Convening for Action in British Columbia

CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Erik Karlsen was the secret sauce who convened the fantastic streamside regulation discussions that created collegiality between municipalities,” recalls Susan Haid, adjunct assistant professor at the University of BC

November 25, 2024 - Posted in Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation, Convening for Action in Lower Mainland

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 April 2, 2024 featured Susan Haid. She has played a leadership role in trailblazing an ecosystem-based approach to community planning in British Columbia. This approach flowed from passage of the Fish Protection Act 1997. Transformational in nature, it spawned an array of initiatives. The need for this approach to land-use planning is ever more important today.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Policy frameworks to shape urban design – extracts from a conversation with Susan Haid

“Concepts of mentorship and reflecting real-world examples are things that I really espouse in teaching. But I also find that it is an opportunity for me to learn and to continue growing,” says Susan Haid.

“In many ways, what I am teaching comes back to the same kind of framework around ecosystem-based planning which Erik Karlsen and others were advancing in the 1990s, and which is synonymous with watershed-based planning.”

SHARPENING THE EDGE: Policy framework for a sustainable and resilient Salish Sea region

“Since January 2023, I have been teaching a master level course in urban design policy at UBC. Titled Policy for a Sustainable Region, it is big picture and is about policy frameworks to influence urban design.”

“A lot of it is case studies and reflection. But I also bring in resiliency and ecological frameworks, with lectures on what are the best practices going forward. I call these sessions SHARPENING THE EDGE.”

“By that I mean here are the provincial, regional and local frameworks and what you do at the site level. But then there is sharpening the edge through emergent sustainable development practices and looking at them through a lens of resiliency, equity and reconciliation.”

Resurgence of interest in application of ecosystem-based principles to city planning

“Maybe it is because my first post-secondary education was in biology and ecology that I align strongly with an ecosystem-based approach to planning.”

“The principles of diversity, interconnectivity, and redundancy within a systems approach are very robust and stand the test of time. I believe these principles are ever more important.”

“Watershed-based planning builds on these principles and can support everything from access to nature, wellbeing, mental health to green infrastructure, stewardship, equity and reconciliation.”

“It is kind of getting back to basics. Those ecosystem-based principles endure and apply work looking back and looking forward.”

“At the municipal level, there are a lot of pretty amazing bright lights and thinking on how this stuff can work going forward. We are seeing innovative examples of green infrastructure throughout the region – bringing back nature, ecological functions, adding resiliency to cities and ultimately saving money.”

FLASHBACK TO THE 1990s: Fish Protection Act bridged a gap and forever changed how local governments view streamside protection

“I was with the City of Burnaby from 1993 to 1999. Then I was at Metro Vancouver through 2006. When I reflect on the period, I think of Erik Karlsen, bigtime!”

“I was with Burnaby in the role of Ecosystem Planner which was an amazing job. The position was created at the instigation of Joan Sawicki when she was a city councillor. Apparently it was the first environmental / ecosystem planner role in local government in the province. I landed it fresh out of grad school.”

“Joan Sawicki was a massive inspiration when I joined Burnaby. My manager at the time, senior planner Basil Luksun said to me, you have to carry on Joan’s vision. Joan would always inject great inspiration and that influenced decision making.”

Without an over-arching legislative framework

“My first few years in local government was at a time when the 1992 DFO Land Development Guidelines were in place. It was the only tool for streamside and riparian protection. And it was REALLY WEAK.”

“The DFO guidelines were well supported in Burnaby. So, I was in a really great place to shape and develop streamside protection. But the over-arching legislation, tools and frameworks were still SUPER WEAK.”

“There was such great work happening in the mid-1990s. There was an early draft of an Environmentally Sensitive Areas strategy. And Burnaby had one of the early interagency Environmental Review Committees in the region.”

“Then, in late 1996, in came Erik Karlsen. He was the secret sauce who convened the fantastic streamside regulation discussions that created collegiality between municipalities.”

“There was tension between stakeholders. Yet the productiveness of those dialogues inspired a lot of professionals, me included, to dig deeper and find solutions and learn. You felt like you were part of a movement.”

“As I reflect on my career in local government, there has been a lot of learning that has raised awareness and driven changes in land planning practice. A defining moment for me was the Salmon in the City Conference in 1998. It was a memorable event.”

FLASHBACK TO THE 2000s: Fish Protection Act shifted perspectives to a regional scale

“In my first few years at Metro Vancouver, I think of the Fish Protection Act as having a huge influence. I was really grateful to work at the regional scale as a senior environmental planner, succeeding Nancy Knight who was a Division Manager at Metro and went on to UBC as Associate Vice-President of Planning.”

“It was great to shift perspectives to a bigger scale. I was a member of the regional working group convened by Erik Karlsen that developed Watershed / Landscape-Based Approach to Community Planning, released by Metro Vancouver in 2002.”

“The work that was going on at that time took a watershed-based approach to a regional scale. There was some really rigorous watershed evaluation from a biological perspective. And there was such great work happening in collaboration with groups such as the one led by UBC’s Hans Schreier.”

“We had a Biodiversity Strategy Working Group. And with our engineering colleagues, we also had the development of the ISMP framework within the region’s Liquid Waste Management Plan. In short, these layers of watershed-based planning were happening concurrently.”

“The Fish Protection Act enabled local governments to shift from site-by-site fights with developers over setback requirements…to a regional scale tool and a prioritization of ISMPs based on ecological value.”

Making a difference was exciting for all involved

“It was not like it was rocket science. But the fact that it actually came together at a regional scale with partnerships, and across planning and engineering and parks portfolios, was pretty exciting for everyone involved.”

“You really felt like you were making a difference in terms of guiding ecologically functioning development and growth management.”

“Overall, the work that we were all doing at the time had that strong ecological framework aspect to it. And that is what stands out in my mind for the period 1997 through 2005, Seeing how these foundations are being built upon and advanced rekindles my optimism for the future,” concludes Susan Haid.

Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series

To read the complete 3-part story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Policy frameworks to shape urban design.