With initiatives hoping to encourage everything from rooftop gardens to urban agriculture, a new city campaign hopes to make Montreal greener.

Calling “Greening,” the Conseil régional du developpement de Montréal has launched the initiative to get everyone seeing green.

"The Greening Campaign projects promote ecological connectivity, capitalizing on the planting of trees and innovative practices such as urban agriculture, green roofs, walls, parking lots, schoolyards and land private. Greening is an invitation to make Montreal a place where biodiversity integrates and enhances the urban environment, "said Manon Barbe, president of the regional development board in a press statement.

The five-year plan to improve urban environmental measures began in 2010, and tackles issues that are considered important to the local environment. The goal is to promote biodiversity in the Montreal area.

“We've got a big mandate, but a little budget, so our way of doing it is really to work with other partners all the time and pool together resources, money and go for concrete results” said Marie-Claire Dumas, executive director of the regional development board.

It’s an ambitious project, said Pierre Belec of Soverdi, the “greening” society of Montreal.

“(This is to) create a better impact on society and maybe bring more people to green the city,” he said.

Several green initiatives have already been added to urban settings in recent years, including a garden rooftop at the Maison de la Culture in Cote-des-Neiges, and a community garden at St. Monica School in Notre-Dame-de-Grace.

Point Saint-Charles resident Andre Laperle said the initiative is great, because he’s trying to teach his children the importance of being friendly to the environment.

“(I want them to learn how to be) sustainable, to take care of stuff, not to use up too much water, and not to waste stuff,” he said.

Plateau resident Pascal Beauchesne said he’s proud to live in an up-and-coming green city, even if he believes Montrealers can do better.

“If we want to see Montreal be a leader in the green technologies and the green roofings and getting up there as far as environment standards, we're in the race,” he said.