By Bojan Francuz Common wisdom holds that our cities – their design and governance – are emblematic of the values and priorities of its citizens. Yet common wisdom doesn’t always hold true. Our cities too often reflect the interests of the few, not of the community in all of its diversity. We must change this if we are to win on climate change. We must change it because climate change disproportionately impacts marginalized communities and urban residents already living on th

By BF Nagy Bikes I love my bike. I love the chill morning air as I slip through damp city streets at daybreak. I love flitting through the leafshadows on the lakefront bike path, miles from home on a breezy-haired warm summer evening with an utterly unplanned plan. I love the quiet among the grasses; the honking and colour in the city. I love riding to the café for scones and cappucino. I love my version of freedom. I love my bike. But is this romance clouding my brain? I al

By Luce Engérant and Kristi Heiman Actually, how do you make your city greener? Not just think about it, but act on it? How do you get together with volunteers and incite other people to make the city greener with you? These are all questions that our eclectic and welcoming team (always open to new volunteers and new ideas) at MtlGreen ponders and acts on! Let’s find out the answers by going through our theory of change and vision for the next two years. First, who and what i

By BF Nagy How can I make a real difference? In my day-to-day professional work I write for engineers and architects and government planners and fleet managers. I talk about success stories involving electric vehicle fleets and conversions, energy positive buildings and passive houses, new models for governments, utilities and banks to fund and accommodate the transition to cleaner technology, improvements in storage and wind turbine maintenance strategies, and so on. Detail

By Cesar Carreño Within the context of urban GHG emissions comes a selected variety of protocols, principles and standards. These can be originated from international organizations (UNFCCC); private sector & NGOs (WRI; ICLEI; C40) and National level (National Government); being this last one adapted to the local context with minor changes. Working with such variety of guidelines can be confusing as some of them express the same numbers although with different names sometimes;