Green Infrastructure

THE MISSION IS TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT STAFFS: “The partnership between local governments and the MABRRI research institute at Vancouver Island University is the pilot for upscaling EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process,” stated Murray Walters, Manager of Water Services, Regional District of Nanaimo

April 4, 2023 - Posted in 2023 posts, Contextual Resources Document Oral History, EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is a BC Strategy for Community Investment in Stream Systems (Natural Commons)

Note to Reader:

This is the third in a series of articles about tackling the Riparian Deficit. The first introduces the Nested Concepts graphic and the second features Dr. Chris May of Washington State in a conversational interview about his ground-breaking Puget Sound research in the 1990s that correlated land use changes and the consequences for stream and riparian health.

A theme dominating the news these days is the shortage of skilled, trained or qualified people. The EAP Partnership is part of the solution in the local government setting. The edition of Waterbucket eNews published on April 4, 2023 shared the story behind the story of local governments investing in university youth.

Local governments invest in youth at Vancouver Island University as part of 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process

A theme dominating the news these days is the shortage of skilled, trained or qualified people. The EAP Partnership is part of the solution in the local government setting. Investing in people takes patience, commitment and time. There is no shortcut to build in-house capacity.

The partners have committed to investing in youth at Vancouver Island University. The mission is to develop next generations of local government staffs so that they have the knowledge and understanding to apply EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process to land use processes.

Five organizations are driving the EAP Partnership forward

The City of Nanaimo, the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Municipality of North Cowichan are the local governments which have taken the leap of faith to invest in youth. And the Partnership for Water Sustainability is passing the “EAP baton” to the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Research Institute (MABRRI) at Vancouver Island University to be the knowledge keeper.

EAP will be embedded in MABRRI. The graphic below illustrates the 4-step mainstreaming process. The EAP Partnership is in a 3-year transition to move from Step 2, which is develop EAP, to Step 3, which is embed EAP.

Dissemination of knowledge

“A useful aspect of the EAP Partnership is that universities want to disseminate information and share knowledge. Vancouver Island University, as a smaller university, is very focused on applied research and community engagement. This is a good fit for the EAP mission. Dissemination of knowledge is really important,” explains Graham Sakaki, Regional Research Institute Manager.

TO LEARN MORE:

To read the complete story, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Local governments invest in youth at Vancouver Island University.