In the face of the current climate crisis, the urgency of responding in a coordinated and effective manner to global challenges with considerable local repercussions has become incontestable here as elsewhere.
In 2023, the City of Victoriaville took a significant step forward by appointing a Chief Scientific Advisor and creating the Sustainable Development Office (BDD) to address this climate emergency and promote sustainable development. This new visionary governance demonstrates the will of elected officials and the municipal administration to support a collective effort towards sustainable and responsible practices.
Through the Scientific Council for Local Governments, the collaboration between the city and the university community strengthens Victoriaville’s commitment to responsible development innovation. The role of the BDD and Victoriaville’s Chief Scientific Advisor establishes a unique synergy in Quebec between science, strategic advice and governance, which allows scientific expertise to be used to improve the well-being and resilience of the community.
To effectively address these new challenges, Victoriaville is committed to fully achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. These goals, although sometimes overlooked, offer a much more detailed and comprehensive framework for sustainable development than the traditional environmental, social and economic spheres. By building on the SDGs, we can build a global consensus and adopt a structured approach to urban and concerted action.
A fundamental role
To mitigate climate change and find adaptation solutions, urban science diplomacy plays a fundamental role. Cities around the world, which share many common challenges, must develop this diplomacy to solve local problems and contribute to global solutions. Victoriaville is a shining example of this thanks to its partnership with the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) and a research institute in Făgăraș, Romania.
The organization of a summer school by UQTR in collaboration with the Făgăraș Research Institute has made it possible to connect two cities, Victoriaville and Făgăraș, to extend their diplomatic relations and their joint research on global challenges at the local level. This international exchange shows that even medium-sized cities can play an important role on the world stage, by pooling their resources and sharing their best practices and innovations.
Municipal science diplomacy has several advantages, as Rémi Quirion, Quebec’s chief scientist, points out in an article on the value of local governments in the deployment of diplomatic and scientific strategies.
First, it allows cities to transform global commitments into concrete local actions. Second, it opens up access to greater funding, facilitating innovation and the implementation of ambitious and unifying projects. Finally, it raises the level of ambition of cities by putting them in contact with innovative and varied practices, thus stimulating their development and resilience.
The partnership between Victoriaville and Făgăraș, for example, made it possible to share this new governance in sustainable development with Victoriaville and to present the important advantage of the scientific council in municipal political decision-making. These initiatives show that international exchanges and scientific diplomacy are not reserved for large metropolises, but are accessible and beneficial for cities of all sizes.
Climate change is a pressing reality, as evidenced by our stay in Romania marked by a heat wave, these being more and more frequent. The sharing of knowledge and the presentation of the sustainable development governance of Victoriaville during this exchange were positive steps forward in responding to the challenges that our cities and communities face.
Thanks to these rich exchanges, we are moving forward more quickly in our quest for concrete solutions. Sustainable development is thus becoming a shared and collaborative reality, which strengthens our collective resilience in the face of global challenges.