Convening for Action Partnerships are Turning Ideas into Action in B.C.
Convening for Action in BC
The Water Sustainability Committee is partnering with a number of organizations to develop and deliver products and events under the umbrella of Convening for Action, one of six inter-connected elements that comprise the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia.
Below, Ray Fung (Chair) signs a Statement of Understanding with Dave Palidwor, representing the Rivershed Society.
Water is the Unifying Element
The Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia builds on A Water Conservation Strategy for BC, developed and implemented during the period 1997 through 2001 by the Province in collaboration with the WSC under the terms of a precedent-setting Partnership Agreement between government and the BCWWA.
The Action Plan recognizes that the greatest impact on land and water resources is through our individual values, choices and behaviour. The goal of the Action Plan is to influence choices and encourage action by individuals and organizations so that water resources will become an integral part of land use and daily living.
Three defining questions provide a frame of reference for branding Action Plan Elements:
- What is the issue or problem?
- So what can be done about it?
- Now what will be done?
“The WSC believes it is simply not good enough to focus only on defining the problems or debating the perspectives (the ‘so what’). Rather, the objective of the Action Plan is to challenge individuals and organizations to demonstrate how we can move from talk to action (the ‘now what’),” stated Erik Karlsen, formerly Director of Regional Growth Strategies with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
“The desired outcome is implementation of on-the-ground changes in policies, programs, research, practitioner education and standards of practice that lead to full integration management and landscape (re)development. In an ‘integrated landscape’, water is the unifying element.”