Smart Planning and Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Ministry of Community Development Circular informs local governments about the Penticton Forum
Convening for Action at the 2009 Annual Conference of the BC Water & Waste Association
On March 12, 2009 the Ministry of Community Development sent out a circular to all Municipal and Regional District Chief Administrative Officers, Engineers and Planners 
regarding Smart Planning & Living Water Smart: Learn About Approaches and Tools for Doing Business Differently. Signed by Glen Brown, the purpose of the Circular is to explain how a number of provincial initiatives support and/or complement each other. Glen Brown is the Executive Director, Local Government Infrastructure and Finance. The full text of the Circular is reproduced below. The Ministry provided funding to facilitate the forum.
The Circular states that….
How do we align our efforts at three scales – provincial, regional and local – to do business differently, prepare communities for change, and choose to be water smart?
“On April 29 in Penticton, the Ministry of Community Development is co-hosting a forum to showcase how partnerships, collaboration, innovation and integration are helping local governments in the Okanagan, Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver make the best choices for sustainable, healthy and vibrant communities. Each regional initiative is developing a vision and road map for achieving settlement in balance with ecology.”
“Titled Smart Planning & Living Water Smart: Approaches and Tools for Doing Business Differently in B.C., the ‘Penticton Forum’ is an adjunct to the annual conference of the B.C. Water & Waste Association (BCWWA). Organized by the BCWWA Water Sustainability Committee in collaboration with the Okanagan Basin Water Board and three provincial ministries (Community Development, Environment, and Agriculture and Lands), the forum program is designed to advance a ‘regional team approach’.”
“The forum program is organized as four modules and is built around two themes that are intertwined, namely: ‘creating our future’ and ‘doing business differently’.”
“The Penticton Forum supports and/or complements various provincial initiatives, notably: Living Water Smart, the Green Communities Project, A Guide to Green Choices and Beyond the Guidebook. Collectively, these initiatives establish expectations that, in turn, will influence the form and function of the built environment in general and green infrastructure on the ground in particular.”
Downloadable Version of the Circular:
To download a copy, click on Ministry of Community Development – Penticton Forum Circular – March 2009
For a preview of the Agenda, click on Lesson Plan – Draft Outline of What We Want to Achieve.
