2015 Water Balance Forum: Agenda Overview – “The town-hall approach to audience interaction at the start primed the group for the technical content,” stated Ted van der Gulik
Note to Reader:
On November 5, 2015 the Metro Vancouver Stormwater Interagency Liaison Group (SILG) and the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC co-hosted the 2015 Water Balance Partners Forum. The event was attended by local government representatives from both the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions.
Sustainable Watershed Systems,
through Asset Management
The agenda for the half-day forum was structured in four parts.
- Segment #1 set the scene, and included a town-hall session for storytelling and sharing.
- Segment #2 then showcased the Water Balance Express for Landowners. It was organized in three units: Context, Intent and Results.
- Segment #3 represented the technical heart of the forum because it involved teaching the basics of the Water Balance Methodology.
- Segment #4 previewed the work plan for the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative, and was for the record.
To Learn More:
Download Water Balance Forum – save the date
Storytelling, Showcasing, Sharing and Teaching
“Because we had a relatively young audience, the forum program was a mix of storytelling, showcasing, sharing and teaching so that we would achieve the learning 
outcomes,” reports Ted van der Guilik, Partnership President.
“Our objective in the first two segments was to engage and energize our audience. For this reason, we conducted them as town-hall sharing in order to prime everyone for learning the ‘technical stuff’ and responding to the teachable moment in segment #3.”
“The teachable moment came in segment #3 when Jim Dumont showed that Washington State and California are on the same technical path as British Columbia. And furthermore, that BC is going further in terms of what application of the Water Balance Methodology achieves.”
Water Balance Express for Homeowners
“The objective in segment #2 was to stimulate a group conversation about the practicalities of implementing changes in practice. To that end, we asked Melony Burton (Coquitlam), Richard Boase (North Vancouver District) and David Hislop (Surrey) to share their visions and perspectives on the Water Balance Express for Landowners.”
“We reasoned that talking about the Express was a way to drill down to the heart of what needs to be done on the ground.”
“The time that we spent getting to know our audience, and vice versa, was key to how the rest of the morning unfolded. We believe we were successful in progressively building their understanding of the basics.”
