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“Other languages like French and German often use more exact terms than English for 'stormwater' and 'wastewater', and this changes how relationships and worth are perceived,” states Robert Hicks. “The reason why other languages use more exact terms relates to the structural nature of those languages.

The Real Estate Foundation of BC hosted the Green Developers Roundtable at the 2008 Gaining Ground Summit. “We organized the roundtable event to engage the major Vancouver Island developers in a conversation about the factors that facilitate or hinder their efforts to design, plan for and implement development incorporating Green Value Strategies on Vancouver Island,” said Jack Hall, REFBC Chair at that time.

“Going ‘Green First’ means we can meet our regulatory requirements while also reducing local flooding, decreasing basement backups, improving the resiliency of our communities to disaster during extreme weather events, and enhance economic development in the City,” stated Mayor Bill Peduto. “The draft plan proposes to manage runoff from 1,835 acres with green infrastructure over the next twenty years.”

“The Sydney Green Grid underscores the value of green and open space as pivotal to the choices we make when promoting economic growth, health and well-being.” wrote Daniel Bennett. “As a network, it will provide links and connections between places, encourage walking and cycling, highlight landscape and heritage, and support local economies. Future investment in parks and recreation will play a vital role in Sydney’s ability to attract business and create jobs.”

“In any journey, it helps to start with a look back from where we once came. The end of the Second World War marks the time after which cities changed the most. Many compelling reasons drove the crucial choices we made at that time,” writes Patrick Condon. “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.”

“The Ministry of Environment appreciates that the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC embraces shared responsibility for the Water Sustainability Action Plan. The next phase of the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative will add to ‘Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework’ and integrate watershed systems thinking and adaptation to a changing climate into asset management,” wrote Wes Shoemaker.

To develop a common understanding, the Green Infrastructure Partnership unveiled a cascading hierarchy. “Desired outcomes for water sustainability and green infrastructure can be achieved through infrastructure standards that reflect a full and proper understanding of the relationship between land and water”, stated Kim Stephens.

“Whether discussing the economy or ecological challenges, the significance and relevance of the findings from Flow and Grow is that they will be replicable throughout the province and beyond,” stated Ted van der Gulik. “The reason for this applicability is that the workshop focus was on the impacts of climate change and the need to plan now for a water sustainable future.”

The Protocol is an economic tool to make real the notion of ‘watersheds as infrastructure assets’. “There are some philosophical principles that guide us,” stated Tim Pringle. “Foremost is that water is an ecosystem. It supports all of the living ecology that we treasure. The other principle is that we know that practitioners have knowledge and ability to do things on the ground in a more successful, sustainable way than we often see.”

A Blue-Green City aims to recreate a naturally oriented water cycle while contributing to the amenity of the city by bringing water management and green infrastructure together. As co-editor of the October 2016 issue of Sitelines magazine, Julie Schooling was responsible for developing the storyline and overseeing story development. “It was so exciting to have such a diverse and relevant group of contributors for this issue,” she said.