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The Story of the 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series

 

 

2009 comox valley learning lunch series - logo collage

Note to Readers:

The focus of the 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series is on how to implement the “regional team approach”. Hence, the series is for implementers. Thre following article is introductory in scope, provides general context only, and links to a set of downloadable documents that form the basis for the series curriculum.

 

Dates, Start/Finish Times, Venue and Registration

The Comox Valley Regional District is the host local government for the 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series. The 2009 Series is open to any Vancouver Island local government and will comprise three learning events. These will be held in the CVRD Board Room on the following dates:

  • Seminar #1: Friday, September 25
  • Seminar #2: either November 5 or 6
  • Seminar #3: either November 26 or 27

The meet-and-greet for each Learning Lunch Seminar will start at 10:30am. Each seminar will conclude at 3:00pm. There will be a small registration fee to cover the cost of lunch.

Registration will be capped at 50. A limited number of spaces are available for those who may be interested in participating in the 2009 Series. Priority will be given to those who attended the 2008 Series. Please direct general enquiries to actionplan@watersustainabilitybc.ca

Click on

Program Overview for a synopsis of the theme, scope and desired outcome for each of the three seminars. The Series theme is:
2009 comox valley series - theme and tag-line (330p)

Convening for Action on Vancouver Island

The Province’s Living Water Smart, BC’s Water Plan and Green Communities Initiative are complementary initiatives, and together provide British Columbians with a vision of what the province can look like if local governments prepare communities for change, choose to be water smart, and strive to achieve settlement in balance with ecology – in other words, implement The New Business As Usual. Funding for the 2009 Comox Valley Series is being provided under the umbrella of the Green Communities Initiative.

Building on Success

Drawing on the experience of engineering and planning managers in local governments, the 2008 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series employed provincial guidance documents, on-the-ground examples, walkabouts, and town hall sharing sessions to stimulate discussion of HOW to achieve water sustainability by implementing green infrastructure policies and practices. The success of the 2008 Series created the springboard for a regional team approach in both the Cowichan and Comox valleys.

The Comox Valley Regional District is the host local government for the 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series. The Comox Valley is the provincial pilot for a ‘regional team approach’ that is founded on broad and inclusive partnerships and collaboration that reach for the common goal of sustainability. The 2009 Comox Valley series will demonstrate what A Positive Settlement Strategy for Vancouver Island could look like.

A Team Effort

The 2009 Series is a collaboration of four local governments in the Comox Valley, the Comox Valley Land Trust, CAVI – Convening for Action on Vancouver Island, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, the Green Infrastructure Partnership and two provincial Ministries – Community & Rural Development; and Environment.

Story of the 2009 Learning Lunch Series

Leading up to the first seminar, and then throughout the 2009 Comox Valley Series, the “story of the Series” will be presented in a set of newsmagazine-style stories published on the Convening for Action community-of-interest. These will serve as the curriculum.

Downloadable Documents

The stories will be published as a set of downloadable PDF documents. The intention is that this format for information sharing will help promote knowledge-transfer. These stories progressively introduce and describe the elements of the seminar program. Briefly:

Water Bucket Online Versions

The downloadable documents are complemented by online versions that are complete with embedded links to other resources on the Water Bucket Website. To access the online versions, click on the links below:

  1. July 14, 2009: CAVI announces that Comox Valley Regional District will host the 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series
  2. July 28, 2009: CAVI releases program details for 2009 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series
  3. On  August 24, 2009: What Drives Settlement on the East Coast of Vancouver Island
  4. On September 9, 2009: A Regional Perspective on Water Supply in the Comox Valley
  5. On September 9, 2009: An Integrated Watershed Approach to Settlement Change 
  6. On September 15, 2009: The Comox Valley Learning Lunch Seminar Series is for Implementers
  7. On September 22, 2009: Today’s Expectations are Tomorrow’s Standards in British Columbia 

New business as usual - water sustainability thru green infrastructure

The New Business As Usual

“We are using the slogan The New Business As Usual to convey the message that, for change to really occur, practices that until now have been viewed as the exception must become the norm moving forward. We have to 2008 learning lunch pilot - dale wall (160p)build regulatory models and develop models of practice and expertise to support The New Business As Usual”, stated Dale Wall, Deputy Minister (Community & Rural Development), at the Gaining Ground Summit in May 2008.

To learn more about what Dale Wall had to say, click here to view a YouTube video clip.

 

Posted July 2009