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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At the recent 2011 Sustainable Communities Conference, organized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), innovators from across Canada shared their breakthrough examples of municipal sustainability in an interactive session titled Steal This Idea! “The session introduced delegates to the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia,” stated Emanuel Machado, session moderator. He credits a workshop in December 2006 as a defining moment in facilitating a paradigm-shift in Dawson Creek because “it was a catalyst and source of inspiration for changing the way water is viewed and used in the City of Dawson Creek.”

“The Partnership will continue to evolve and deliver program elements developed under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director. “Now, the Partnership provides a legal entity for building on the existing Action Plan foundation and creating a lasting legacy. The Partnership vision is that water sustainability will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practice “

Since 2004, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia has championed the way-of-thinking and acting embodied in the phrase ‘design with nature’. This paradigm is borrowed from the seminal book by Ian McHarg because it captures the essence of climate change adaptation. Adaptation is about responding to the changes that will inevitably occur. Adaptation is at the community level and is therefore about collaboration. His premise is simple: “that the shaping of land for human use ought to be based on an understanding of natural process.”

“watebucket.ca is the key to the communications strategy for the Water Sustainability Action Plan. The website is designed to provide the complete story on integrated land and water management – why, what, where and how,” states Mike Tanner. “Water Bucket stories establish expectations about program curricula and event outcomes. To get the word out, we work with our partners to craft email-type news releases that are complete with embedded links. We are finding that these news releases are taking on a life of their own.”

“The Water Sustainability Action Plan has allowed the Province to leverage partnerships to greatly enhance the profile and resulting impact of Living Water Smart,” states Kim Stephens. “The Action Plan partners are playing a key delivery role in two of the five Living Water Smart theme areas, namely: community planning and development; and efficiency, outreach, public awareness. In effect, the Action Plan partners are functioning as the on-the-ground Living Water Smart implementation arm with local government. This means that the Living Water Smart team can focus their work effort on legislative reform.”

“A decade ago, we made a conscious decision to follow an educational rather than prescriptive path in BC. We have established higher expectations and challenged practitioners to embrace shared responsibility. “The program goals for Living Water Smart and Green Communities constitute a ‘call to action’ on the part of local governments,” stated Glen Brown. “The Action Plan story is a good news story. It is a story of collaboration, partnerships and alignment at three levels: provincial, regional and local. Moreover, the Action Plan is adding value on the ground and supporting provincial outcomes.”

Eric Bonham has been proactive on water related issues for 40 years. He is an advocate for bringing together local government and community advocates in a new form of governance that involves decision makers in government working with visionaries in the community to create desired outcomes. He calls this ‘mission possible’.

“The role of the Technical Advisors is to apply their expertise and perspective to the potential policy options for a modernized Water Act. This is about making BC's water laws simpler to understand, communicate, administer and enforce as communities respond to current and future challenges,” explained Lynn Kriwoken. “As we move into our next phase of policy development, we are seeking input from external technical experts. Individuals with First Nations and non-government organizations have been invited to participate in the process in an advisory capacity.”

“Outcome-oriented planning is a problem-solving PROCESS. It is not a procedure. It is not a matter of applying a regulation or a checklist. Going through a process becomes talent development. Participants have to be committed to the outcome. Focus on values and actions. Keep it simple,” explained Tim Pringle. “To get there, they have to function as a team. It is the talent development process that enables development of outcome-oriented plans. It is very definitely a grounded approach.”

BC local government is among the most autonomous in Canada, and BC is perhaps the least prescriptive province. Historically, the Province has enabled local government by providing policy and legal tools in response to requests from local government. The future desired by all will be created through alignment of federal, provincial, regional and local policies and actions. Major breakthroughs happen when decision makers in government work with grass-roots visionaries in the community to create desired outcomes. “Everyone needs to agree on expectations and how they will work together, and after that each community can reach its goals in its own way,” stated Eric Bonham.