A Sunshine Coaster was recently selected to represent Canada on two International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committees dealing with sustainability.
Erich Schwartz, president of Greenomics, will be lending his expertise to a committee on sustainable development in communities, as well as a subcommittee focused on smart urban infrastructure metrics.
"I'm delighted. I feel honoured and am very much looking forward to contributing," Schwartz said. "It's a big team, internationally probably about 120 of us. It's an honour to be selected and hopefully I can add my two cents to it."
Schwartz is a consultant who helps organizations meet their sustainability goals. His company, Greenomics, has an office in Gibsons.
ISO is a developer and publisher of international standards, recognized in as many as 163 countries. The non-government organization is headquartered in Geneva and it organizes committees composed of experts to set the standards for which it is known.
A referral and nomination process had Schwartz appointed to the Canadian committee. Once they complete their business, an elected chair will represent the nation in Europe along with other chairs from around the world.
"It's kind of cool because ISO, as you know, has a huge breadth. But having said that, it will probably take about two years," Schwartz said of the process.
The committees will work to set recognizable standards in the area of sustainable development.
"For example, Gibsons is the most sustainable community, but if you look at the criteria for getting that designation it's more 'did you fill out the form' and 'did you talk to the right people and make them feel good?'" he added.
Standardization will help to make comparisons of sustainability in communities a more measured process, an effort starting from scratch that will be tackled by around 20 experts from across the country.
Schwartz will likely join experts from areas like engineering and management, as well as professors from universities.
Whoever else might have been chosen to sit on the committee remains a mystery, however.
"Unfortunately, according to corporate policy, we do not make membership information publicly available unless the ISO standard is eventually adopted by a Canadian standards development organization," wrote a spokesperson from the Standards Council of Canada.
