Category:

“The Hastings Creek Blueprint provides the tools to tell a story and share information with our residents. One of the ways to foster more sustainable behavior and the protection of watersheds such as Hastings Creek is to engage residents so that they feel connected personally to their watershed. It is not a matter of only saying what the District can do for the watershed. Rather, it must be all the stakeholders. We have started the process with collaboration with the streamkeepers who are already engaged,” states Julie Pavey.

“Water sustainability literally flows from a community's land ethic. If we treat the land with respect, the water resource will be protected. That is the essence of integration. We often hear experts talk about cumulative impacts when they explain degradation of water quality. Well, the flip side of a problem is an opportunity. Through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practices, we can achieve cumulative benefits over time, one property at a time,” stated Kim Stephens.

“The Partnership for Water Sustainability has a vision for reconnecting communities with the land. Simply put, we believe if we respect the land, water sustainability will follow. Getting there requires a change in mind-set and land ethic. We describe this as MISSION POSSIBLE because those operating in the local government setting can now access tools and experience that will enable them to make a difference. Our approach is top-down and bottom-up. It is keyed to three words: ALIGNMENT, COLLABORATION, INTEGRATION,” stated Kim Stephens.

The two day GreenLink 2010 conference event attracted an international audience and “linked” the best of the best in Sustainable Communities, Finance, Technology and Government. “It was a real pleasure to take part in the Smarter Water Management panel and in particular to hear about the far-sighted and imaginative approach that the BC Government is taking to identifying, managing and educating people about the province’s water management issues. I am sure that this approach will provide lessons for other areas that seek to address their water management needs,” stated moderator Peter Williams.

“OKIM is the acronym for Okanagan Irrigation Management,” stated Ted van der Gulilk. “This online tool allows landowners to obtain information on metered water use, calculated theoretical water demand, and land use data for their properties.”

“We will use this coming together of BC's local leaders to share and learn from each other's experiences, and gain ideas to move our own communities forward,” said Harry Nyce. “The spirit of collaboration and newfound bonds that we have fostered in 2010 are undeniably valuable. But without action, we cannot move our communities forward. This year’s Convention will offer an opportunity to…. take our goals, and forge them into tangible outcomes….and continue to build gold medal standard communities.”

“One reaches a point in one’s career and one’s life when talk is not enough… it is the action, the outcome (that is important). Convening for action is our branding. Convening for action as a provincial initiative has evolved over the last five years. We started in the South Okanagan. By 2006, we were ready to go a bigger scale. We said let’s take on a whole region. That became Convening for Action on Vancouver Island. We applied the lessons that we learned in the South Okanagan. We asked the question: what do we want this place to look like in 50 years?”, stated Kim Stephens.

“We needed a way for all the departments to hear the same information at the same time; and we needed to know what is most relevant. The most efficient way to satisfy our information needs was to gather as a group and have a conversation with Kim Stephens,” stated Rodney Stott.

The School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC (SCARP) held its 2nd Annual Symposium in March 2010. The theme was Planning for Resilience. In his presentation, Kim Stephens responded to these questions: What potential crises is British Columbia facing presently or in the future regarding water? What is the state of current Provincial policies? What changes are needed and what lessons can we learn from other areas facing similar challenges?

“The organizers had heard about what we are doing in British Columbia; and so they asked me to tell the BC story in Toronto to a mainly Ontario audience. This provided a timely opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved since 2004, and identify universal principles that should be applicable anywhere,” explained Kim Stephens.