Move the Dial at City Council - Sierra Club BC
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Move the Dial at City Council

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What is the program?

Cities and towns have huge untapped power to nurture nature. Municipal governments can create bylaws and resolutions that support greater biodiversity, a stable climate and healthy communities — but they need residents to urge them to act. Sierra Club BC offers mentorship for concerned community members looking to get started. Our Move the Dial program de-mystifies the process so motivated residents can “move the dial” on environmental issues at their city councils. 

What to expect

Imagine the progress that would happen if municipalities across B.C. created truly climate-ready communities that work with nature. You can help make this a reality.  
 
Sierra Club BC has partnered with former city councillors on a mentorship program that shows you how to move the dial at your city council.

Move the Dial demonstrates how to:    

  • Connect with like-minded people in your community around a shared goal 
  • Find and support climate and biodiversity champions on your city council 
  • Help cities and towns pass bylaws that support biodiversity, forests and the climate
  • Engage with and influence local government 
  • Be an effective change-maker at the municipal level 

The program is working!

14 municipalities passed pro-biodiversity resolutions thanks to our ‘dial movers’! A wave of city councils across the province have passed resolutions requesting provincial funding to protect and restore biodiversity at the local level. More have spoken up to make our communities more climate-resilient by nurturing urban greenspaces.

To make action easier, we developed a comprehensive toolkit for city councils that outlines 13 ways they can make their municipalities more climate-ready. The show of support at the municipal level is a great step towards building healthy communities and restoring thriving ecosystems.

Hear what people have to say about the program!

“I found the ‘moving the dial on biodiversity’ [workshops] incredibly valuable in empowering me to advocate to my local government to make changes at the municipal and provincial levels. So often citizens have an intuition that we can and should be doing more to influence the health and safety of our communities but get lost in the nitty gritty of policy and process. These workshops made advocacy and policy change accessible and created regional solidarity.”

Kristine Wickner, a ‘dial mover’ in Salmon Arm

“I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to learn and participate in gathering more tools to help better our planet at the municipal level. I have already learned so much and got clear direction towards how to create a plan to propose to the city council in my community.”

– Mel Mercier, a ‘dial mover’ in Rossland

Check out our latest updates

Want to get involved?

Message our Organizer David Quigg at davidq@sierraclub.bc.ca to learn more about the program.

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Photo Credits: Mya Van Woudenberg, Jeremy Lee, Kampus Productions, Nila Silvatheesan and Mary Paquet