During 2020 CAP held a series of webinars with municipal partners to facilitate a collective brainstorming approach to identify the connections and synergies between our COVID response and recovery and climate actions.
Word document with Summary Notes can be accessed here or continue reading below.
1. Telecommuting Updates
| Questions on Telecommuting | Answers |
| 1. Who is/was involved in the creation of the Remote Working policy? |
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| 2. What issues have previously limited uptake/acceptance of remote working? |
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| 3. What are some of the supports that you think may be of value to better enable remote working to be part of your municipal climate action plan? | - Analysis of the energy implications of different amounts of uptake of remote working - Evidence from other ON municipalities - Income Taxes Offsets for home offices - Technology (IT support, internet connection) - Ergonomics - Tools to help analyze a range of options - full remote working, part-time remote working (and for some or all staff) - Connecting telecommuting to broader commuter GHG reduction plans - integration into transportation demand management initiatives |
2. Other Questions
How can the COVID & Planning content being collected be of more value to you?
- Fact sheets/infographics/briefing notes to share with colleagues and Council
- A collaborative sharing platform like SharePoint or the idea of a WordPress platform that is continuously updated
What other ideas come to mind re COVID/Climate Connection?
1. Telecommuting
- A group studying opportunities to grow telecommuting, including best practices, incentives, and practical solutions (e.g. childcare) both during and post-pandemic.
- Dependence on technology - broadband, wifi, equipment - for teleworking, tele-schooling., non-emergency medical appointments, even shopping. Access to technology has been critical for business continuity and has cross benefit of reducing emissions.
2. Air Quality
- Creating a community conversation about the impact of social distancing (especially reduced car travel) on air quality.
- Communication of importance of science
3. Local Food Supply & Security
- Local food and supply chain dependency has also come to light. Meat suppliers and processing plants are closing. There is an opportunity for households to transition to more vegetarian options and support community/ backyard gardening and local farms
4. Transportation systems
- How will transportation services look like?
5. Discussion:
- Communication materials/ maps on the relation of Green Space and populations at risk
- As part of the Ontario Climate Caucus network, a letter to the minister of municipal affairs was sent to discuss the Park Land Dedication Calculation. While the proposed amendment will reduce the green space allocations across municipalities, this will have an effect on the denser part of communities. This has an equity implication.
- The ramification of Bill 108 -Green Space allocation
6. Next steps:
• Creating Infographic & Council Brief note based on materials gathered so far on COVID & Climate
• Continue discussion via webinar