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In September 2021, Greystone Books published The Ocean’s Whistleblower. It is the first authorized biography of Daniel Pauly, a truly remarkable man. Daniel Pauly is a living legend in the world of marine biology. And he lives in British Columbia. Among his many contributions is the Shifting Baseline Syndrome. This is a foundational concept. And it goes to the heart of the vision for intergenerational collaboration.

“There is an openness and not only an admission but the acceptance that the existing green policies and practices they have now, particularly for replicating natural flow patterns in urban streams, may not hold all the answers. Even the natural world is sometimes overwhelmed by rainfall. Instead, there is a direct discussion on how to maximize greener solutions but support them with our existing infrastructure and knowledge base. This is vital for climate change adaptations as we need to plan for 50 to100 years into the future while simultaneously solving the problems of tomorrow,” stated Charles Axelsson.

“The City has already initiated steps towards the goal of becoming a water-sensitive city by 2040. In the City’s draft water strategy, which will be taken through an inclusive public participation process over the coming months, the use of rain and stormwater is included,” stated Ian Neilson. The first step in being able to use stormwater as a water resource was to move stormwater and river management out of the City’s transport department and into the water department. This has already been done, added Nielson.

Heat waves and rainstorms will become common in northern Germany as climate change deepens. To make Berlin more resilient and livable in the coming future, Berlin’s infrastructure is being redesigned to solve drainage and heat problems as climate change accelerates. Rummelsberg, built 20 years ago in east Berlin, has become a large-scale example of the Sponge City concept. Heiko Seiker is the brains behind the neighbourhood’s innovative use of rainwater as a resource.

“Despite some state government opposition, there is a great case for making stormwater resources that hit the ground on the property of local councils. This could incentivise councils to treat, harvest and sell water resources to industries or direct to citizens for non-potable uses,” stated Grant Duthie. “If water authorities were required to engage councils, as the owners of stormwater resources, there would likely become far more incentive to co-develop WSUD principles.”

“The genesis of this approach lies at the point where rainfall strikes an urban environment surface, where it can be captured via rooftop gardens and water tanks under a notion of retaining water as opposed to having it wash away,” says John Argue. “Water which is not captured by these practices can potentially be infiltrated into the soil or be channelled through vegetated bio retention systems or rainwater gardens.”

“This study explores the genuine desire to protect and enhance urban waterways through whole of water cycle measures having wide ranging benefits to community health and climate change resilience,” wrote Rod Wiese. “It is evident that ‘best practice’ falls dramatic short of effective waterway protection. Clearly, we need to manage volume and restore water balance pathways where rain falls.”

“In considering the factors involved in global climate change, there is a need for increased attention to the role of regional, or small water cycles,” wrote Jan Lambert. “Planning is required for all countries to permeate landscapes with rainfall and snowmelt to bring about the return of stable regional, small water cycles to aid in local, and ultimately global, climate recovery.”

“We need to look at the larger catchment management issues and how forestry, land management and soft engineered flood alleviation schemes can hold back water in the upper reaches of rivers. We need to comprehensively retro-fit Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and require it to be used for all new building schemes,” stated Sue Illman.

“Whilst sustainable drainage is a relatively simple concept, it is often communicated using technical jargon. This animation helps promote sustainable drainage by communicating the drivers, opportunities and benefits in an engaging way,” stated Paul Shaffer. The animation explains how Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) replicate natural drainage by managing rainfall close to where it falls. It also celebrates the multiple benefits of SuDS .