Convening for Action in British Columbia

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Livability of Southwest BC at a crossroads, again” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025

April 1, 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. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story. Below is the One-Minute Takeaway.

The edition published on April 1, 2025 is an introduction to and a high-level overview of Part A of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. The 73-page Part A is included as an attachment. It is a sweeping narrative that brings to life an era.

Georgia Basin Initiative was a call to action

“Three decades ago, there was trouble in paradise. All communities in the Lower Mainland and along the east coast of Vancouver Island were under intense pressure and knew they had to do something about it,” wrote Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

“Launched in 1994, the Georgia Basin Initiative was one of those rare instances where top-down and bottom-up actually did meet in the middle. And it did exactly what it was intended to do. There are initiatives and programs flourishing today that had their beginnings in the Georgia Basin Initiative.”

“Titled Georgia Basin Context for Green Infrastructure Innovation, Part A is a sweeping narrative. It introduces defining milestones and key players that shaped a movement to Design With Nature in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.”

“Part A is both a stand-alone resource and an appetizer for what will follow in future releases of Parts B through G the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. A unifying theme is that lessons from the past inform the future.”

Crisis creates opportunity

“Crisis creates opportunity. Often attributed to Albert Einstein, this phrase captures the current situation in time and history. In a nutshell, Donald Trump poses an existential threat to British Columbia and to Canada as a whole.”

“Meanwhile, knowledge and memory are being lost at an alarming rate. The existential threat provides timely context for reassessment of why we do what we do; and how a crisis brings people together in a common cause.”

Never has storytelling been more important

“Crisis creates opportunity. Know your history. Having an external threat reminds us what matters. Dig deep, rise to the moment. Remember, reflect, refocus and recommit to the shared values that bind us, and reset. Build on knowledge and experience to chart a path forward through troubled waters,” concludes Kim Stephens.

To Learn More:

Waterbucket eNews stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story. To read the complete 3-part storyline, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Livability of Southwest BC at a crossroads, again. The document is complete with the 69-page Part A of the Green Infrastructure Chronicle as an attachment.