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Overview
"The time has come for a long-term, new integrated approach involving technology and non-technology stakeholders to bring together the expertise of the engineering community and of other stakeholders." - Marie Lemay, P.Eng., ing. Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Canada.
For the past three years, organizations representing expert practitioners, managers and users
of public infrastructure have been working towards the
creation of a National Round Table
on Sustainable Infrastructure (NRTSI).
All levels of government have recognized the need for strategic investments to be made to address existing and future infrastructure gaps. Leading experts point to the absence of a long-term framework and options for infrastructure decisions. Practitioners recognize the value of sharing and disseminating information on best practices and technology as it relates to the management and future development of infrastructure in Canada. All stakeholders seem to recognize that there are synergies to be gained by bringing together the diverse and diffused community of infrastructure practitioners, managers and users to focus on better asset management, an improved understanding of the infrastructure gaps and planning options to address funding priorities.
On December 8, 2005, the meeting of the NRTSI was held in Calgary, Alberta where committees were created to address issues relating to:
- Infrastructure financing to highlight findings on financing infrastructure with examples of best practices, list of practitioners and reference links.
- Innovation as a solution with one of the objective to develop a web-based message forum to discuss innovative practices.
- Smaller community infrastructure to examine ways for smaller communities to develop their capacity for self-reliance and to develop a round table focused on issues that impact small communities.
- National asset management to provide a consistent structure and approach for use by the various professions and jurisdictions that are responsible for aspects of asset management directly or indirectly including planners, accountants, auditors, engineers, etc.
In addition, the governance working group was assigned the task of developing a governance and financing model for the NRTSI that will garner support from the diverse group of stakeholders.
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