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“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.”

“Implementing change is primarily a people matter, not a technical one. Bridging the gap between interest and practice involves motivating practitioners to engage in ways that provide sufficient meaning to inspire them and lead to action. The desired outcome is implementation of on-the-ground changes in policies, programs, applied research, practitioner education and standards of practice that lead to full integration of land development and water management. In a fully ‘integrated landscape’, water is the unifying element,” stated Erik Karlsen.

“In 2005, we started a conversation about a water balance way-of-thinking and acting which continues to this day, We built the workshop program around the Water OUT=Water IN paradigm. The equation is deceptively simple, yet it embodies the basic principles and concepts for dealing with uncertainty and managing risk. It allows us to draw attention to the elements of the water cycle,” stated Robert Hicks. “Thinking back to Penticton, a decade later I think the one theme which remains a challenge is for decision advisors to translate issues into language that decision makers can understand.”

“I see my years of chairing the Green Infrastructure Partnership as helping to get the ball rolling and ideas disseminated, on green infrastructure, all of which has subsequently been taken up by others to a much greater degree of implementation and success. Our efforts a decade ago moved the state of-the-art of green infrastructure to a more mainstream level,” said Paul Ham. “Chairing the Partnership made me realize how many new ideas in sustainable servicing were being tried out around the Metro Vancouver region and in other parts of the province.”

“After ten years of involvement with the Partnership for Water Sustainability, I feel as committed as ever. At times, I find myself amazed at the collective expertise of the volunteers who work in Partnership initiatives. Their wisdom makes the work of the Partnership efficient; it allows a great deal to be done with very limited dollars. We collaborate with practitioners as equals and take services to their territories,” states Tim Pringle. “The Partnership makes available tools and support services that enable practitioners to focus on water sustainability as an essential form maker of our communities. We all live in a watershed.”

“The waterbucket.ca website facilitates communication and integration across initiatives, regions, sectors and disciplines and links these in order to foster development and implementation of ‘Design with Nature’ practices. We share stories about how practitioners can reduce project (and environmental) costs by applying ‘Design with Nature’ principles,” explained Mike Tanner. “Through working together and helping each other in collective projects, we have built a sense of trust and co-operation with others that extends beyond the tasks at hand.”

“When CAVI began, we established a goal that Vancouver Island would be well on its way to water sustainability by 2010. CAVI has moved forward significantly and successfully promoted the message of water sustainability by engaging governments, developers and the community in water-centric thinking, planning and development activities,” states John Finnie. “There is much yet to be done but I believe we have succeeded in our goal and in fact exceeded our program expectations.  Water sustainability is now a common thread in discussions and decisions about land development, water use and water conservation.”

“For me, the watershed moment for the CAVI-Comox Valley Leadership Team occurred in 2010. The ‘ah-ah’ moment for all parties lay in recognizing the importance of getting things done right at the front-end; and that by aligning collective efforts on a watershed scale, a regional response to (minimizing) infrastructure liability could be achieved,” stated Derek Richmond. “The first four years had seen significant progress towards developing, understanding and sharing water-centric principles and ideas through cooperation and collaboration.”

The genesis for the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia dates back to March 2003 when the vision and partnership concept first took shape for doing a 5-year update on A Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia, released in 1998. “Sustainable communities are all about choices – choices that become reality very quickly, with lasting consequences. In the years ahead, much will depend on getting the choices right in British Columbia, especially in those communities that are experiencing growth and/or renewal,” states Lynn Kriwoken.

“Major breakthroughs happen when decision-makers in government work with grass-roots visionaries in the community to create the future desired by all. Collaboration grows from a shared vision about the future and commitment to action. This is the ‘top down and bottom up’ approach,” states Eric Bonham. “It is about turning the whole game around to ‘design with nature’ as a consistent approach to development and redevelopment, urban infrastructure practices, and protection/restoration of stream and watershed health.”