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Our Founding Principles
In order to do this we had to first restore peace – the primary duty of our way of life – and use the Good Mind to find a way to respectfully rebuild the friendship that we once had.
Several agreements were made between the City of Hamilton and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council of Chiefs.
While these agreements accepted that the Red Hill Parkway was going to become a reality, the focus is on improving our relationship, and to launch a new kind of dialogue whereby both societies will have a role in protecting what is left of the Great Dish.
The Haudenosaunee of the Grand River Territory offer three strings of wampum to commemorate the historic agreements we have with the City of Hamilton. We have found away to work together, as embodied in the Joint Stewardship Board, with one mind, to look after the long-term health of the Red Hill Creek and the Valley ecosystem. Our ancestors described our journey on the river of life as being like two vessels, traveling side by side, linked by the Covenant Chain of Peace. That chain defines the principles of our relationship, and is the basis of the Joint Stewardship Board.
A sacred fire was kindled in the Red Hill Valley to remind Gahenago: (meaning “in the bay”, our name for the City of Hamilton) that the Haudenosaunee have an on-going interest in the Valley and its ecosystem. That fire has now been transformed into these three strings of white wampum, tied together at one end.
The First String represents the mutual respect shown in the re-establishment of our relationship.The recognition and respect given of our rights and interest in the Red Hill Valley allowed us to make the agreements that define that renewed relationship and established the Joint Stewardship Board.
The Second String represents the trust evidenced by both sides that made it possible to develop the Joint Stewardship Board as a real mechanism to foster indigenous environmental philosophy along with the best practices of environmental stewardship. We now have trust in each other to work toward our common goals.
The Third String represents the friendship that has developed as a result, building upon the longstanding tradition of our peoples. That friendship means that we will not do things to harm one another, and that we will work together to assure that the seventh generation to come has a healthy place in which to live.
Our mutual traditions have been to restore peace, work together with one mind, and look to nature for our well-being. With these wampum strings we acknowledge the hard work that went into creating the Joint Stewardship Board as a unique entity to handle this special responsibility.
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Haudenosaunee Principles
The Haudenosaunee People are a people of the Great Peace, a message that was sent down from the Creator and established within every Haudenosaunee Community. The message of Great Peace can be found in many aspects within the Haudenosaunee culture and was used to bring together the City of Hamilton and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy during a time of unease, anger, and change. There were specific Haudenosaunee Principles that were used during negotiations to develop a relationship between the Confederacy and the City of Hamilton and to show that the Haudenosaunee have a history of Peace and understanding.
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Hamilton Principles
GRIDS – Planning For Smart Growth Over The Next 30 Years
The Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy, or GRIDS, is a made-in-Hamilton balanced growth strategy. The purpose of GRIDS was to identify the most ideal places for growth and the type of growth based on environmental priorities, social issues, economic opportunities and population studies as well as to identify strategies to fund the servicing of these areas.
There are three steps in the GRIDS process.
1) Development and evaluation of growth concepts – Development/density concepts and associated land requirements were identified providing the building blocks to determine where growth might occur in the City of Hamilton. The concepts represent different community growth patterns for the City and reflect different urban density scenarios and included:
1. Status quo;
2. No expansion;
3. Distributed Development;
4. Downtown Focus;
5. Nodal/corridor focus; and,
6. Build to the Limit and Stop.
Concepts were presented to the public for input in May 2005 and evaluated using a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework. No Expansion, Distributed Development, and a combination of Downtown Focus and Nodes/corridors were carried forward for further analysis. Hamilton City Council adopted these recommendations in August 2005.
2) Development and evaluation of growth options – The three growth concepts were translated into five different mapped growth options:
Option 1: No Expansion – Maintains existing urban boundary, with aggressive new policy for residential intensification (62,000 units)
Option 2-4: Appropriately Distributed Development – Growth is distributed in three different ways along the existing urban area boundary to make efficient use of existing infrastructure including transit and social services
Option 5: Nodes and Corridors – Growth is directed to a series of growth nodes and connecting corridors throughout the City of Hamilton based on where people live, work and play.
Options were presented to the public for input in November/December 2005 and evaluated using a TBL framework. Option 5 – Nodes and Corridors was identified as preferred.
3) Refinement of the preferred growth option – The Nodes and Corridor option was refined to confirm the level of intensification, determine an appropriate node and corridor structure, and discuss phasing and staging of implementation.
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
How do we make sure future growth will achieve our vision for a sustainable community?
If “we aren’t good corporate citizens” – as reflected in “a Triple Bottom Line that takes into account social and environmental responsibilities along with financial ones” – “eventually our stock price, our profits and our entire business could suffer” (From AT&T, at http://www.att.com/ehs/annual_reports/ehs_report/triple_bottom_line.html.)
The phrase Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was coined in 1997 by Sir John Elkington in his work Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Companies have been using this concept to create economic, social and environmental value (the triple bottom line of business).
Elkington’s book examines seven drivers of the transformation: Markets, Values, Transparency, Life-Cycle Technology, Partnerships, Time, and Corporate Governance.
The TBL concept acknowledges that society, economy and environment interact constantly. TBL provides a way to analyze the risks, costs and benefits of choosing an action in one area that may affect other areas.
Vision 2020 – Hamilton’s vision for a sustainable community
VISION 2020 is the collection of goals, strategies, actions and indicators created to achieve a vibrant, healthy, sustainable future for Hamilton.
The VISION encourages decision-makers to weigh the economic, social/health, and environmental costs and benefits equally, to consider long-term results, and to maintain open, participatory government. VISION 2020 is a shared VISION of residents, community organizations, businesses and government.
VISION 2020 stresses the need for cooperation and partnership to make the VISION a reality.
VISION 2020 is based on four main principles:
1) Fulfillment of human needs for peace, clean air and water, food, shelter, education, arts, culture, and useful and satisfying employment;
2) Maintenance of ecological integrity through careful stewardship, rehabilitation, reduction in wastes and protection of diverse and important natural species and systems;
3) Provision for self-determination through public involvement in the definition and development of local solutions to environmental and development problems; and,
4) Achievement of equity with the fairest possible sharing of limited resources among contemporaries and between our generation and that of our descendants.
Vision 202 defined 14 Theme Areas:
Local Economy
Agriculture and the Rural Economy
Natural Areas and Corridors
Improving the Quality of Water Resources
Reducing and Managing Waste
Consuming Less Energy
Improving Air Quality
Changing Our Mode of Transportation
Land Use in the Urban Area
Arts and Heritage
Personal Health and Well-being
Safety and Security
Education
Community Well-Being and Capacity Building