Penticton Forum showcases “Smart Planning & Living Water Smart” – Approaches & Tools for Doing Business Differently in BC
The Penticton Forum was held at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre as an adjunct to the 2009 Annual Conference of the BC Water & Waste Association (BCWWA).
Convening for Action in BC
The following challenge statement provided context for advancing a ‘regional team approach’ at the 2009 Annual Conference of the British Columbia Water & Waste Association (BCWWA) on April 29 in Penticton.
- 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
The Penticton Forum showcased how partnerships, collaboration, innovation and integration are helping local governments in three regions make the best choices for living water smart: This is what we want to achieve, and this is how we will get there.
Story of the Penticton Forum
“The Province’s Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives provide a framework and direction for convening for action in the Okanagan, on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver. Each regional initiative is developing a vision and road map for achieving settlement in balance with ecology,” states Glen Brown. He is an Executive Director with the Ministry of Community Development; and is Chair of the Water Sustainability Committee.
“The forum program comprised four modules built around the creating our future and doing business differently themes,” adds Anna Sears, Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board. “The Forum was an exciting day because regional leaders elaborated on new approaches and tools for ‘living water smart’, and changing the way land is developed and water is used.”
“Since 2004, Convening for Action in British Columbia has evolved into a ‘made in BC’ approach and process for moving from awareness to action. The Convening for Action vision is that water sustainability in British Columbia will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies, practices and standards,” states Ray Fung, Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership.
Downloadable Documents:
Leading up to the Forum, a series of downloadable documents were published on Water Bucket. These stories progressively connected the dots and described the elements of the Forum program in order to establish participant expectations. Briefly:
- On March 6th: Story #1 titled Smart Planning & Living Water Smart: Approaches & Tools for Doing Business Differently in BC described the scope of each module in order to foreshadow what to expect.
- On March 13th: Story #2 titled Doing Business Differently – Convening for Action in the Georgia Basin elaborated on how a ‘regional team approach’ is being advanced on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver to establish consistent expectations when making ‘green choices’.
- On March 20th: Story #3 titled Doing Business Differently – Convening for Action in the Okanagan explained what it means to have a clear vision, what is possible when the vision is shared, and how ‘convening for action’ is taking place in the Okanagan.
- On March 27th: Story #4 titled Creating Our Future: Sustainability by Design & The Natural City Vision foreshadowed the ‘book-end roles’ that Patrick Condon and Vic Derman would play in setting the context and providing a blueprint for action, respectively.
- On April 3rd: Story #5 titled Creating Our Future: Today’s Expectations are Tomorrow’s Standards for Living Water Smart provided an overview of the provincial policy framework that enables local governments to design their communities in harmony with water.
- On April 10th: Storey #6 titled Town Hall Sharing: How Will Embracing the Living Water Smart Vision Help Your Community Do Business Differently? foreshadowed how audience interaction will be achieved, and how we can build commitment and motivate British Columbians to want to change.
The six are consolidated in a stand-alone document titled Convening for Action and Making Green Choices in British Columbia: The Story of the 2009 Pentiction Forum.
