“CAVI will move ‘green value' from concept to practice, and encourage a ‘design with nature' way of thinking in local government decision processes,” stated Graeme Bethell.
Nature’s Revenue Streams is a 3-year public-private pilot project, based in Saanich BC. “The project will show how urban development can be used as an opportunity to improve watershed and stream health, build/restore aquatic habitat and reduce infrastructure costs,” stated Patrick Lucey.
Hosted by the Fraser Basin Council, the workshop dealt with adaptive decision-making, water management and climate change; and featured a panel session comprising four speakers representing diverse fields of thought. “The key is to focus on what you want to do. Because many factors are in play, the objective is to build in resiliency to address risk,” stated Kim Stephens.
“It was an interesting mix of planners and engineers. This provided a range of perspectives, from community planning to on-the-ground utility maintenance. Roundtable sessions like this are essential for building understanding,” observed Peter Law (Ministry of Environment).
Tim Pringle stated that,”Residents of growth communities think of themselves as being rural places, but people want urban services. How does a community weigh the benefits and liabilities of change driven by demand for land use? What will determine long-term wellbeing for a community or region when nature is becoming commoditized?”
The City of Dawson Creek hosted a workshop titled “Sustainable Planning and Development for Small Communities”, a program developed by Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation to help small communities. According to Mayor Calvin Kruk, the workshop was attended by municipalities from throughout the Peace River region.
“Sustainability is a buzzword. We hear it daily…but what does it mean in the community context? The Building SustainAble Communities conference, held in Kelowna, provided a timely opportunity for three leading British Columnbian proponents of water-centric sustainability to collaborate in explaining what it means to move along the “soft path” of water use in neighbourhoods and communities,” stated organizer Joanne deVries.
“The Green Infrastructure Partnership and Water Sustainability Committee provide a progress report on what was learned through one-on-one conversations with an ‘ad hoc mayors and chairs focus group' representing three regions of BC,” stated Kim Stephens.
The Policy Research Initiative held a 3-day conference on the future of freshwater policies in Gatineau, Quebec. “Instead of looking at water as a product, alternative approaches to water management consider water as one Gatineau conference – cate soroczanmeans for providing a service – and not always the only or even the best one. This session explored various perspectives on water management,” stated Cate Soroczan, chair of a panel that included two BC perspectives.
Organized by the Canadian Water Resources Association, the Conference was the kick-off for an education process designed to broaden province-wide support for this shared vision: In a fully integrated landscape, water is the unifying element. “To move toward sustainable water management in the Okanagan Basin requires difficult decisions now that will include new governance models that consider the basin as a whole,” stated Brian Guy.
