Today’s Expectations are Tomorrow’s Standards for Green Infrastructure in British Columbia
Moving Beyond Pilot Projects
Hosted by the City of Surrey, the Metro Vancouver Water Balance Model Forum attracted an audience of 90-plus on March 12, 2009. The Forum program was built around the HOW question as it pertains to green infrastructure:
- HOW will the City of Surrey get it built right;
- HOW will a consistent regional approach be achieved in Metro Vancouver?
The Forum was co-sponsored by the Water Balance Model Inter-Governmental Partnership and the Green Infrastructure Partnership, with a goal of moving beyond pilot projects to a watershed-based approach to achieving performance targets for rainwater management and green infrastructure.
For the complete story on the Forum program, click on Convening for Action in Metro Vancouver: Moving Beyond Pilot Projects to a Broader Watersheds Objectives Approach.
Key Message
A provincial policy framework is now in place that enables municipalities to align efforts at a regional scale, make green choices, prepare communities for change, and choose to be water smart. To learn more, click on Provincial Context: Today’s Expectations are Tomorrow’s Standards for Green Infrastructure.
Rewarding Good Behaviour
According to Karen Rothe, the Ministry’s Manager for Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Growth Strategies, and a Ministry representative on the Green Infrastructure Partnership, “At the 2007 Beyond the Guidebook Seminar, we explained why and how the Ministry of Community Development has an increasing role in ensuring that local governments are advancing and changing the ways they plan and design their communities for the better.”
“We also described how the Ministry is using the Green Communities Initiative to advance green infrastructure province-wide. We emphasized that we are slowly raising the bar for local government. For example, we are saying ‘show us what you are doing to protect stream health’. The Ministry is also providing cash awards to recognize the efforts of local governments in achieving design with nature outcomes.”
Making It Real
“The Ministry of Community Development is about innovation and integration, and making it real. The other piece of importance to the Ministry is providing communities with the tools to ensure the right development in the right place at the right time,” Karen Rothe told the audience at the Surrey Forum.
Link to YouTube Video:
To access a YouTube video of what Karen Rothe had to say at the Surrey Forum, click on Karen Rothe xplains the Ministry of Community Development role in promoting the right kind of development in the right place
Posted March 2009