ERIK KARLSEN – THOUGHT LEADER AND CHANGE AGENT WHO LEFT A LIVING LEGACY: “Through Erik Karlsen’s guidance, professional – and dare I say, political – wisdom and networking, together we charted at least a pathway towards ‘sustainability’ in the Georgia Basin bio-region,” stated Joan Sawicki, former Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative and a former BC Minister of Environment
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.
The edition published on April 29, ,2025 is a tribute to the memory and legacy of the late Erik Karlsen on the 5th anniversary of his death. For a generation of elected representatives, his was a familiar face in the local government setting. His influence was profound and far-reaching. He touched many lives over the course of his unique career in public service.
Erik Karlsen – thought leader and change agent
Erik Karlsen bridged the worlds of municipal affairs and environmental stewardship. For a generation of elected representatives, his was a familiar face in the local government setting. Erik Karlsen was influential and his influence was far reaching while he was alive.
Champions for an ecosystem-based approach
The legacy of Erik Karlsen is rippling through time through the work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in leading the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative. On the 5th anniversary of the death of Erik Karlsen, this edition of Waterbucket eNews celebrates his extraordinary legacy.
This edition is the third of a series featuring the seven and their contributions. Their stories are preview extracts from Part C of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation from 1994 through 2024. The stories can inspire a new generation of green infrastructure champions.
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“When Erik Karlsen brought people together, he would cast a magic spell. When he asked you to get involved in an initiative, of course you said yes! That is what happened to me on October 10, 1997 during a consultation session for development of the Streamside Protection Regulation. My subsequent collaboration with Erik Karlsen was career-defining,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
Convening for Action in British Columbia
“Erik Karlsen was a thought leader and change agent. Former cabinet minister Joan Sawicki told me that Erik turned networking skills into art form. She added that you could count on Erik to nurture a fragile seed into yet another interdisciplinary cross government committee – of which he himself was always an active member.”
“Erik Karlsen, Ray Fung and I co-created the Water Sustainability Action Plan,” continued Kim Stephens. “When the Partnership rolled it out in February 2004, Erik Karlsen chaired and infused the component Convening for Action initiative with his vision and pragmatic approach to influencing choices by individuals and organizations.
“Erik Karlsen has a special place in the history of the Partnership for Water Sustainability. He was our ‘eminence grise’. He guided us through a sharing and learning process that produced our philosophical foundation. He taught us how pushing the boundaries of our comfort zones achieves breakthroughs.”
History repeats itself with consequences
photo credit: — Magnus Larsson/Flickr. CC BY SA 3.0
“Erik Karlsen was a splendid person and public employee,” stated Mike Harcourt in his 2020 tribute. “Whether it was the Environmental and Land Use Committee Secretariat, the Agricultural Land Commission, or municipal planning and development, he was a quietly skilled leader with huge people skills.”
Erik Karlsen left us with an enduring positive impact on the way we build communities
“Erik Karlsen was a public service entrepreneur. He was tireless at building networks and at mentoring professionals. His amazing collection of friends and associates spoke to his ability to build and maintain relationships,” Dale Wall emphasizes.
“During the time I worked with him he was instrumental in the development of the Georgia Basin Initiative, and in building the base for the protection and restoration of urban waterways. He would later go on to lead the Agricultural Land Commission.”
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Erik Karlsen, an extraordinary legacy
The story behind the story is structured in three parts. In Part One, former cabinet minister Joan Sawicki describes her collaboration with Erik Karlsen, why the Georgia Basin Initiative was successful and why Erik Karlsen was such a key ingredient.
In Part Two, Joan Sawicki and Peter Law explain the unique role played by Erik Karlsen in bridging two ministries to develop the language for riparian area regulatory protection. Part Three presents contemporaneous perspectives on the qualities that made Erik Karlsen one of a kind.
PART ONE: Erik Karlsen brought passion and understanding to the Georgia Basin Initiative
“As a fairly new elected official in the early 1990s, I learned a lot in a very short time under Erik Karlsen’s tutelage,” remembers Joan Sawicki. “I first met Erik in action when Municipal Affairs Minister Darlene Marzari put us together to implement the Georgia Basin Initiative.”
“The Georgia Basin Initiative moved forward because Darlene Marzari assigned Erik Karlsen to work with me. A long-time planner with the ministry, he was a key ingredient. He not only had the passion and understanding for this stuff but was way ahead of his time.”
Pathway towards sustainability
“Even in those ministries where the ‘planning’ word was not allowed to be uttered, you could count on Erik to know the one person in every agency or organization who shared even one common thread of commitment to ecosystem-based community planning.”
