Understanding and Assessing Impacts
- Creation of a steering committee, evaluation and identification of environments
To that end, the authors developed a grid of 10 criteria (for evaluating physical, social and organizational aspects) designed to make the various environments comparable in order to assess their potential to implement the project. The committee undertook to document 11 environments based on the 10 criteria. The 11 environments had been suggested by various local community and institutional stakeholders. The 11 environments were assessed on the basis of five factors: (1) degree of citizen buy-in demonstrating a capacity to take on ambitious, foundational projects; (2) diversity of socioeconomic profiles; (3) diversity in terms of access to collective mobility; (4) diversity of commercial vitality; and (5) presence of other facilitating conditions (community support, presence of institutions, existing initiatives, etc.). Two sectors with different and promising profiles were selected based on this approach: Bellechasse and Masson Est (presented below).