CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “The target audience for the Synopsis are senior managers in local government who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions about rainwater management, green infrastructure and stream function,” explained Kim Stephens when the Partnership for Water Sustainability released the Synopsis for the Green Infrastructure Chronicle (November 2024)
Note to Reader:
In November 2024, the Partnership released THE SYNOPSIS for the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. The Chronicle is a sweeping narrative of the 30-year period from 1994 through 2024. It is a volunteer effort by Kim Stephens and has taken two years to write. “It is at the heart of my commitment to tell the stories of champions in five regional districts,” says Kim. “Thanks to their unwavering support and enthusiasm, we embarked upon the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative in 2012. Now we are in Year 13 and counting!”
Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver
“The Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation totals close to 700 pages. It is a tome! Heavy on images and light on text, it is written to serve as a ‘legacy resource’ for the past three decades. To facilitate knowledge transfer, the Chronicle is a layered package comprising four documents,” explains Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.
“The target audience for each layer is different. The interests and attention spans for the continuum of audiences also differ. The layered approach is two-way. In one direction, it distils. In the other, it delves deeper.” The four layers are listed below and described in the image that follows.
“In Metro Vancouver, the regulatory requirement in the late 1990s that the region have a Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) was the catalyst for rainwater management innovation. The LWMP is a unifying thread for the Chronicle. With an update underway in early 2023, Metro Vancouver staff reached out to me for historical perspective on the streams and trees component of the LWMP. This evolved into a knowledge-sharing process.”
SYNOPSIS – Lessons from the Past Inform the Future
“The target audience for the Synopsis are senior managers in who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions about rainwater management, green infrastructure and stream function. The Synopsis is structured as six sections,” continues Kim Stephens.
“In Section 1, we concisely encapsulate three decades of history. Our purpose is to paint a broad-brush picture of how the region arrived at a GENERATIONAL MOMENT in 2024.”
“The historical overview sets the stage for Section 2 which is about organizational amnesia. Before one can talk about solutions, one must acknowledge that there is a problem – which is MEMORY LOSS.”
“In Sections 3, 4 and 5 we provide a glimpse into the rich history of experience that a new generation of practitioners can learn from so that they can TURN RATHER THAN REINVENT THE WHEEL.”
“In Section 6, we introduce a set of four desired outcomes. These would flow from key elements in the Draft Interim Liquid Waste Management Plan. Regional Board approval of the plan is a first step towards overcoming memory loss. A critical foundation piece is POLITICAL COMMITMENT that enables a REGIONAL TEAM APPROACH to peer-based learning among local governments.”
To Learn More:
Download a copy of the Synopsis of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. released in November 2024.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/gi/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/11/Metro-Van-Chronicle_Synopsis_DRAFT_Nov2024.pdf