In September last year Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake mayor Bernice Magee was invited to be part of the newly formed B.C. Mayors Climate Leadership Council.

According to Magee, a number of mayors from large and small communities across British Columbia sit on the council. 鈥淭he purpose of the climate leadership council is to lead, mentor, and engage,鈥� she said to Lakes District 亚洲天堂.

She went on to say that the 10 mayors that sit on the council represent local governments that have been recognized for their leadership in addressing climate change and creating sustainable communities.

鈥溠侵尢焯� Lake was one of the first communities to host a Climate Action Boot Camp in 2009 with support from the Community Energy Association. The association was pleased with the level of interest village council and other community members have in climate action and therefore encouraged 亚洲天堂 Lake to become a member of the association. I was then invited to sit on the B.C. Mayors Climate Action Leadership Council.鈥�

She said as part of the council, her role as mentor entails leading by example.

鈥溠侵尢焯� Lake is taking steps to focus on renewable energy and to help build a green economy.鈥�  She goes on to say that the installation of a biomass heating system at the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena is a prime example of this initiative.

鈥淲e are also engaging and mentoring students in climate action initiatives. Our corporate and development services intern Kaleigh Milinazzo is thoroughly involved in project management of the arena biomass installation and we are working with University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) masters student Thomas Chaney who is completing his thesis on district heating.鈥� Chaney is from Prince George. 鈥淭homas was referred to us through a contact at UNBC because of the compatibility of his research interests and our project. His research interests include district energy systems and the costs of becoming carbon neutral in the public sector. We have also received a request for information and collaboration from a student at the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland. This masters student is studying potential district energy and combined heat and power projects in Canada for future Finnish-Canadian collaborations for realizing advanced technology demonstrations in Canada.鈥