“CAVI organizes convening for action forums, challenges Vancouver Island communities to visualize what they want to look like in 50 years, and is building leadership capacity to ‘design with nature’ to manage settlement change and adapt to climate change,” states John Finnie.
“The Tsolum story underscores the value of community stewards working collaboratively with government agencies and the private sector towards a common vision. It also highlights the need for dedicated insiders within government who ‘stay the course’ and remain committed,” wrote Eric Bonham.
“From 2003 through 2010, the Water Sustainability Committee was the hub for a partnership network operating in the local government setting. Going forward, the Partnership is now that hub,” stated Tim Pringle, Partnership President.
“The City of Surrey, Bowker Creek Initiative and District of North Vancouver stand out because of their sustained commitment to outcome-oriented approaches: Establish the vision, set the target, and then implement,” observes Corino Salomi.”
“The Forum program was designed for local government, and was built around the ‘infrastructure liability’ theme. Fiscal constraints provide a driver for a change in the way local governments plan, finance, implement, and over time replace infrastructure,” reports John Finnie.
Comox Valley local governments are aligning efforts, building leadership capacity and striving for consistency. “We have moved beyond continuing education solely for the purpose of professional development. We are exploring what implementation of regional policy means on the ground,” states Glenn Westendorp. “All those involved in land development have a role to play in achieving Sustainable Service Delivery. The players include land use and infrastructure professionals.”
“CAVI is an innovative and precedent-setting approach to partnerships and collaboration that brings Together those who plan and regulate land use, those who build and those who provide the legislative framework,” wrote Eric Bonham. “Vancouver Island is the pilot region for rollout of ‘Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual’ with the adoption of an innovative approach to practitioner education. This provincial initiative builds on the foundation provided by ‘Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia’, published in 2002, and incorporates further lessons learned over the past 6 years.”
“The arts are an effective way to engage the broader community. Community celebration events draw people out and bring them together. Our experience is that the community events are the forums for engagement. People eagerly embrace the opportunities for engagement and education. They really want to share their thoughts and experiences. Residents have a stake in restoring watershed health. There is so much experience that we can mine. We who live in the watershed are the experts,” stated Soren Henrich.
“Showcasing of the Lower Cowichan River integrated plan for flood management creates an opportunity for inter-valley sharing because we in the Comox Valley can learn from the recent experience of our peers in the Cowichan Valley,” stated Glenn Westendorp.
STEAL THIS IDEA! – “Three half-hour segments gave participants the chance to check out their favourite ideas and get the scoop on how to bring them back to their own communities. This session was held for the first time during the 2010 conference and it was very popular with delegates,” explains Azzah Jeena. “There was a great deal of excitement and energy in the room and it seemed that delegates were very engaged during the various roundtable discussions. The on-the-spot evaluation in the session room indicated a high level of satisfaction with the content and format of the session.”
