The Challenge

Located in south-western Ontario, Woolwich township is one of four rural municipalities surrounding the cities of Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge. Since 1991, the township has been home to "Woolwich Healthy Communities", one of a number of capacity- building projects throughout the province sponsored by the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition.

The impetus for the establishment of Woolwich Healthy Communities occurred in 1989, after high levels of a toxic chemical called NDMA were discovered in local groundwater supplies. Further investigation revealed additional contaminants, including dioxins and pesticide residues. The resulting conflict between community members who wanted to ensure that action was taken and community members wary of offending local employers (the suspected source of the contaminants) was bitter and divisive (Wismer, 2000).

Action Taken

In the wake of the discovery of contaminated water, a township councilor was asked to chair a committee to respond to the health concerns of residents. The committee agreed to sponsor a local visioning day and invited Dr. Trevor Hancock, the originator of the Healthy Communities concept in Canada, to help organize and facilitate the event.

The visioning day took place in May 1991. Fifty-three people, representing a diverse range of perspectives in the community, took part. The visioning day culminated in the creation of a Healthy Communities Coordinating Committee, which was charged with establishing Woolwich township as a healthy community. Committee members included township councilors, planners, educators, health professionals, local businesspeople, and environmentalists, thus ensuring a broad range of stakeholder interests.

In November 1991, the committee established three workgroups in response to the environmental health concerns identified at the visioning day: the Clean Waterways Group, the Woolwich Trails Group and the Sustainable Communities Group. A fourth workgroup, the Well Water Quality Group, was established in 1993. Each group was largely autonomous, but was linked through their chairs who served on the Coordinating Committee.