Open AccessThe CEP Crosswalk: A community energy planning tool for interdepartmental alignment and stakeholder engagement
Author(s) -
Cody Walter,
Michelle Adams,
A. MacDonald
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
canadian planning and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2562-122X
DOI - 10.24908/cpp-apc.v2021i2.13930
Subject(s) - schema crosswalk , stakeholder , stakeholder engagement , business , process (computing) , community engagement , process management , energy (signal processing) , set (abstract data type) , public relations , environmental planning , environmental economics , environmental resource management , knowledge management , computer science , political science , transport engineering , geography , engineering , economics , statistics , pedestrian , mathematics , operating system , programming language
Community Energy Planning is a still-maturing practice that has great potential to help achieve climate goals, stimulate economic development, and realize health and social benefits. Community Energy Plans (CEPs) in Canada often encounter barriers to implementation that can be mitigated through use of decision support tools (QUEST, 2015). Planning tools are needed to help municipal staff improve the quality and quantity of stakeholder engagement during the CEP process, set priorities, and increase inter-departmental collaboration on climate and energy goals. In this paper, we present the Crosswalk Document, tool designed to support the Community Energy Planning process by identifying “points of contact” between the guiding policy documents of a given jurisdiction. We discuss the method used to construct the Crosswalk, and share insights from Community Energy practitioners at the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Town of Oakville who used it to the benefit their Community Energy Planning processes.