Convening for Action in British Columbia

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Network of networks in Cowichan Region is like a forest ecosystem” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in February 2025)

February 25, 2025 - Posted in ...2025, 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 February 25, 2025 featured a remarkable cross-sector planning team that organized and delivered Cowichan Region Climate Gathering on December 9-10, 2024 on Vancouver Island. Keith Lawrence of the Cowichan Valley Regional District is the narrator for this story of a seminal moment in a 30-year journey for water reconciliation and climate action.

Network of networks in Cowichan Region is like an ecosystem

The Cowichan Region on Vancouver Island is in the forefront of striving to learn from Elders and Indigenous leaders and community members. And a seminal moment in a 30-plus-year journey in pursuit of a Watershed Security Strategy is the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering held in December 2024.

This flagship event brought together champions from three worlds — local government, stewardship groups. and First Nations communities — to learn from each other, unite and build relationships through a network of networks.

Cowichan Region Climate Gathering: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Grounded in the cultural ways of the Indigenous partners, the event originated as an outreach initiative of the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) Program. It morphed into something much, much bigger.

“Starting in May 2024, we reached out to local First Nations staff and Chiefs and Councils. We met with elders, youth and community members. To listen to indigenous voices for this Climate Gathering idea,” Keith Lawrence recounts.

The concept of a “network of networks” emerged

“In our meetings with each community, we gathered their ideas on what the event should look like and how it should happen. Different suggestions that came forward ultimately became part of the overall experience of the event.”

Story behind the story is about the team that organized and delivered the Climate Gathering

“It was the coming together of a dedicated planning team that is the story behind the story. We become so much more when we are working as a team. We became the greater whole and this influences everything that came before and will happen next,” continues Keith Lawrence.

THE CLIMATE GATHERING TEAM: David Reay, Fernanda Gutierrez Matos, Katie Mosewich, Cindy Lise, Sandra Thomson, Keith Lawrence

“It is not just the set of cross-cutting mandates but also the capabilities that everybody brought forward to the planning team. That mix really did strengthen the process and made it possible for the Climate Gathering to be what it was in the end.”