FLASHBACK TO 2007: “It`s all about people, and most of all, it`s about involving the right people at the start,” stated Rob Lawrance, City of Nanaimo Environmental Planner, at the launch event in the Showcasing Green Infrastructure Series on Vancouver Island
Note to Reader:
The projected growth of Vancouver Island and resulting cumulative impacts are drivers for reassessing where and how land is developed, and water is used. To promote a new way-of-thinking related to infrastructure policies and practices, CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island organized Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation on Vancouver Island: The 2007 Series.
CAVI was supported by the Green Infrastructure Partnership in undertaking the Series. The 2006 pilot program was held in Metro Vancouver. In 2007, parallel series were held on both sides of the Georgia Basin on alternating Fridays during the September/October period.
The 2007 Series was launched in Nanaimo and co-hosted by the Regional District of Nanaimo and the City of Nanaimo. Rob Lawrance was the team leader for the City of Nanaimo.
Context for Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation
“There are a lot of good things happening in communities throughout Vancouver Island, but those stories had not been getting out,” stated Kim Stephens in 2007. At the time, his role was Program Coordinator for the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. Today, he is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.
“Through many one-on-one conversations, we found those stories; and then we pulled together a partnership of three regional districts and their member municipalities to host a series of one-day events on Vancouver Island.
“The goal in showcasing innovation and celebrating successes is to promote networking, build regional capacity, and move ‘from awareness to action’ – through sharing of green infrastructure approaches, tools, experiences and lessons learned as an outcome of designing with nature.”
Connecting People
“There are indeed a lot of good things happening throughout Vancouver Island, stated John Finnie in 2007. At the time. he was the General Manager of Regional and Community Utilities at the Regional District of Nanaimo. He was also CAVI Chair (2006-2011). “Yet practitioners in local government are not necessarily aware when they are being innovative and are not often aware of innovation in other municipalities. Because people are so busy in their own worlds, it takes a third party to connect them. That is the role that CAVI plays.
Series attracted local governments and other stakeholders from Campbell River south to Victoria
Each event comprised presentations in the morning and a tour of project sites in the afternoon. Each event was unique.
“The Showcasing Innovation Series creates pride and enables local governments to tell their stories in a way that no other forum currently provides,” observed Kim Stephens in 2007. “A Showcasing Innovation event is not a conference. Neither is it a workshop nor seminar in the conventional sense. Rather the purpose of the presentations is to whet the appetites of participants for the site tour that follows. The quality one-on-one conversations take place on the bus and when we go for a walkabout.”
To Learn More:
Download Summary Report on Green Infrastructure Innovation on Vancouver Island: The 2007 Series
2007 Series Launched in Nanaimo
Over 50 people from far and wide registered for the Nanaimo event. The diverse audience was comprised of representatives from four regional districts, ten municipalities, three provincial ministries, and a half-dozen private sector organizations. Included in the audience were elected representatives, senior managers, and on-the-ground practitioners.
City of Nanaimo Program
Consistent with the theme of ‘designing with nature’, a 6–person City of Nanaimo team led by Rob Lawrance (the City’s Environmental Planner) presented three case studies that illustrated Lessons Learned from Piloting Innovation in the City of Nanaimo.
- Case Study 1 – Oliver Road Community Centre: A LEED Silver Green Building
- Case Study 2 – Rainwater Capture at ‘Inland Kenworth’ Industrial Site
- Case Study 3 – Cottle Creek Estates: First Application of Steep Slope Policy
The City’s Green Building Policy requires all new public buildings over 500 square metres to meet the LEED Silver standard. This is part and parcel of the City’s commitment to develop climate change and energy plans under the aegis of the Partners for Climate Change Program.
Completed in 2006, the award-winning Inland Kenworth project applied a unique approach to site development that combined function and design in first capturing and then absorbing rainwater on-site. The project won a City environmental award and a design award.
Pressure to build on hillside lands was the catalyst for adopting the City’s steep slope development permit area and zoning bylaws. Cottle Creek Estates provided an early example of how these bylaws, and Nanaimo’s approach to green infrastructure, were being implemented.
Setting the Context
Rob Lawrance set the context and introduced the unifying themes for the three City of Nanaimo presentations. “Our participation in the Showcasing Innovation Series has served as a catalyst for the City to evaluate our progress to date, and reflect on lessons learned from our experience in piloting innovation,” he stated in 2007.
“The Nanaimo Showcasing focus is on three policies that each address public concerns on different scales. Each policy and application represents a ‘first’ for either the region or the City of Nanaimo.”
In setting the context for three project presentations, Rob Lawrence also elaborated on what is involved in finding the right ‘balance’ to make things happen on the ground. His introductory comments foreshadowed one of the unifying themes for the three Nanaimo presentations, and that is:
“It’s all about people, and most of all, it’s about involving the right people at the start. The ingredients for success include passion and a willingness to take a vision and make it happen.“
In his overview presentation, he identified four tools that are enabling City staff to drive green infrastructure innovation in Nanaimo:
