Urban inequality and planning in a context of socio-ecological transition: The Conseil interculturel de Montréal’s action research experience

By Chloé Reiser
In Montreal, territorial inequalities are a central issue in planning policies, with a view to a fairer socio-ecological transition. Although the City of Montreal recognizes the existence of such inequalities within its territory, much remains to be done to guarantee equitable access to urban resources for all citizens. As part of the renewal of the city’s Urban Planning and Mobility Plan, the Conseil interculturel de Montréal (CIM) is looking at the experiences of immigrant and racialized people in terms of territorial inequalities. Drawing on an in-depth review of grey and academic literature, as well as an online survey and mapping-discussion workshops conducted in three disadvantaged city neighborhoods – Saint-Léonard, Saint-Laurent and Montréal-Nord – immigrant and racialized people not only identify obstacles to accessing urban resources, notably public transport, affordable housing and green spaces, but also put forward solutions to address these persistent issues.

The (very) concrete utopia of Bâtiment 7: A common facing the challenges of its financial autonomy

By Sylvain A. Lefèvre and David Grant-Poitras
Bâtiment 7 is a « collective autonomy factory » located in a working-class district of Montreal. By studying the micro-politics of its financing, we examine the articulation of its issues of sustainability, accessibility and economic democratization. Structural tensions emerge in reconciling all these objectives, but so do promising social innovations. Far from being a technical detail, financial empowerment puts the common good to the test – its boundaries, its resources, the links between its members and its collective architecture.

Community development in the context of the social and environmental transition: Eight Local development processes in Quebec

By Lucie Morin, Sonia Racine, Denis Bourque, André-Anne Parent, René Lachapelle, Christian Jetté, Stéphane Grenier, Dominic Foisy, Sébastien Savard, Serigne Touba Mbacké Gueye, Geneviève Le Dorze-Cloutier, Ariane Hamel and Charlotte Goglio
In Quebec, a multitude of players work together to maintain and improve living conditions. Solid expertise has been built up in the field of community development. This collective intelligence could be put to good use in the fight against the climate crisis. Qualitative research carried out in 8 territories in Quebec aims to understand how territorial development approaches, especially those dedicated to social development, contribute to the collective efforts required to ensure the socio-ecological transition.

“Climate justice” in Quebec: Struggle, mobilization, and practice

By Hélène Madénian, Sophie L. Van Neste, Zaïnab El Guerrab and René Audet
This synthesis presents a history of the struggles that have helped redefine the environmental movement in Quebec over the past fifteen years. First, the struggles against hydrocarbons, then three subsequent moments in the movement: roadmaps and local experiments for transition, conversations to bring « the margins » back to the heart of the climate movement, and contestations from an urban wasteland in Montreal.

Equity in climate plans: a comparison between Vancouver and Montreal

By Hélène Madénian, Sophie L. Van Neste, Andréanne Doyon and Ashley Armitage
This research focuses on the equity and justice approaches of the City of Vancouver and the City of Montreal in their climate plans, i.e. the definitions of equity and the concrete measures considered by the two cities. Identified as climate leaders, Vancouver and Montreal have targets in line with the Paris Agreement and are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and each published a new climate plan in 2020.

Climate change adaptation on the margins: Community contributions to reducing vulnerability to extreme heat

By Anne-Marie D’Amours, Étienne Poulin and Sophie L. Van Neste
Heat waves are a growing threat to cities, but one that weighs much more heavily on certain vulnerable segments of the population. And yet, some of the less traditional players in the field of adaptation are contributing, directly or indirectly, to reducing such social vulnerabilities and mitigating certain socio-environmental inequalities through care and social support practices. Although Montreal is distinguished by its dynamic community and associative milieu, the potential contribution of this sector to heat wave adaptation remains poorly understood.

The discourse of ecological transition in Greater Montreal

By Ali Romdhani and René Audet
Ecological transition is a recent form of environmental discourse, the successor to sustainable development in many institutions. Transition discourse was initially conceived on an urban scale: the Transition Towns movement popularized citizen initiatives and local action. Later, in Quebec, municipal institutions took up the issue, and planning documents proliferated.
Here’s an overview of the transition discourse in Greater Montreal.

For a just and feminist ecological transition in Montreal

By Naomie Léonard, Hélène Madénian and Gabrielle Perras St-Jean
As part of its fight against climate change, taking gender into account from an intersectional perspective would enable the City of Montreal to avoid certain pitfalls, such as reproducing sexist biases and stereotypes, and exacerbating inequalities between genders and between women themselves. This text is a summary of the research that led to the publication of the Avis du Conseil des Montréalaises pour une transition écologique juste et féministe à Montréal November 2, 2022.