On the road to COP 15 – Montreal joins Transition en Commun, a citi-zens’ alliance for ecological transition
MONTRÉAL, Nov. 15, 2022 – Montréal is proud to join Transition en Commun, an alliance between the city, the public and civil society or-ganizations. The co-construction approach of this partnership aims to implement an ambitious vision of socio-ecological transition that is root-ed in neighborhoods. The first official meeting of the steering committee, co-chaired by Dominique Ollivier, President of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, Marie-Andrée Mauger, responsible for ecologi-cal transition and the environment on the Executive Committee, and Bertrand Fouss, co-founder of Solon Collectif.s, took place today at Montreal City Hall.
Transition en Commun has emerged from a strong mobilization of civil society. This alliance directly supports the city’s objectives under the 2020-2030 Climate Plan to ensure the region’s adaptation to climate change and carbon neutrality by 2050. This partnership also meets an important objective for mobilization in the run-up to COP 15, to be held in December in Montreal. This citizens’ initiative stems, in particular, from the Citizen Projects working group of the Partenariat Climat Mont-réal, supported by the City of Montreal, to mobilize key players in civil society to achieve the objectives of its 2020-2030 Climate Plan.
The approach has gradually emerged as an essential complementary solution to catalyze existing citizen forces and increase their impact. Based on the common vision developed at the first official meeting of the steering committee, it will work to define and deploy a joint action plan to transform the living environments of Montreal’s neighborhoods.
Quotes
“The climate emergency is one of the greatest challenges facing our society. It also represents an opportunity to rethink the way we live and build our city, to make it more resilient, inclusive, prosperous and con-vivial. The Ville de Montréal’s participation in Transition en Commun demonstrates our willingness to examine and, where necessary, trans-form our practices, in order to maximize the impact of citizen participa-tion on the ecological transition. I’m proud of this avant-garde approach, which brings citizens together in the fight against climate change and the deployment of solutions. Emerging from the Partenariat Climat Montréal, it is also in line with the objectives of COP 15, to be held in Montreal in December, which focuses in particular on the participation of local communities in safeguarding biodiversity and the socio-ecological transition,” declared Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
“The ecological transition is at the heart of every action we take at the City of Montreal. However, for this priority to be transformed into a gen-uine social project, a much greater, more diversified and effective in-volvement of the city’s citizens and organizations is required, and this at neighbourhood level. This social innovation project will create social capital between citizens and civil society by empowering local commu-nities, multiplying networking opportunities and accelerating the scaling-up of solutions,” explained Marie-Andrée Mauger, responsible for the environment and ecological transition on the executive committee of the Ville de Montréal.
“To achieve our socio-ecological transition objectives, we need to make it a societal project. To do this, we need to build alliances and rethink the way we do things here in Montreal. That’s what Transition en Com-mun is all about: working together – citizen groups, the community, cul-ture, research, public health and the social economy – in every neigh-bourhood, to build new narratives and ambitious, mobilizing solutions with our residents. The City’s commitment to this approach, at the high-est level, enables us to consolidate our ambitions and envisage a se-ries of new avenues,” added Bertrand Fouss, co-chair of the steering committee and co-founder of Solon Collectif.
“The partners of Transition en Commun are mobilized around the same vision, that of a socio-ecological transition that takes social inequalities into account. By working on a neighborhood scale, TeC aims to ensure that actions in favor of the environment are consistent with the needs and realities of different populations, particularly the most vulnerable. This approach will be based on consultation and collective action struc-tures that are firmly rooted in their communities, namely the Tables de quartier. Building together a city that is both greener and more inclusive is a challenge that requires a real commitment from our institutions and exemplary collaboration with our communities,” explains Joakim Lemieux, who is in charge of community life at the CMTQ.
“Since its inception, the Partenariat Climat Montréal (PCM) has recog-nized the essential and distinctive role played by citizens and the social and community fabric of Montreal in tackling the climate challenges we are already experiencing, and which will become even more acute in the coming years. I’m delighted that the leadership and concerted ef-forts of the organizations and citizens’ groups involved in the PCM have led to a mobilization vehicle as solid and unifying as Transition en Commun, which is rooted in Montreal’s neighbourhoods. This approach will complement Partenariat Climat Montréal’s other mobilization activi-ties, which target the economic, institutional and philanthropic sectors in particular. We believe in and experience the power of collective action, and we look forward to supporting and contributing to Transition en Commun as we work together to achieve the City of Montreal’s climate targets,” says Mélanie Le Berre, Executive Director of Partenariat Cli-mat Montréal.
“We are experiencing multiple contemporary crises – the COVID-19 pandemic, global warming, housing shortages, homelessness, the overdose epidemic, social isolation – on top of historical injustices and inequities. The socio-ecological transition implies transforming our ways of working together, engaging with a diversity of knowledge and exper-tise, and developing visions of the future that bring people together and generate health and well-being for the entire population,” concluded Dr. Mylène Drouin, Regional Director of Public Health for the Montreal re-gion.
SOURCE Ville de Montréal – Office of the Mayor and Executive Com-mittee
For further information, please contact:
Source:Marikym Gaudreault, Attachée de presse du comité exécutif, Cabinet de la mairesse et du comité exécutif de Montréal, 514 925-0884, marikym.gaudreault@montreal.ca;
Media relations, Ville de Montréal, relationsmedias@montreal.ca