Bold and proactive
“As Parliamentary Secretary, I had a visionary document and strong personal support from Minister Marzari at the top. And I had Erik Karlsen’s on-the-ground connections with Basin communities and their issues. All I had to do was run with it. And that’s what we did!”
“We were a very small staff – Judith Cullington, Charmaine Hall, and Brent Mueller. We were a small group but, with Erik’s energy and access to just about everybody everywhere, he created the illusion of something much larger.”
Here, there and everywhere
“We had projects, dozens of them, in every shape and form. We had speeches – everywhere. Erik managed to get me into just about every conference going, every community visioning process, the Urban Development Institute, the Universities, the National Round Table,” continues Joan Sawicki.
“During this time, the Province was also forging protocols and agreements with counterparts across the border. One of our key messages around the Georgia Basin Initiative was that air pollution, water pollution and growth impacts do not stop at the 49th parallel. Erik was instrumental in all of that.”
PART TWO: Erik Karlsen developed the language for riparian area protection
“When I became Minister of Environment, working to try to implement the Fish Protection Act, it was Erik Karlsen from Municipal Affairs who was our most effective front man,” continues Joan Sawicki.
“Where my staff could not get in the door with streamside protection guidelines, Erik not only got in the door, but managed to convince local governments to help write guidelines to which many of them were fundamentally opposed.”
“As Minister, I accompanied Erik to what must have been his 20th meeting with Lower Mainland Councilors and Mayors on streamside protection guidelines. He was amazing to watch – very astute, very strategic, and very persuasive.”
Erik Karlsen had unique insight into the important roles an informed local citizenry and their local governments can play in implementing effective strategies
“Erik Karlsen was delegated the role of being the lead in developing the wording of an Order in Council to enact Section 12 in the Fish Protection Act of 1997,” explains Peter Law. He served with Erik Karlsen on the inter-ministry committee that developed the Streamside Protection Regulation.
“It was a unique position, as this legislation was a Ministry of Environment initiative, led by Erik, who was the Director of Regional Growth Strategies in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.”
“In my view, there was nobody more suited to the task of crafting a Regulation that, in the end, would be embraced by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Province and of course, very wary local government staff and politicians.”
PART THREE: Perspectives on what made Erik Karlsen one-of-a-kind in government
“Erik truly cared about people, about planning, about making communities better. He made a personal connection with people. He also had infinite patience with democracy – and if he constantly pushed the envelope outward, he also had the ability to start from where people were at,” states Joan Sawicki.
“That is why he was such a valuable asset to other ministries – because he had the pulse of local government. He always knew what would work with them and for them, and what would keep them talking and engaged.”
“Erik Karlsen marched to the beat of his own drum. He stood out from others as a change leader, a contrarian thinker, and a gifted teacher,” reflects Lynn Kriwoken. “Erik was a voracious reader and a lifelong learner, continually refining his ideas and keen to hold court and share his learnings with whoever would listen.”
Eric Bonham
“Erik Karlsen was one of a kind who was universally respected by colleagues and politicians alike. He played a major role on so many fronts, including in the development of creative government policy,” recalls Eric Bonham.
Robyn Wark
“Thinking of everything that Erik Karlsen achieved over the years I knew him professionally is very inspiring,” says Robyn Wark.” I realize how influential he has been on my own style of work – particularly the value of networks, desire to bring people together, and leverage everyone’s strengths.”
Tim Pringle
“As it turned out, the Province and the Real Estate Foundation devised and implemented the strategy that got the $$$ flowing,” remembers Tim Pringle. “Erik Karlsen demonstrated his pragmatism and vision; he understood how to play a hand of opportunities to advantage.”
Susan Haid
“(In the late 1990s) there was tension between stakeholders,” recalls Susan Haid. “Yet the productiveness of those dialogues inspired a lot of professionals, myself included, to dig deeper and find solutions and learn. You felt like you were part of a movement. The discussions around the Fish Protection Act had a huge influence shifting perspectives to a bigger scale.”
Bruce Kay
Joan Sawicki’s closing reflections
“Erik Karlsen had a job description like any other employee in the public service, but no supervisor, Assistant Deputy Minister or Deputy Minister, ever had the slightest idea what Erik actually did with his time.”
“When hard pressed to justify his activities, or reprimanded yet again for not at least occasionally keeping the Deputy Minister in the loop, Erik responded with his customary detailed explanation – and charm.”
“You could get exasperated with Erik because he seldom followed the rules – but he got good things done.”
Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Erik Karlsen, an extraordinary legacy
