Barriers and Enablers to the Adoption of Sustainability Initiatives at the Municipal Level in Canada
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Date
2021-05-26
Authors
Suryanarayanan, Snehaa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Over the past few decades, there has been increasing importance given to local action to achieve global
sustainability goals. Cities and human settlements have been recognized as crucial sites for achieving these
common goals, demonstrating the value of local action that serves global and local interests. There has,
however, been a gap between recognizing the importance of these municipalities and actual action towards
sustainability initiatives at the municipal level. This thesis aims to address that gap by examining the
barriers and motivators to the adoption of sustainability initiatives at the municipal level in Canada and also
to evaluate awareness of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework of Canadian municipalities.
To achieve this aim, a survey was sent out to municipal authorities from Ontario and British Columbia to
gather input on knowledge of sustainability concepts and factors affecting the implementation of
sustainability initiatives. Two respondents wanted to elaborate on their responses and agreed to be
interviewed. Comparison of descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were made to analyze the
difference between the provinces for some factors. The responses in the open-ended questions and the
interviews were subjected to content and thematic analyses. The most prominent factors affecting the
adoption of initiatives in a municipality were the municipality’s size and financial capacity, to which the
former is closely related. It was not so much the size in terms of population but what it represented, such
as economic resources, personnel, and technical expertise. Other important factors that emerged from the
responses included a favorable municipal environment and the influence of regional, provincial, and federal
government. Key individuals and networks also emerged as factors but to a lesser extent. The knowledge
of the UN’s SDG framework appeared to be low among respondents, while awareness of some
sustainability concepts seemed to be present. There was a significant difference between BC and Ontario
responses in terms of SDG familiarity and some of the factors affecting the adoption of these initiatives,
like key individuals’ presence and perceived advantages to adoption. This study contributes to existing
research by identifying barriers and motivators to implementing sustainability initiatives in the Canadian
context while updating what we currently know about the factors affecting the adoption of sustainability
initiatives in municipalities worldwide. This research also suggests that it is important for regional and
provincial governments to work together, treating municipalities as partners in decision-making, to advance
sustainability.
Description
Keywords
Local Agenda 21, municipalities, sustainability, SDG