Category:

…2019

LEGACY DOCUMENT: Re-Cap and Reflections on Parksville 2019, second in the Vancouver Island Symposia Series on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate (released October 2019)


Close to 200 delegates came from far and wide to participate in the Parksville 2019 Symposium, the second in the symposia series. “Thank you so much for the immense amount of work you do to protect ecosystem services and teach us all about taking responsibility. The Vancouver Island symposium on water stewardship was so inspiring and informative. It was a wonderful experience. I left Parksville feeling hopeful,” stated Councillor Laura Dupont, City of Port Coquitlam.

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GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: “Primer on Integrating Natural Assets into Asset Management” (released by Asset Management BC, September 2019)


The Primer builds on foundations established by two initiatives – EAP, Ecological Accounting Process; and MNAI, Municipal Natural Assets Initiative. “It is great that we have two initiatives in British Columbia that focus on the role of natural assets in supporting quality of life and property enjoyment,” states Emanuel Machado. He is MNAI Chair. “Ecological systems play a fundamental role in a local government’s ability to deliver services to its residents and businesses.”

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ARTICLE: Sustainable Service Delivery in a Changing Climate – A Moment of Reckoning! (Asset Management BC Newsletter, September 2019)


The focus of the article is on how elders are leading by example to bridge a demographic gap until Generations X, Y and Z take the inter-generational baton. Greenland’s glaciers are melting; the Amazon forest is on fire. At a moment in history when the phrase ‘climate emergency’ is top of mind for many, and given that there is no easy or quick fix, the article reminds us that history repeats itself. Or, as the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1848, “the more things change, the more they are the same”.

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GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: “Town of Comox – A ‘Beacon of Hope’ for Citizen Science in Action & Reconnecting Hydrology and Ecology through the Water Balance Approach to Land Development” (#8 in the Watershed Case Profile Series, released September 2019)


“The Town was not willing to entertain any development in middle Brooklyn unless there was a demonstrated program that would eliminate any increased risks to the Town; be they flooding or environmental,” stated Shelley Ashfield. “When the EAP analysis then connected the creek to the concept of it being an asset of the Town, this provided Staff with one more way to link the stream to the health of the community. The concept of the stream as an asset allows the Town to include it in the plans to manage all of the Town’s assets on behalf of the community for future generations.”

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ARTICLE: Reflections on Intergenerational Learning, Or Not? – a core message is that different generations have different perspectives because of the way they grew up which formed beliefs and thinking patterns (Asset Management BC Newsletter, July 2019)


“Asset management (for sustainable service delivery) and water sustainability are both top priorities for local governments. But the primary challenge is ‘integration’ and getting every discipline or department within an organization to recognize the contributions of the others plus get the organization working together on a common path. Another major challenge is communicating and understanding the message. The work environment is changing with time as are the methods of communicating and the form of the messages,” wrote Wally Wells.

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DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCE: “An Introduction to the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP)”, released at the Parksville 2019 Symposium (April 2019)


“The Ecological Accounting Process offers some insights on the importance of considering the natural commons as systems that residents, property owners and local governments rely on, but understand only to a limited extent,” stated Tim Pringle. “The commons are those resources in the community that are shared by and available to all residents and property owners. From a human settlement point of view, the reality of the commons provides a way to understand the social realities of managing ecological systems. EAP helps communities calculate what ecological services are worth.”

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OP-ED ARTICLE: Citizen science is in action in British Columbia (published in the Vancouver Province in February 2019)


“Throughout British Columbia, an amazing network of volunteer groups is working to protect, restore and enhance local streams. This movement has its roots in the partnership-based Urban Salmon Habitat Program (USHP) of the 1990s. Under the USHP umbrella, provincial staff fulfilled a coordinating role with local government, keeping elected officials informed on the activities of stewards within their community,” states Eric Bonham.

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ARTICLE: Parksville 2019 Symposium – Make Where We Live Better through Restorative Development (Asset Management BC Newsletter, February 2019)


“At Parksville 2019, delegates will learn how communities can apply science-based understanding to increase their restorative footprint and at the same time decrease their destructive footprint. Delegates will also learn about local government initiatives that are ‘getting it right’ and are moving along pathways that lead to restorative land development,” states Paul Chapman. “A decade of effort on Vancouver Island, by partnerships of local governments and community stewards, is demonstrating success on the ground where it matters.”

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GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: Primer on the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP) – A Methodology for Valuing the ‘Water Balance Services’ Provided by Nature (released January 2019)


Marvin Kamenz coined the term “package of ecological services” to describe the many advantages the Town of Comox expects to receive from a creekshed now and in the future. “The Ecological Accounting Process focuses on the worth of ecological services to residents, rather than their imputed value. Thus, worth deals with real numbers which local governments need to deliver outcomes. Looking through the ‘worth lens’ proved transformational in the Town of Comox,” stated Marvin Kamenz.

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