2007 Creating Our Future Workshop organized under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan

 

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‘Convening for Action’ shoulder event at Gaining Ground Summit designed to inform decision-makers

Held in June 2007 in conjunction with the Gaining Ground Summit Conference in Victoria, the ‘by invitation’ Creating Our Future Workshop was a consultation opportunity for Vancouver Island local governments that are interested in implementing infrastructure practices and regulation that result in green value.

What Will Vancouver Island Look Like?

The workshop was also about celebrating and building on success. Case studies encompassed a range of situations, urban and rural, from the shoreline to the watershed, and from the development site to the municipality. Designed to inform decision-makers in local government, the workshop was structured in three parts:

1. Defining a common vocabulary
2. Roundtable sharing
3. Convening for Action on Vancouver Island case studies

The focus was on case studies that demonstrate how “green value” approaches are being adopted in planning for and accommodating settlement growth.

Settlement Change in Balance with Ecology

“Residents of growth communities think of themselves as being rural places, but people want urban services,” states Tim Pringle, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia.

Tim pringle (120 pixels)“Furthermore, the Province has been promoting resort municipality designations which would allow major developments to be undertaken as local government areas. In short, this means nature is being commoditized.”

“At the Creating Our Future Workshop, we  addressed the question: how does a community weigh the benefits and liabilities of changes driven by demand for land use?

“What will determine the long-term wellbeing for a community or region? In a nutshell, ‘wellbeing’ is about sustainability of what communities allow or prevent happening on the land. Wellbeing is about balancing settlement activity…or change…and ecology.”

“Our goal in convening for action is to move green value from concept to practice. In terms of desired outcomes for the workshop, we had two: first, that participants would embrace the vision for being leaders in water sustainability; and secondly, that they would absorb the vocabulary of green value, convening for action, designing with nature, water sustainability, and green infrastructure.”

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About the Creating Our Future Workshop

To read more stories on Water Bucket that elaborate on the day, click on 2007 Creating Our Future Workshop.

For a program overview, please click on this link to Creating Our Future Program Overview.

For a detailed program road-map, please click on this link to Creating Our Future: What will Vancouver Island look like in 50 years?