Mission Possible Update: “Economy and Ecology – A Necessary Partnership for Water Sustainability”
Note to Reader:
The annual State of the Island Economic Summit is organized by the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance. For the 4th year in a row, the Summit features a session about “CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island”, an initiative of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC. A panel comprising four members of the CAVI Leadership Team will engage the Summit audience in an interactive session about MISSION POSSIBLE.
A Healthy Economy Within a Sustainable Environment
“Vancouver Island is a hot-bed of progressive ideas and provincially significant initiatives. Regional districts and their municipalities are advancing watershed-based strategies and programs,” reports Kim Stephens, Executive Director of the Partnership 
for Water Sustainability in British Columbia. “Effective change will be the result of a new form of governance, one that recognizes the collaborative role of business, local government and community that enables the creation of a healthy economy within a sustainable environment. A reliable and sustainable water resource is a critical component of a healthy and progressive economic development strategy.”
The Panel Storyline
“The Panel will report out on what has been accomplished in the year since the CAVI Forum within the 2013 Summit showcased how the Inter-Regional Education Initiative for “Rainwater Management in a Watershed Sustainability Context” (IREI) is an important building block towards an integrated approach to sustainability and a Vancouver Island Vision,” continues Kim Stephens.
“First, the team of Peter Law and Derek Richmond will paint a picture of what the IREI has accomplished so far vis-à-vis collaboration and consistent application of outcome-oriented actions that can accelerate restoration and/or protection of Watershed Health up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island, with a particular focus on the Comox Valley and its Guide to Water-Wise Land Development in the Comox Valley.”
“Then, the team of Eric Bonham and Marianne Stolz will elaborate why and how this on-the-ground success provides a credible springboard to ‘make real’ an over-arching Vancouver Island Vision such that Vancouver Island becomes a sustainability development model for Canada.”
“The two streams of panel presentations will set the stage for a Town-Hall Sharing & Learning Segment. The Panel will challenge the audience to visualize next steps for bringing a vision for settlement, economy and ecology in balance to fruition. This is ‘mission possible’, concludes Kim Stephens.
About the Format:
Kim Stephens will take 5 minutes to provide the audience with a bridge from 2012 to 2013. Each panelist will then take 5-minutes each to tell their part of the story. This means approximately half the 1-hour time allocation will be dedicated to the Town-Hall segment.
