Strategic Planning:

EmStyles offers experience and advice about developing strategic plans for local government and its associated projects.

Local government organisations and their communities’ future will depend largely upon their capacity to anticipate, and respond to, the challenges of climate change and other forces within the next eight years or so. The need for a strategic and visionary planning approach to address these climate change issues is an essential imperative of local government.

Local communities expect their local councils to provide such leadership and vision. Involving local communities and individuals is the key to success in meeting this most significant challenge facing humankind. Scientists advise we have a window of just eight years or thereabouts to turn things around. EmStyles has contacts with associates who can assist Councils to develop strategic plans to address climate change at the local level. There’s a lot that can be done. Now.

The window is very small.  It is time for local government to put its hand up and put the local planning into place. Once in place, the community can focus on the doing, knowing that it is following sound strategic planning, vision, and leadership to handle the challenges of climate change.

Some great work has already been done on state of the environment reports and plans.

Land use planning reforms will not only be desirable, but necessary in achieving positive outcomes from the climate changes already occurring. Reforms will be crucial in achieving national carbon reduction targets. The role of local government is critical to ensure that these reforms create long – term sustainable uses and are affordable. Through its associations with specialists in land use planning, as well as with catchment management authorities, EmStyles can assist municipalities embarking on land use planning changes that are tailored to address climate change sustainability issues.

A number of innovative councils have carried out substantial work to integrate their strategic planning frameworks with economic, environmental and social plans. This has raised the question as to how such innovative strategic planning systems could be better accommodated and encouraged by regulatory planning frameworks that municipalities must apply. EmStyles can assist Councils in an advocacy role to encourage regulatory planning reform in this critical period where the detrimental effects of carbon emissions need to be reversed.

The community has to be closely involved. The community must be encouraged to ‘sign off’ on community – endorsed strategic plans dealing with climate change. How does a municipality get the whole community involved?

With the groundswell of interest and indeed alarm caused by climate change, the time is now for Councils to talk to their communities about what the challenges are. Councils can tell their communities about what tools and strategies are available right now for local individuals and communities and their Councils to start making a difference. EmStyles, through its contacts with interested professional bodies can arrange speakers to outline just what impacts climate change will have, and how a strategic planning approach can be applied in a meaningful and effective way.