DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A Tribute to Buzz Holling” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2021

NOTE TO READER:

The edition of Waterbucket eNews published on January 14, 2020 paid tribute to Dr. Crawford “Buzz” Holling (1930-2019), recognized as one of the world’s leading ecologists. His work is frequently cited in the fields of ecology, environmental management, ecological economics and the human dimensions of global change. To honour the legacy of Buzz Holling and his influence on the work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, the Partnership has published a downloadable version of the January 2020 online story.

IN MEMORIAM: British Columbia’s Buzz Holling (1930-2019) – a true scientific giant in ecology and adaptive management

Pioneers break new ground and leave an empty space when they move on. Buzz Holling is considered the father of resilience research, which he called the ‘science of surprise’. In the 1960s and 1970s, he applied the systems approach to understand diverse types of interactions among people and nature.

He collaborated with experts outside of universities and research labs to understand land development, forest management, and pest management. It was from these experiences that he first began to formulate his ideas about resilience.

Buzz Holling highlighted the importance of considering surprise, system reorganization, and learning when trying to understand social-ecological dynamics. These efforts led to new ideas about the dynamic nature of resilience. His contributions include Adaptive Management and the Adaptive Cycle.

“Buzz Holling was a source of inspiration for the whole-system, water balance approach that is the technical foundation for the precedent-setting Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia. The approach underpins everything that the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC does,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.

TO LEARN MORE:

Download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A Tribute to Buzz Holling.  This is the downloadable version of the feature story published online by Waterbucket eNews in January 2020.

Watch the YouTube video of Crawford ”Buzz” Holling, Volvo Environment Prize laureate 2008. An influential ecologist, Buzz Crawford is considered the father of the resilience theory.