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“In BC, we have come to the realization that prescriptive approaches stifle innovation. By telling people how far they must go, that’s as far as they go. They don’t go much beyond what is required for an approval. The approach that we are taking is to set the goal. As a result, we are seeing people in local governments leapfrogging each other to see how close they can get to the goal,” stated Chris Jensen.

The goal in holding the Leadership Forum was to start a conversation that will lead to an Island-wide dialogue around achieving settlement change in balance with ecology. The Forum was structured in two parts. In the morning, there was a celebration of on-the-ground successes. This prepared participants for a brainstorming session in the afternoon. “If we are to control our destiny, then we need to challenge Vancouver Islanders to visualize what they want this place to look like in 50 years and get on with creating our future,” stated Rod Sherrell, AVICC President and Chair of the Mount Waddington Regional District.

Comox Strathcona Regional District, the City of Courtenay and Town of Comox are making progress on the ground because they communicate and collaborate. “We are collaborating to make things happen at the operational level. Local government collaboration is one of the keys to Connecting to Sustainability,” stated Kevin Lagan. “The three C’s is a cornerstone of making it happen: these are communication, cooperation and cost-sharing. Whether it is between governments, developers or NGO’s we can all achieve more and be winners if we work together.”

“The Water Sustainability Committee provides a forum for the Ministry of Environment to engage with a variety of partners. This leads to leveraging of efforts through programs such as the Showcasing Innovation Series,” stated Zita Bothelo. “Shared stewardship means shared responsibility and accountability for water at the most appropriate scale and capacity.   It takes different forms depending on the players involved and the nature and complexity of water issues and decisions.

Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI) and the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities (AVICC) are co-hosting the Forum. “As an outcome of the highly successful Creating Our Future Consultation Workshop that CAVI held in June, the CAVI leadership asked me if I would be their AVICC Liaison. The Green Infrastructure Leadership Forum is a concept that resonated. The rest is history, as they say,” stated Councillor Barry Avis.

“CAVI will ultimately comprise an array of program elements that celebrate and advance on-the-ground examples of green infrastructure innovation and ‘designing with nature',” stated Kim Stephens.

“By pooling resources under a regional partnership framework, local governments can leverage the efforts of their own staffs and develop a common understanding of issues and solutions,” explained Paul Ham.

A panel session created a timely opportunity to compare an American top-down prescriptive approach versus a Canadian bottom-up educational approach. Kim Stephens introduced this perspective: “A decade ago, British Columbia and Washington State had the same science and a common understanding of what it meant. And we agreed on the need to tackle land use because that is where changes in hydrology are created. The point of departure for rainwater management and green infrastructure was the same. A decade later, are we on diverging paths? For us, designing with nature has become a rallying cry.”

“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.