Convening for Action in British Columbia

“We envisioned that the Surrey Forum would be a transformational event and a catalyst for action. One of our goals is to implement an educational program in Metro Vancouver that would be modelled on the Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Series,” stated Raymond Fung.

“The more things change, the more it seems that they stay the same. When British Columbia experienced province-wide drought conditions in 2009, this provided an opportunity to reflect on insights gained and/or lessons learned from previous droughts,” reports Ted van der Gulik.

Ted van der Gulik is a visionary and an innovator. While others talk, Ted does. His accomplishments are many and his innovative leadership encompasses provincial tools such as the Water Balance Model and the Irrigation Scheduling Calculator. Ted brings energy to everything that he does, and he inspires those around him. He is the epitome of the old adage: If you want something done, ask a busy person. Ted will look into the future, identify the desired outcome, and then issue this challenge: Okay, what steps will we take now so that we can get there?

“Can we realistically expect sustainable outcomes if we are using conventional governance models to put sustainable values into practice?,” asked Eva Kras. She overviewed traditional management concepts from the perspective of their effectiveness in meeting the desired goal of sustainability and critiqued whether the values that underpin the current approach to sustainability are indeed adequate for the task.

In his Summer 2009 report to the membership of the BC Water & Waste Association, Eric Bonham reviewed the successes of CAVI and the Vancouver Island Chapter of the BCWWA. Addressing the question “What do we want Vancouver Island to look like in 50 years” calls for partnerships and multidisciplinary involvement that draws a wide range of players to work towards a collective vision. Given this challenge, Vancouver Island’s approach is proactive, directly engaging, informing and educating those who influence or impact how land is developed and water is used. “

“Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island local governments are learning from each other, and are moving in the same direction to build greener communities,” stated John Finnie. ” In particular, CAVI is pleased to see that Vancouver Island experience is integrated into ‘A Recommended Policy Framework for Liquid Resource Management in Metro Vancouver’.”

By aligning Metro Vancouver's Liquid Waste (Resource) Plan with the Province's Living Water Smart initiative, this opens the door to encouraging ‘green choices’ will ripple through time and will be cumulative in creating liveable communities and protecting stream health. “This will ensure that Metro Vancouver’s and senior governments’ environmental and fiscal objectives and actions are mutually supportive and successful,” stated Lois Jackson, Chair.

The neighbourhood plan for the northeast area of the South Campus is for a sustainable community. “These projects provided the Reference Panel with insights regarding what can be achieved by implementing water-centric green infrastructure at three scales: site, street and neighbourhood,” stated UBC’s David Grigg.

The 2009 Surrey Forum is the first step in advancing a regional team approach to rainwater management and green infrastructure that will align local actions in Metro Vancouver with provincial goals as stated in “Living Water Smart, BC’s Water Plan”.

“Climate change is emerging as a driver for rainwater harvesting in the urban regions of British Columbia, partly because of the need to mitigate risk.In Metro Vancouver, for example, a declining snowpack means less water is available to replenish lake storage reservoirs during the high-demand summer season. The need to offset this loss provides an incentive to capture rain where it falls on roof surfaces,” explains Kim Stephens.