“In five hours this area was transformed into something beautiful,” said Ryan Wood. “The green infrastructures use curb cores to convey storm water from the street to bio-retention basins. In addition, they beautify the neighborhood.”
“Living Water Smart provides a framework and sets a direction. The purpose in convening for action is to establish consistent expectations on-the-ground: This is what we want to achieve, and this is how we will get there. Our immediate objective in convening for action is to encourage ‘green choices’ that will ripple through time,” stated Kim Stephens. “We are NOT saying that every community must follow the same formula; what we are saying is that everyone needs to agree on expectations and how all the players will work together, and after that each community can reach its goals in its own way.”
“The goal was to build regional capacity through sharing of green infrastructure approaches, experiences and lessons learned as an outcome of ‘designing with nature’. The pilot series was a building block process – each time the objective was to raise the bar when celebrating successes,” states Ray Fung.
“The workshop demonstrated how local government practioners in Metro Vancouver are meeting the challenge of moving from planning to action. By bringing people together to share their experiences, we believe effective implementation of the design with nature principles can be addressed through practical changes,” Paul Ham stated.
“Right now the Lower Mainland of British Columbia leads any other region in both Canada and the United States in reversing the rush to global climate collapse. It is therefore up to a new generation to coalesce around a common vision for the future — a common vision deeply grounded in the pioneering efforts of the previous generation,” states Patrick Condon.
Jan Marcason said going green in the basin has created a ripple effect, increasing community pride, a spike in private investment, an increase in property values, and citizens who are more engaged in neighborhood beautification projects and city policymaking.
“But have you paid attention to what might be leaking off your property when it rains? In the dark ages of subdivision design, rain that fell on roofs, patios and oil-stained driveways was treated as the enemy,” writes Billy Goodnick.
“Asset management usually commences after something is built. The challenge is to think about what asset management entails BEFORE the asset is built. Cost-avoidance is a driver for this ‘new business as usual’. This paradigm-shift starts with land use and watershed-based planning, to determine what services can be provided affordably,” states Glen Brown.
“The simple reality is that we can’t pay for this infrastructure renewal on the local property tax base. But there is a second part of this problem that hasn’t gotten as much attention. We are significantly underestimating the true municipal infrastructure deficit in Canada. The public doesn’t yet fully understand the scope and seriousness of this problem,” wrote Gord Hume.
“The legislative authority for integration of land use planning and asset management, including financial management, already exists. Local governments can develop a truly integrated Asset Management Strategy that views the watershed though an environmental lens,” states Glen Brown.
