS, Université Concordia, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université de Montréal, Ville en vert, Vivre en Ville.
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For more info : transitionencommun.org
Contact:
François-Xavier Michaux
General Coordinator Transition en Commun
514.996.3549
Crédit photo: Benjamin Turquet / Cette photo a été prise à l’automne 2022 et met en scène un lieu dont la protection fait l’objet d’une mobilisation citoyenne remarquable dans l’arrondissement Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve / Mobilisation 6600 Parc-Nature MHM