Convening for Action in British Columbia

DOWNLOAD A COPY: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A message of hope is paramount in these times of droughts, forest fires and floods” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2023

October 31, 2023 - Posted in ...2023, PUBLICATIONS & DOWNLOADS

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on October 31, 2023 featured an article written by Kim Stephens for the Asset Management BC Newsletter. The underlying theme is about the elephant in the room: the asset management community has lost its way.

Overwhelmed communities are losing sight of the goal

The Partnership for Water Sustainability and Asset Management BC share common interests and are jointly operationalizing lynchpin action items identified in Living Water Smart in British Columbia. Our shared commitment to Living Water Smart actions provides the foundation for collaboration goals that are defined in a Memorandum of Understanding.

The umbrella for collaboration is Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework, released in December 2014 by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) through Asset Management BC.

The “BC Framework” is a call to action

An over-arching goal of collaboration is to advance a mutually supporting approach that profiles and raises awareness of the guiding philosophy, principles and objectives embodied in the BC Framework. This includes each entity publishing articles by the other.

As a longtime contributor to the Asset Management BC Newsletter, this gives me a good sense of their audience. So, when Wally Wells offered me an opportunity to stir the pot with a provocative article, I thought why not!

Elephant in the room:

Local government politicians and staff are being overwhelmed by the issues of the day. That is their current reality. As a consequence, folks are losing sight of the big picture and getting lost in the details. An elephant in the room is that the asset management community has lost its way.

In his editor’s essay, Wally Wells provided this supporting context: “I frequently hear comments and concerns about getting buy-in to asset management within the organization and with the elected officials. Recently I spoke to a mayor who said, “I do not understand what this is about” and added “we are already too busy with a very small staff!”

To download and/or share a copy of the current issue of the Asset Management BC Newsletter, CLICK HERE. Scroll to page 6 to read the “as published” version of the article below.

To Learn More:

To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A message of hope is paramount in these times of droughts, forest fires and floods.