DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar on Creating a Climate for Change” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2021
Note to Reader:
“SHARE INFORMATION. INFORM DECISIONS.” This soundbite lines up nicely with the mission of Waterbucket eNews which is to help its readers make sense of a complicated world. Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the vision for Living Water Smart in British Columbia to build greener communities and adapt to a changing climate; and embrace “design with nature” approaches to reconnect people, land, fish, and water in altered landscapes.
The edition of Waterbucket eNews published on October 12, 2021 featured the work of Michael Blackstock, Independent Indigenous Scholar and founder of the Blue Ecology Institute, and previewed the Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar. Michael Blackstock is the lead presenter on a 4-person panel. The seminar is the event of record for launching Michael Blackstock’s Blue Ecology Institute.
Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar on “Creating a Climate for Change”
Beginning in 2018, the Partnership for Water Sustainability and the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust (NALT) have co-produced Watershed Moments, the Vancouver Island Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate Annual Symposia Series. In November, the Partnership and NALT are hosting Watershed Moments 2021 / Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar as a bridging event. The next full-scale symposium will be in 2022.
The event serves as the event of record for launching Michael Blackstock’s Blue Ecology Institute. The initiative is guided by a vision to build a bridge between two cultures through a water-first approach.
Blue Ecology has been a two-decade long journey of discovery for Michael Blackstock, highlighted by his appointment to a UNESCO Expert Panel for a 4-year term in 2008.
Water reconciliation means interweaving Western science and Indigenous knowledge
“To paraphrase Michael Blackstock, we find ourselves at a moment in time when an attitude change is urgently needed to open minds as to why the whole being greater than the sum of the parts,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership Executive Director.
“This means water practitioners must come to terms with what the phrase interaction of variables within a system means in practice, recognizing that human behaviour is also a variable in the mix. All too often, we manipulate a single variable out of context with the whole and its many additional variables. Slicing and dicing does not capture the interconnectedness of nature, and behaviour. In the process, we lose sight of the system, and the outcome is unintended consequences.”
“Indigenous peoples remind us that everything is connected. And that is why interweaving our two ways of knowing is foundational to Water Reconciliation.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story published on October 12, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar on “Creating a Climate for Change”.
