Portage la Prairie Mayor Sharilyn Knox participated in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Sustainable Communities Conference last week.

She says this was her first time taking part in a meeting about ways to be cost-effective and energy friendly.

"It was very interesting to see the projects happening around our country," states the Portage mayor.

Knox highlights that the meeting was well worth her time and covered topics including affordable housing, community sustainability and climate action.

"It just sparks attention because I don't always recognize the things that we are doing when it comes to climate change and sustainability. But when we are doing new developments or new projects, that's always a factor," Knox continues. "For instance, when you think of our Saskatchewan Avenue, the addition of bike lanes, where people are using bikes as transportation rather than their vehicles, is a step towards sustainability and climate change,"

According to Knox, the on-and-off three-day event taught her a lot about moving forward with building the city into the a climate friendly future.