Town of View Royal shares its Green Infrastructure Grant Template with other British Columbia communities
Meet and greet starts at 8:30am. Program concludes at 2:30pm after walkabout. To download agenda, click here.
A Benchmark for Comparison
According to the BC Ministry of Community Development, the Town of View Royal has developed a Green Infrastructure Grant Template that establishes a provincial benchmark for other municipalities to measure themselves against when applying for senior government funding. “In 2007, the Town’s vision and innovation 
was rewarded by a $7.4 million grant to fund the first phase of old Island Highway Enhancement Project (IHIP),” reports Emmet McCusker, the Town’s Director of Engineering.
“When we host the Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation Series on September 12, the Town of View Royal will be sharing our grant-winning application with our municipal colleagues,” continues Emmet McCusker. “We are doing this in the spirit of collaboration. In making the template available, we hope our action will further accelerate the application of an ecosystem approach to roadscape enhancement.”
How to Register
For a program overview and registration details, click on this link to download a copy of Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation in the Town of View Royal. Registration will be capped at 32. To register, contact Marlene Mullett at 250-479-6800 or mmullett@town.viewroyal.bc.ca
Demonstrate Innovation
The Town is taking a novel approach to sharing its Green Infrastructure Grant Template: as part of the Showcasing Innovation day, it is organizing an interactive group exercise using case study examples provided by other municipalities. The exercise will co-led by Emmet McCusker and Wayne Gibson, the transportation consultant who developed the Town’s Transportation Master Plan.
“On September 12, we will provide our audience with a starting point and common understanding by first describing the holistic, ecosystem approach that View Royal has embraced as an outcome of a comprehensive consultation process. This overview will encompass the transportation and drainage perspectives,” advises Emmet McCusker. “Then we will break into working groups to apply the Green Infrastructure Grant Template to the case study examples.”
According to Wayne Gibson, “Our goal is to make the case study examples real 
to participants so that they will have something tangible as a take-away. To achieve this, we need them to provide us with examples of real roads in their municipalities….roads that they would like to fix or enhance in some way. The challenge that we will set for the working groups is to apply the template to develop a grant application that demonstrates innovation.”
Call for Case Study Examples
Those who register for the Showcasing Innovation day are invited to pre-submit an aerial photo of a road, a section of road, or an area of their municipality that could be the subject of a future grant application. “We would like to receive these case study examples two weeks before the event so that Emmet and I have reasonable time to organize the work packages for the interactive segment on September 12,” continues Wayne Gibson.
Working groups will apply the View Royal Template to develop the elements of a grant application that achieves integration of transportation, drainage and water quality objectives.
About the 2008 Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation Series
September 12 in View Royal is the first of three events that comprise Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation on Vancouver Island: The 2008 Capital Region Series. The series is organized by Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI) in collaboration with the Capital Regional District and the Green Infrastructure Partnership. The series enables local governments to tell their stories in a way that no other forum currently provides.
Registration Information:
For a program overview and registration details, click on this link to download a copy of Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation in the Town of View Royal. Registration will be capped at 32. To register, contact Marlene Mullett at 250-479-6800 or mmullett@town.viewroyal.bc.ca
Creating Awareness
According to John Finnie, CAVI Chair (and General Manager, Environmental 
Services, Regional District of Nanaimo), “The goal of the Series is to promote networking, inform and educate practitioners, and help local governments move ‘from awareness to action’ in doing business differently — The New Business As Usual — through sharing of approaches, tools, experiences and lessons learned that will ultimately inform a pragmatic strategy for climate change adaptation.”
To learn more about the View Royal Showcasing Innovation program, click on the following link to read a web story titled The New Business As Usual: “Design with Nature” in British Columbia and be rewarded with infrastructure grants.
Posted August 2008