Convening for Action in British Columbia

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Georgia Basin Initiative

    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “When we showed the picture of the Riparian Forest Integrity versus Total Impervious Area relationship to the Metro Vancouver Board, they agreed that things had to change. Things will get worse if we do not change our ways,” stated Robert Hicks, career engineer-planner in local government


    “The federal and provincial representatives advocated for a new business as usual regarding downstream flooding of agricultural lands and fish habitat preservation. The priorities were hydrology and riparian forest canopy which is why we involved Rich Horner of the University of Washington in our watershed assessment and classification work in the late 1990. The research team tested a system using 19 streams that were representative of physiography and land development patterns in the region. In 1999, the majority of streams were in the FAIR and POOR categories,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Land planning perspective for liability reduction along streams” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in November 2024


    “The starting point for EAP is Natural Asset Management. It lets local governments know the financial value of their streams as a Natural Commons Asset. EAP is a spatial view because the methodology is keyed to parcels which is as spatial as you can get. The EAP process allows local governments to transcend the numbers and explore the financial impact of land development choices. And it is also about solutions. Planners have a spatial way of looking at land use. So, I imagine that they would like to have a means of understanding a stream from a spatial point of view,” stated Tim Pringle.

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    ARTICLE: “Look beyond AI, Artificial Intelligence, to solve your problems” – (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Winter 2024)


    “Natural Intelligence, aka NI, has emerged from Blue Ecology which itself bridges Indigenous Wisdom and Western Science. Blue Ecology is about creating a new form of knowledge by interweaving useful threads from two cultures. At the Asset Management BC conference, Michael Blackstock understands that he will be speaking to an engineering-centric audience whose world revolves around numbers and inanimate objects such as pipes and pavement. Taking nature into account is not something that comes naturally to a municipal asset manager,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “A Helijet flight to Victoria is the story behind the story of how BC’s Growth Strategies Act came to be. Municipal Affairs Minister Darlene Marzari sat next to me in the only vacant seat. She said, Ken, we have to talk,” stated Ken Cameron, co-architect of Metro Vancouver’s Livable Region Strategic Plan in the 1990s (4th installment in a preview series)


    “Darlene Marzari said I have a staff and you have a board. We have to find a way of working around that. So, I met with her on a Saturday morning and made a presentation about the draft Livable Region Strategic Plan to an audience of one. No advisors. At the end of the presentation, she said “I want to do that. I want to make that possible”. The provincial government was beginning to talk about growth strategies It was fortunate that Metro Vancouver had a plan that was ready to go just at the time Darlene Marzari was inventing the mandate for it,” stated Ken Cameron.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Understand why the Livable Region Strategic Plan matters” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024


    “In 1990, the Metro Vancouver region initiated a growth strategy embodying many Smart Growth principles. The Plan had four pillars: a Green Zone, complete communities, a compact region, and increased transportation choice. A year ago, a group of us met with regional planning staff to pass on our knowledge and experience. Our message was, use the strengths of the unique regional planning system you have. We did this in the interest of providing current staff with some personal background on the Livable Region Strategic Plan,” stated Ken Cameron.

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    EAP TRANSITION STRATEGY PARTNERSHIP: “There are many different parts to the Ecological Accounting Protocol. With each part comes a pathway with capacity to help local governments. The Partnership for Water Sustainability has passed EAP on to Vancouver Island University as part of the intergenerational baton,” stated Anna Lawrence, Program Coordinator for the EAP Transition Strategy Partnership


    During the 6-year period of applied research, the Partnership for Water Sustainability relied on staff at the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute and VIU students to do data analysis and GIS work. Now, with the EAP Transition Strategy Partnership, MABRRI is the program lead and the Partnership has an oversight and mentoring role. Everyone is learning together. Local government staff. The MABRRI team. VIU students. This is how you build capacity through collaboration,” stated Anna Lawrence.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Reflections on the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University – Regional District of Nanaimo experience” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024


    “The RDN completed a natural assets inventory which identifies where we think all the natural assets are within the region. But we have not identified which have a definable service. With French Creek, we are hoping that we can identify some of those peripheral areas within French Creek, generate some M&M (maintenance and management) figures, and merge the inventory and asset management approaches. A measure of convergence is when you have a real number that you can use for pragmatic planning,” stated Murray Walters in explaining selection of French Creek.

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Money is limited, the time politicians can spend on any one issue is short, and choices need to be made. So, whoever makes a compelling case in the moment for their issue…well all of sudden the priorities of a local government are different,” stated Pete Steblin, former City Manager in the Metro Vancouver region (3rd installment in a preview series)


    “At local government conferences these days, you hear the term CAO roadkill a lot. Chief administrative officer positions are tenuous. Look around the Metro Vancouver region. More than half are different than just 18 months ago. Is it any wonder that a prevalent attitude among senior local government staff is, do not stick your head out of the foxhole? When there is a significant level of trust in technical recommendations, Councils rarely override them. Trust is fragile and can easily be broken. When trust is lost, decades of good work can be lost,” stated Pete Steblin.

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “When there is trust and respect between politicians and staff, good outcomes for the community are more likely to result,” stated Darrell Mussatto, former mayor North Vancouver City (2nd installment in a preview series)


    “My goal when I was elected mayor in 2005 was all about climate change. After the first month, I organized a meeting with the top 40 staff to share my vision. Part way through my presentation, some staff put their hands up and said…Darrell, we are there with you, we are there. When staff do not feel intimidated, they can be bolder. When elected leaders have a trust-based relationship with their senior staff, and everyone works together to make the community a better place, that is when you really get things moving in the right direction,” stated Darrell Mussatto.

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    EAP TRANSITION STRATEGY PARTNERSHIP: “We have seen the value of natural asset management ever since we did Buttertubs Marsh in 2016 and Millstone River in 2020. Moving forward with it is a key driver within City Plan: Nanaimo Reimagined,” stated Bill Sims, General Manager of Engineering and Public Works with the City of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island


    “Nanaimo is all-in with our commitment to EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process. This commitment derives from the Community Charter where one of the Council’s primary duties is stewardship of the community’s assets. We are getting better and better all the time at stewarding the gray infrastructure assets. Now we must do the same with natural assets. When the EAP Partnership idea came up, the most attractive element was the ability to pass on the torch from our generation and the older generation to the next generation without losing the experience and the knowledge that we have intrinsically built up,” stated Bill Sims.

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