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“We are being bold in using the mantra: What do we want Vancouver Island to look like in 50 years? Rather than being guided by 3-year municipal and 4-year provincial government election cycles, we are saying….look 50 years out and backcast to determine what decisions we need to make now to create the future that we want,” stated Eric Bonham. “Major breakthroughs happen when you have decision makers working with the grass-roots.”

“There is growing national and international interest in the British Columbia experience and our lessons learned in moving from talk to action in implementing green infrastructure practices that lead to water sustainability,” explained Kim Stephens. “For this reason, we were asked to provide a knowledge-transfer module at Resilient Cities. This provided us with a platform to tell our story.”

“The Water Balance Model supports new approaches to water management, and will facilitate informed decision-making about climate change adaptation. The Water Balance Model is moving toward an expert system with broad capabilities,” said Ted van der Gulik.

“Set the vision based upon community values, support the vision with information and education via the Water Bucket website, and apply web-based water management tools to make better decisions,” summarized Kim Stephens.

“The website is a vehicle for documenting and then sharing what takes place in forums organized under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan. We are writing our history as we create it,” stated Mike Tanner.

“It certainly appears that the British Columbia Water Sustainability Action Plan has had some valuable experiences in different areas and projects, which could be of great assistance in encouraging participants to see that “it is possible to do something positive”, and to definitely encourage increased involvement at all levels,” stated Eva Kras, President of the Canadian Society of Ecological Economics.

“The Action Plan is a partnership delivery vehicle for the Province’s Living Water Smart and Green Communities Project. Through outreach and education, the guiding vision is to influence land and water practitioners to learn about and use practices that better balance the necessary relationships of settlement activity and ecological assets in local and regional landscapes,” stated Glen Brown.

“Sustainability imperatives, the call for climate action, and the pressure for new approaches in almost every urban system have North American cities scrambling to manage the shift toward ecological practices and greater resilience,” states Gene Miller. There is growing national and international interest in how BC has moved from awareness to action in implementing green infrastructure practices.