“A core group of local government champions representing five geographic regions affirmed that it will function as an inter-regional leadership team; and has framed the ultimate outcome of an inter-regional series of working sessions in these terms: ‘Through sharing and learning, ensure that where we are going is indeed the right way’,” stated Kim Stephens.
“Council defined our top public policy questions ‐ things like sustainable residential development and how do adopt a climate action plan. We handed these priorities to citizen led working groups. We wanted these citizens to begin writing our public policy for us. And they have,” stated Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.
“The Surrey Sustainability Charter is about making the right choices and doing the right things. The Charter provides a comprehensive lens through which we will view all future initiatives, programs and plans. It provides us with a framework to best develop and manage Surrey’s human and physical resources to create a strong, sustainable city,” states Mayor Dianne Watts.
“Once we know what we want our watersheds and neighbourhoods to look like, the next step is to decide what the tools are that will get us there. All of us – regulators, developers or designers – need to understand and care about the goal if we are to create the future that we all want,” states Vincent Lalonde
“The workshop demonstrated how local government practioners in Metro Vancouver are meeting the challenge of moving from planning to action. By bringing people together to share their experiences, we believe effective implementation of the design with nature principles can be addressed through practical changes,” Paul Ham stated.
“The goal was to build regional capacity through sharing of green infrastructure approaches, experiences and lessons learned as an outcome of ‘designing with nature’. The pilot series was a building block process – each time the objective was to raise the bar when celebrating successes,” states Ray Fung.
“The learning outcome for the mini-charrette was that participants would be able to express how green infrastructure policies and practices can be successfully implemented at the site scale to protect stream health at the watershed scale,” stated Remi Dube.
“Living Water Smart provides a framework and sets a direction. The purpose in convening for action is to establish consistent expectations on-the-ground: This is what we want to achieve, and this is how we will get there. Our immediate objective in convening for action is to encourage ‘green choices’ that will ripple through time,” stated Kim Stephens.
“The course was designed to assist local governments and consultants delivering the ISMPs to understand options available. Many local governments were struggling with having these done in a fashion that is meaningful for their community – we hoped that the course would open minds and lead to application of new ideas,” stated Carrie Baron.
“We place great value on working with others to ensure the ongoing sustainability of that resource (water) which is a key contributor to the quality of life residents of Metro Vancouver enjoy. Our relationship with Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC is a good example of that collaborative approach,” stated Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
