Convening for Action in British Columbia

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Georgia Basin Initiative

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


    “I came into the EAP process with a completely different background because my master’s degree is in Sustainable Leisure Management. So, it was a journey to get my head around the jargon and the different viewpoints and ways of thinking. This applied not only to the development of the EAP methodology but also to the different stakeholders. The 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at VIU has multiple layers and partnerships and there are many moving parts to keep in balance,” stated Anna Lawrence.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Money is limited, attention spans are short, and choices must be made” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024


    “Over my career, I have worked in four cities, and observed many cities across the country. This experience provides me with context. At the end of the day, good decision-making comes down to a good process. But it also relies on wisdom in terms of balanced advice. When there is a significant level of trust in technical recommendations, Councils rarely override them. Staff explains recommendations. The Council makes the decisions. 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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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: When an elected leader is THE CHAMPION, the community benefits” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024


    “Politicians know how to get elected. But do they know all that other stuff that they need to know? To ask the tough questions, you must be informed and educated about what matters. To be a better, more effective decision maker, you have to understand how things work so that your decisions are in context with other issues. A lot of what happens depends on the leadership, both political and at the staff level. You need BOTH to work. You need the politicians to lead, and you need staff to help educate and bring the politicians along and get good policy,” stated Darrell Mussatto.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Natural Intelligence – a new paradigm for water stewardship” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2024


    “We need both a mindset change and an attitude switch to get through times of crisis. Blue Ecology points the way to water reconciliation between cultures…and with nature. Everyone seems to be focused on Artificial Intelligence, computers and the wonders of all that. But on our doorstep all along is Natural Intelligence. It is ignored because it is not understood,” stated Michael Blackstock. “Look beyond AI to solve your problems. There is this vast amount of wisdom out there that Indigenous peoples have seen forever…and that is Natural Intelligence.”

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “The task at hand is about how to redefine things in a new political environment so you would be able to get a new vision and new political commitment,” stated Ray Fung (1st installment in a series)


    “With the housing issue dominating the conversation, how will you reframe the goal and objective for restoration of stream systems in a way that restores political commitment and rebuilds the coalition? What combination of public self-interest and political lever will it take to effect change? What would leveraging political commitment and self-interest look like for rainwater management and riparian forest integrity in today’s context? What combination will it take to effect change? Learn from past experience. There is no time to reinvent the wheel,” stated Ray Fung.

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    ARTICLE: “Critical thinking is a prerequisite for meaningful data collection!” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Summer 2024)


    “Local governments need data that is meaningful for infrastructure asset management, but quality and usefulness have emerged as issues of paramount concern. Before collecting data, make sure you ask the right questions,” states Kim Stephens. “Be clear on why data is needed. What is the desired outcome? How will you use the information or data? Will it help you make better decisions? How much and what kind of data do you actually need? Does the cost meet the test of being affordable and effective? What are the tradeoffs between risk, complexity and cost?”

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver – solutions to complex problems require deep knowledge” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2024


    “When you think of the issues we face today…weather extremes, drying rivers, degraded streams, frequent wildfires, population growth, housing affordability…they are no different than they were 30 years ago. They are just more complex and more urgent. The Georgia Basin Initiative encouraged us to see the bioregion as an integrated whole, to understand that land, air, water, people, animals and fish are all interconnected. Viewing our growth challenges through this more wholistic lens will give us the best chance to monitor progress,” stated Joan Sawicki.

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    CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “The Partnership hopes that the summit will prove to be a seminal moment in sparking an attitude change about land and water. Time will tell,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability (May 2024)


    “Held every five years as a 3-day event, the BC Land Summit is a watershed moment for showcasing new ideas. The target audiences are those involved in some form of land-related profession. In 2024, the Partnership for Water Sustainability delivered two 90-minute interactive sessions under the banner Caring for the Land Means Going Beyond Just Doing Enough. These sessions were cascading and integrated. A desired outcome is that they would spark innovation and collaboration, by providing valuable insights about the use and conservation of land and water,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: EAP is a financial tool to help streams survive” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2024


    “I am the first master’s student involved in EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process. It is interesting because my research is an applied project that has direct implications for local governments. My research looked at ways we could take EAP from a stream-by-stream approach and apply it to a watershed scale or a regional scale. This might be really useful and cost-effective for local governments that have multiple streams in their jurisdiction. In my thesis, I looked at ways to simplify the process for moving EAP to the regional scale and lower the boundaries to entry on different types of projects,” stated Sam Gerrand.

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    CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “There are many different parts to EAP. With each part comes a pathway with capacity to help local governments,” stated Anna Lawrence, Project Coordinator, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute at Vancouver Island University


    Local government Asset Management Plans need real financial values in order to include budgets for streams. “Led by Tim Pringle, the Partnership for Water Sustainability created the methodology for EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process. EAP has been passed on to VIU as part of the intergenerational baton. Now we are in a 3-year transition strategy to embed it. As we become more familiar with EAP and its applications, it is becoming increasingly apparent that it requires tailored communication to a variety of audiences,” stated Anna Lawrence.

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