Tag:

tim pringle

    DOWNLOADS FOR THE FALL 2024 SEASON OF THE LIVING WATER SMART SERIES: “Storytelling is among the oldest forms of communication,” stated Professor Rives Collins, author of ‘The Power of Story: Teaching Through Storytelling’


    We share our world view through our stories and storytelling This is how we pass on our oral history. Storytelling is the way we share intergenerational knowledge, experience and wisdom. “Storytelling is the commonality of all human beings, in all places, in all times,” stated Professor Rives Collins, Northwestern University, author of “The Power of Story: Teaching Through Storytelling”.

    Read Article

    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Local governments need a real number based on financial value if they want to get natural assets into their management plans on a regular basis. EAP gives them that,” stated Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP)


    “The question we asked was, how do you find that number? Well, we can treat a stream as a land use because we have the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation and we have BC Assessment for land values. The rest of it is the methodology that does the right calculation. Local governments have a spatial way of looking at land use. EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is a spatial view because the methodology is keyed to parcels which is as spatial as you can get. EAP allows local governments to explore the financial impact of land development choices,” stated Tim Pringle.

    Read Article

    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Erik Karlsen was the secret sauce who convened the fantastic streamside regulation discussions that created collegiality between municipalities,” recalls Susan Haid, adjunct assistant professor at the University of BC


    Susan Haid has played a leadership role in trailblazing an ecosystem-based approach to community planning in British Columbia, first with the City of Burnaby and then with Metro Vancouver. This approach also took root in her subsequent experience in the District of North Vancouver and the City of Vancouver. “In many ways, what I am teaching comes back to the same kind of framework around ecosystem-based planning which Erik Karlsen and others were advancing in the 1990s, and which is synonymous with watershed-based planning,” stated Susan Haid.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article

    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.

    Read Article