Water Sustainability Action Plan adds depth to Living Water Smart initiative in British Columbia
Doing Business Differently in BC
Released in June 2008, Living Water Smart is the provincial government’s vision and plan to keep British Columbia’s water healthy and secure for the future. An over-arching goal is to encourage land and water managers and users to do business differently.
Contributing an on-the-ground dimension to Living Water Smart is the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. Released in 2004, the Action Plan is sponsored by the Province of British Columbia; and comprises inter-connected program elements that give local governments and practitioners the tools and experience to better manage land and water resources.
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To gain an understanding of the Action Plan scope and deliverables, click on Water Sustainability Action Plan evolves into a comprehensive program for ‘Convening for Action’.
Convening for Action in British Columbia
Under the Action Plan umbrella, the Water Sustainability Committee of the BC Water & Waste Association is the managing partner and is responsible for providing leadership, facilitation and organizational services for program delivery.
“Convening for Action is our mantra”, states Raymond Fung, Past-Chair, “When we gather, it is for a purpose. There must be an action item or an outcome. Our aim is to move from talk to action by developing tools, building capacity, and providing training.”
“The Convening for Action vision is that water sustainability in British Columbia will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies, practices and standards,” adds Glen Brown, current Chair of the Water Sustainability Committee.
“Through regional initiatives such as CAVI…which is the acronym for Convening for Action on Vancouver Island…the Water Sustainability Action Plan is adding considerable depth to Living Water Smart,” continues Glen Brown. “In 2008, CAVI undertook the Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series as a provincial pilot.”
Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Series
Precedent-setting in its scope and approach to building local government capacity, the Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series comprised two sets of three seminars each in the Summer and Fall hosted by the Cowichan Valley Regional District and City of Courtenay, respectively. The Learning Lunch curriculum was designed to help local governments determine how they will achieve this over-arching goal statement in Living Water Smart:
- By 2012, all land and water managers will know what makes a stream healthy, and therefore be able to help land and water users factor in new approaches to securing stream health and the full range of stream benefits (page 43, Living Water Smart)
“The Learning Lunch Seminars promote a consistent provincial approach to implementation of rainwater management and green infrastructure solutions,” concludes Glen Brown. “The desired outcome is that local government and private sector practitioners will make green choices that create liveable communities and protect stream health.”
