Green Directions Vaughan (GDV) was first approved by Council in 2009 as the City of Vaughan’s (the “City”) Community Sustainability and Environmental Master Plan (the “Plan”). This long-term Plan guides the community to a more sustainable future by addressing environmental, cultural, social and economic values. Guided by a definition of sustainability, environmental ethic and a set of principles, Green Directions Vaughan outlines the City’s approach to maintaining a healthy natural environment, vibrant communities and a strong economy by defining six goal areas. The goal areas are further broken down into objectives and sustainability actions. These sustainability actions enable Vaughan to remain a complete community where the needs for daily living are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. As a living document, the actions and priorities in Green Directions Vaughan have evolved since 2009. In 2019, Council adopted the new 2019 Green Directions Vaughan. Some of the main changes to the new community sustainability Plan include:

• emphasizing collective action and encouraging community partners to collaborate to achieve sustainability outcomes
• describing the sustainability actions as outcomes to better track progress and find ways to collaborate for success
• aligning sustainability actions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Council on City Data (WCCD) framework
• recognizing the importance of the Agricultural System and supporting urban-agriculture and local food opportunities within the City
• supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts to create a resilient City and low carbon economy  

• The main content of the Plan includes 69 sustainability actions, delegated to 18 City departments for implementation
• Through the successful implementation of the sustainability objectives and actions, the City contributes to the achievement of ten SDGs reported by the City through the WCCD framework – look for the SDG symbol beside each objective in the Plan below.
• Success of the sustainability actions relies on local collective action that involves residents, community groups, environmental organizations, businesses, industry leaders, and other levels of government. See page 23 of the Plan below for a list of suggested actions that the community can do to assist the City.
• 24 quantitative indicators will be used to track progress on the implementation of Green Directions Vaughan. The indicators are grouped into 14 categories in relation to the Goals in Green Directions Vaughan (see page 54 of the Plan below)