Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development Strategy
Moving Forward
Approach
Moving Forward is an action plan geared to realizing the Department’s long-term vision. Turning the vision into reality depends upon achieving four key results. These results, and the issues that threaten Canada’s ability to achieve them, are identified in Section III, The Issues. The contributions of stakeholders who participated in the consultations leading up to the third SDS (see Appendix 2) assisted the Department in arriving at its vision and the key results which have become the Strategy’s focal points.
Progress towards the vision will be assessed through the evaluation of the steps taken to achieving the four key results, best described as ‘mileposts’ on the journey towards NRCan’s long-term vision. They are intended to describe the specific results that NRCan is best positioned to address, although they are not achievable by NRCan alone. A number of metrics for tracking progress are identified for each key result; some are specific to NRCan, others broader. NRCan has identified a series of commitments aimed at achieving these results. For purposes of the Strategy, these are categorized as departmental actions. These actions, in turn, are advanced by specific, measurable targets.
Reading the tables
The summary chart that follows illustrates the linkages between the issues, the key result they relate to, and the actions the Department is planning to take during the period of the third Sustainable Development Strategy. Included in the column featuring the key result is a list of the metrics that will be used to measure the Department’s progress. Each of the actions found on the summary chart is expanded in the tables that form the central part of the Strategy. There is one section for each key result, introduced by a overview of the Department’s role in achieving the result.
The action tables follow a consistent format, with the action listed across the top and the individual items described in the body of the table. Reading the columns across from left to right shows a progression from a description of the specific issue, to NRCan’s approach to addressing the issue, to the specific, measurable target that will be achieved within the timeframe of this SDS, to the anticipated outcome of the activity. In some cases, related items have been presented as one action item, in other words, as a single row in the action table.
Identifying NRCan’s core competencies
The stakeholder consultations also helped NRCan to define the Department’s core competencies for sustainable development. Discussion on the issues led to a better understanding of what stakeholders expect the Department to address; discussion of how NRCan is positioned to do this led to the emergence of three key competencies. These competencies, or strengths, of the Department are the three areas where NRCan is viewed to be well-positioned to make a significant contribution to sustainable development. Agreement on these points was consistent throughout the consultations.
First, it was widely agreed that NRCan is a recognized expert in the development and provision of tools and applications to improve our understanding of Canada’s natural resources and to help Canada to optimize the value and contribution of resources to sustainable development. The need to build, apply and share best practices and models for resource stewardship was also consistently conveyed in each of the sessions, with stakeholders acknowledging that NRCan is well positioned to continue making advances in this area. Finally, NRCan was encouraged to work with stakeholders (including governments, industry and communities) to ensure appropriate policy and governance for sustainable development at home and abroad. These key competencies are essentially the how of the strategy. They will be threaded throughout the strategy. The icons in the box below illustrate each of the core competencies. They are used throughout the document to identify which of these core competencies are at work for each of the actions.
Reporting our progress
Together, all of the elements described above, form the basis for the architecture of Moving Forward. The Strategy is grounded in the Department’s Planning and Reporting Accountability Structure (see Section VI). The five strategic outcomes and associated objectives provide the foundation for the Sustainable Development Strategy, ensuring credibility and accountability.
SD-AIMS, the Department’s Sustainable Development Action Items Management System, is a Web-based tracking and reporting tool that enables timely and accurate reporting of progress and performance on NRCan’s Sustainable Development Strategy action commitments.
Moving Forward follows the path established in previous strategies by remaining grounded in the Department’s five strategic outcomes , but it also sets out in a new direction by establishing focussed priorities—essentially, the ‘transformative pieces’ where NRCan can make this Strategy the change-management tool necessary to support the shift towards sustainable development.
