On October 12, over 120 people from the municipal, business, community, education, health and civic sectors took part in the 5th Regional Forum on Sustainable Social Development in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, held at the community center of the municipality of Sainte-Marthe.

During the forum, the Vaudreuil-Soulanges territorial table for sustainable social development first presented the history of social development, the stakeholders involved and the principles of the Sustainable Social Development Policy.

Participants were then invited to reflect on and propose concrete ways of improving collaboration between the various players in the community, and to develop action strategies in workshops.

"This process is part of the sustainable development planning of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC. It was an opportunity to discuss our ways of doing things, in order to respond more effectively and equitably to our current and future priorities and challenges. The fight against climate change and the aging of the population are certainly priority issues whose impact on the vitality of our territory and the quality of life of our citizens cannot be underestimated", declared Patrick Bousez, Prefect of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Mayor of Rivière-Beaudette.

For her part, Julie Lemieux, president of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges territorial table for sustainable social development and mayor of Très-Saint-Rédempteur, added:

"We all came together with a common goal: to work better together, the theme of this 5th Forum. This forum was an opportunity to do better, to put together the best tools we have and to share our collective intelligence for the well-being of our community. This gathering was an opportunity to forge links, exchange ideas and propose solutions between organizations from different horizons".

A significant artwork

The Forum also provided an opportunity to showcase regional artistic talent. A fresco created by Vaudreuil-Dorion artist Isabelle Deprez during the International Eco-citizenship Summit on June 8 and 9 was unveiled.

The objective of the artwork created during the event was to gather ideas from the public in relation to the seven priorities of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Sustainable Social Development Policy (PDSD), in order to inspire the players in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

The seven priorities of the PDSD are as follows:

• Health care and social services;
• Sustainable mobility;
• Housing;
• Educational and social success for young people;
• Community services;
• Intercultural relations;
• Food.

"My sources of inspiration were guided by the 7 themes (of the policy) highlighted at the eco-citizenship summit last spring. My role was to orchestrate a large part of the concepts developed on site, and to make all the ideas coexist in the same space in a fluid and harmonious way," says Isabelle Deprez, artist of the work entitled Communauté plurielle.