Beaconsfield awarded for climate and seniors programs

In late October, the City of Beaconsfield, Que., was recognized for its Connecting Beaconsfield project. Carried out in collaboration with ICLEI Canada, Connecting Beaconsfield aims to strengthen solidarity among residents, particularly during extreme weather events.

“These honours confirm Beaconsfield’s commitment to being a resilient, innovative, and supportive city, anticipating the needs of its citizens in the face of current and future challenges,” the city stated in a media release.

The recognition came at the National Climate Adaptation Summit, in Ottawa. During the summit, the national coalition, Climate Proof Canada, awarded Beaconsfield recognition in the Resilient Health and Well-being category for the project.

“The City of Beaconsfield is proud to be twice honoured for its avant-garde initiatives and its commitment to the well-being and resilience of its community,” according to a statement from the city.

The project is part of the city’s overall approach to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens in the face of growing climate challenges.

In a statement, Mayor Georges Bourelle underlined the importance of the project. “This recognition demonstrates our community’s commitment to preparing for climate challenges, not only through environmental action, but also by fostering strong human ties,” Bourelle said.

Bolstering Community Resilience

Part of the project involves calling on residents to be a “neighbour connector.” According to the city, these are residents interested in building a strong sense of community within their neighbourhood through various small actions such as chatting with their neighbours and occasionally lending them a hand.

To encourage stronger neighbourhood connections, the city is putting together various initiatives and workshops to better prepare citizens for the challenges of climate change. There are events on how to become a neighbourhood connector.

Other workshops focus on emergency preparedness and recovery aim to educate residents on how to put together an emergency kit and how to be self-sufficient in the days following a disaster. The ultimate aim of Connecting Beaconsfield is to make communities more resilient by building up neighborhood connections.

“The impacts of climate change are felt at every scale,” the city’s project guide states. “We must adopt an ‘all hands-on-deck’ approach to address climate change impacts as a community. Together, we can create greater change than on an individual scale.”

Handy Seniors Program

Beaconsfield also recently received a recognition for its Handy Seniors program, which aims to tackle ageism and promote equity and diversity. One afternoon per month, head to the city’s public library for an activity specially reserved for people aged 55 and over.

People are invited to bring items like electronics, clothes, or toys to the library where volunteers help to repair them. Seniors who have repair expertise are also invited to take part and help with repairs.

“Handy Seniors enables senior residents to share their skills with the community by creating video tutorials and hosting Community Repair Days,” said Bourelle. “These workshops help to strengthen social ties while showcasing the expertise of seniors.”

The Handy Seniors program is part of Beaconsfield’s age-friendly municipality strategy. Founded in 2007 by the World Health Organization, the goal of the strategy is to promote active aging by optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and security to enhance the quality of life as people age.

In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible to, and inclusive of, older people. Active aging depends on a variety of factors that surround individuals, families and communities.

Beaconsfield’s action plan details 42 actions the city should take around themes like housing, safety, civic participation and leisure and others to improve the quality of life for seniors.

“As the population shifts toward a larger proportion of seniors, they are also living longer,” the plan states. “The scope of seniors’ interests, needs, and expectations has expanded and become increasingly complex.”

Abbotsford Awarded for Health and Safety

Beaconsfield isn’t the only Canadian city to recently win an award for innovation. At the end of October, the City of Abbotsford, B.C., won a pair of awards for its efforts to create a safer and healthier workplace. The awards were given by the BC Municipal Safety Association (BCMSA). The two awards are for health and safety stewardship and developing innovative safety solutions.

“These awards reflect the city’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing health and safety across all city operations and fostering a culture where employees champion healthy and safe work practices,” according to a statement from the city.

The Health and Safety Stewardship Award recognized the contributions of by the city’s Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) towards improving health and safety.

“The JOHSC has demonstrated extraordinary leadership, initiative, creativity and innovation in developing policy, procedures, tools or communications for protecting the health and safety of all within the group they support,” the city’s statement read.

The Safety Solution Award acknowledged the city’s innovative approach to addressing challenges in occupational safety, ultimately leading to a safer, healthier work environment. This includes finding new solutions to reoccurring issues, identifying corrective actions to eliminate preventable workplace injuries, and implementing new practices or procedures that go beyond what is considered routine in the industry.

“Safeguarding the well-being of all city staff is a top priority for city council,” said Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens. “It’s our goal to create a workplace where every member of our team has the training, resources and support needed to do their job safely. These awards reflect the great efforts of the city’s Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committees and our entire workforce for upholding and sharing in these goals.”  MW

✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in David Roewade’s article: Planning for impactful environmental outcomes.

Ibrahim Daair is staff writer at Municipal World.

Related resource materials:

• Surrey unveils new “Age Friendly Action Plan”
• Surrey launches homelessness prevention and response plan
• FCM’s Green Municipal Fund celebrates its most impactful year