Celebrating a Decade of Success: “We try to inspire communities to have a vision of their future, what they will look like on the ground in fifty years,” says Tim Pringle, Partnership Past-President
Note to Reader:
Released in February 2004, the “Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia” provides a partnership umbrella for aligning efforts and implementing on-the-ground initiatives in the local government setting. Throughout 2014, the Partnership for Water Sustainability is celebrating 10 years of successful Action Plan program implementation. This is the fifth in a series of flashbacks featuring those who have played leadership roles in delivering the Action Plan.
British Columbia Partnership Celebrates 10th anniversary of Water Sustainability Action Plan
“After ten years of involvement with the work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC, I feel as committed as ever,” states Tim Pringle, Director and Founding President (from 2010 through 2013).
“The Partnership continues to influence practitioners with thought provoking truths: use and conservation of land are equal values; healthy human settlement systems and ecological systems are inter-dependent; and, settlement in balance with ecology can lead to enduring prosperity.”
“The Partnership makes available tools and support services that enable practitioners to focus on water sustainability as an essential form maker of our communities. We all live in a watershed.”
“Planners, engineers, elected folks, members of conservation organizations, and many other practitioners in the course of their daily work make decisions that impact watersheds and water resources. They desire learning opportunities that are adapted to their career and vocational realities; to know what an innovative practice looks like – or may look like – on the ground. The Partnership works with them.”
“When I go to the Partnership’s website, waterbucket.ca, I am proud of the range of communities of interest, the tools available to practitioners and the public, and the commitment of the Partnership to look long-term. We try to inspire communities to have a vision of their future, what they will look like on the ground in fifty years. It is a heady and satisfying task,” concludes Tim Pringle.
To Learn More:
An advocate of the “top down bottom up” principle of engagement, Tim Pringle has been a consistent champion for local involvement and recognizes the value of stewardship groups and community groups in working towards a common vision based upon universal values. To learn more about his contributions over the past decade, click on the links below:
- How does a community weigh the benefits and liabilities of change driven by demand for land use?, released in August 2009
- What Drives Settlement on the East Coast of Vancouver Island, released in August 2009
- PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE: The Most Efficient Infrastructure is ‘Design with Nature’ – Start With Water Sustainability, posted in February 2011.
The Partnership for Water Sustainability is responsible for delivering the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, and is the hub for a “convening for action” network in the local government setting. To learn more, click on ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP.