DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Reflections the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University – City of Nanaimo experience” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024
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 15, 2024 is the first installment in a 4-part series that showcases a successful precedent to pass the intergenerational baton and build long-term capacity within local government to implement Natural Asset Management.
Anna Lawrence, project coordinator for the EAP Transition Strategy Partnership is the guest editor for a conversation with Bill Sims, general manager of engineering, about the City of Nanaimo’s experience in advancing EAP.
Affordable, effective, pragmatic Natural Asset Management
In this edition, we swing the spotlight from the Lower Mainland to the east coast of Vancouver Island. Common to both is that they drain into the Salish Sea from lands that comprise the Georgia Basin bio-region. Also common to both is this theme… leadership that takes the long view.
Through November, we are featuring alternating series. One is building to release of the Synopsis for the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in the Metro Vancouver Region from 1994 through 2024. The other celebrates a unique partnership that is pioneering a pragmatic path forward for Natural Asset Management within the local government setting.
Local governments invest in youth to apply and evolve an affordable and cost-effective approach to Natural Asset Management
Supported financially by UBCM, three Vancouver Island local governments are founding members of the EAP Partnership which also includes the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute (MABRRI), Vancouver Island University and the Partnership for Water Sustainability. In 2022, the partners committed to a 3-year transition strategy to embed in MABRRI and operationalize EAP. Nine other local governments are “mentor members”.
“The City of Nanaimo is all-in with our commitment,” emphasizes Bill Sims. “It derives from the Community Charter where one of the Council’s primary duties is stewardship of the community’s assets. We are getting better and better all the time at stewarding the gray infrastructure assets such as our pipes and buildings. Now we must do the same with natural assets.”
“We have seen the value of natural asset management ever since we did Buttertubs Marsh in 2016 and Millstone River in 2020. Moving forward with it is a key driver within City Plan: Nanaimo Reimagined. Like all local governments, we are under a squeeze to get this done.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Reflections on the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University -City of Nanaimo experience.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/09/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Darrell-Mussatto_reflections-by-an-elected-leaders_2024.pdf