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“We learn through stories. This is how we pass on our oral history. Storytelling is the way we share intergenerational knowledge, experience and wisdom. This is why each and every edition of Waterbucket eNews is built around a conversational interview. The Partnership shares the ‘stories behind the stories’ of community innovators and champions in the local government and stewardship sectors with this outcome in mind: That successive generations will be inspired by can-do leaders and will grow the knowledge network. Learn. Do. Adapt. Tell the story,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Knowledge-sharing stories tend to be about problems and have a different pattern from the traditional well-told story. They are told with context, and have something traditional stories lack: an explanation,” wrote Stephen Denning, author of The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. “Telling stories that build on real knowledge sharing situations, enables individuals to gather in some of the understanding of the storyteller as well as recast the story into their own contextual work environment; hence adding their own understanding to the process”.

“The Partnership mission is to build a network that fosters support in developing solutions to today’s water sustainability challenges. These range from sharing accurate, scientifically grounded knowledge to weeding through political agendas and misinformation; and from the status quo to embracing a wholistic, environmentally sound wisdom. The takeaway message is that we can support each other to make everyone’s work easier by creating a knowledge network. In these busy times, there is tremendous value in networks to help solve problems together,” stated Remi Dube.

The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency opened a Pandora’s box. The cascading impact of his uncivility spilled across the US-British Columbia border and has poisoned our well. Over the past decade, the consequences of incivility have been playing out in the world of local government. Now what? Local government is at a tipping point. “History reminds us that seasons of civic decay and renewal are not new,” writes Diane Kalen-Sukra. Could her book, Lead with Civility, be the spark that catalyzes action to turn the cultural tide in British Columbia?

“Lead with Civility is a phoenix-like rising from the ashes of toxic culture. Diane Kalen-Sukra brilliantly threads together time-tested civic wisdom with hard-won insights from years in the fray,” stated Professor Emeritus Ron Dart. The phoenix does not rise on rhetoric. It rises on embers tended: memory restored, standards reset, trust rebuilt, truth told, compassion enacted, responsibility shared. That is the work before us. That is why this book matters. It is a book to be studied, applied, and returned to often. Renewal is a craft, learned by doing again and again.”

“The asset management process does not include futures. Only when an asset is newly constructed is it added to the register. That disconnect got me thinking. Infrastructure must one day be replaced. In the meantime, what do we do with the futures stuff? Where does the process and plan fit into the big picture for municipal councils? Councils have dealt with the futures stuff and the need for master plans for decades. But what is missing from the futures agenda is an equal master plan dealing with the future condition of existing infrastructure,” stated Wally Wells.

“We put all our energies into planning for the future to accommodate growth. It is almost to the point where infrastructure is an afterthought. Then we create an extreme variety of demands and high levels of service that we cannot possibly sustain. Local government is dealing with a double-edged sword. The demand for services and quantity of services is going through the roof. But there is a clash with the willingness of residents to pay for those services. But the revenue from development cost charges and user rates is not enough to cover asset renewal,” stated Bill Sims.

The Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation brings to life an exciting period in local government “convening for action” history. The Chronicle weaves quotable quotes by those who were in the frontlines of the green infrastructure movement to tell their story. “Creating change is not easy. We talk a lot about barriers that must be overcome. But the real issue is inertia. It takes effort and energy to get everyone moving in the right direction. And it requires a willingness to take calculated risks. By 2012, we had good reasons for optimism when we looked ahead,” stated Richard Boase.

“What can we learn from the period 2012 through 2017? What takeaways and insights should we apply in 2026? Will we? Context is everything. Polarization, COVID and AI. This harmful combination impacted the trajectory for what might otherwise have been achieved through peer-based learning and collaboration across boundaries. Deep knowledge is being ignored or dismissed at an alarming rate. Our world seems to be getting more wobbly, more unstable, more uncertain, and for all sorts of reasons. Storytelling is needed more than ever,” stated Kim Stephens.

“As individuals, under deadlines and demands for expediency, we can easily forget to look beyond local resources. Accepting and sharing concepts and points of view becomes part of a synergistic process that promotes others above self and focuses on the mission at hand. Constructive collaboration with others creates a powerful tool that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Because of transformational events, such as COVID, we have rapidly shifted to an era where trusted knowledge sharing has become more important than ever,” stated Derek Richmond.