CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER – PART B:“Despite the population density that we have had to accommodate, and the ongoing growth due to the demand for housing, we have to set land aside for community livability,” stated Rémi Dubé, former Director of the City of Surrey’s Building Division
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story.
The edition published on May 13, 2025 is an introduction to and a high-level overview of Part B of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. The 100-page Part B is included as an attachment. It is a sweeping narrative that brings to life an era.
Part B feature and consolidates the stories of 13 “green infrastructure influences”. Each of their stories was published previously in 2023-2024 as a series of preview extracts.
Regional Team Approach to Municipal Collaboration Powers Change
In the broad sweep of history, seven Metro Vancouver member municipalities merit recognition as incubators for green infrastructure innovation over the past 30 years. The seven are Surrey, Township of Langley, Coquitlam, Delta, North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, and Burnaby (as the home of UniverCity).
Interviews with Green Infrastructure Influencers is the second installment in the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation. Political commitment is a theme that weaves through and permeates the stories behind the stories of innovators who have led by example. Without leadership at the top, plus everything else being in alignment, change is unlikely.
Political leadership matters!
Surrey and Coquitlam were early adopters when each committed to a watershed-based approach to setting objectives. Surrey evolved an integrated process for developing Neighbor Concept Plans and servicing plans. Coquitlam’s Official Community Plan requires that watershed plans be developed first and neighbourhood plans second.
Circa 2000 Langley, North Vancouver City and Delta recognized the cumulative benefits of a landscape-based approach to rainwater management design. All three municipalities embraced a guiding philosophy for enhancing city streetscapes through integration of rain gardens as a matter of policy.
North Vancouver District could always be counted on to be a proving ground for the application of innovative tools and approaches. District leadership manifested itself in seven provincially significant initiatives.
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“Three decades ago, there was trouble in paradise. All communities in the Lower Mainland and along the east coast of Vancouver Island were under intense pressure and knew they had to do something about it,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
“Launched by the Province in 1994, the Georgia Basin Initiative was a call to action. Municipalities were all-in. By the 2010s, however, the energy dissipated, and the region lost its way because municipalities lost sight of the goal.”
When everything is in alignment, transformational changes are possible
Most of all, there must be political commitment
“A unifying theme in conversations with 13 green infrastructure influencers is that staff champions in local government can only carry things so far. Only when someone who is elected takes the lead, and is the champion, does something happen.”
“In the 2000s, everything was in alignment. The right people were in the right place at the right time. There was energy, there was passion. The regional team approach to municipal collaboration brought all the players together for a shared mission. They learned from each other; they moved forward in tandem. This established a series of precedents for peer-based learning.”
“Writing the 7-part Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation is my way of giving back. This 700-page tome brings to life an exciting period in local government “convening for action” history,” concluded Kim Stephens.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Regional Team Approach to Municipal Collaboration Powers Change
Some individuals innovate and lead by example while others follow in their wake. Part B of the Green Infrastructure Chronicle elaborates on why 13 key individuals truly merit recognition as “green infrastructure influencers”
Regional “Leaders by Example”
Over the past quarter-century, the 13 have had a collective impact. The process for tapping into their experience, knowledge and wisdom involved conversational interviews. This approach is open-ended and organic. It lets the conversation find its own direction.
Each person reflected on their recollections of how ideas and practices about rainwater management and green infrastructure evolved over time in the Metro Vancouver region as a whole. Aha Moments yielded insights and gems in the form of quotable quotes.
Conversational interviews paint a picture
The actions of these unsung heroes have been instrumental in moving the Metro Vancouver region along the Green Infrastructure Continuum. Sustained and significant defines their collective impact.
Curious to learn more?
Download a PDF of the table in Interviews with Green Infrastructure Influencers that is titled An Introduction to regional “leaders by example”.
Green Infrastructure Journey is a Continuum
The Metro Vancouver region’s Green Infrastructure Journey began in the mid-1990s. The catalyst was the regulatory requirement that the region have a Liquid Waste Management Plan. Once the Minister of Environment approves an LWMP, it is legally binding.
An LWMP has two distinct components: sewage treatment and urban runoff (stream systems). In the 1990s, there was mixed messaging around urban runoff. Is it a pollutant or a resource? This conundrum led to a paradigm-shift in the late 1990s.
The Partnership for Water Sustainability uses the term ‘green infrastructure continuum’ to frame how green infrastructure understanding and the state-of-the-art around it are building on experience and evolving over time.
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City of Surrey is a beacon of innovation and inspiration for drainage and stream protection
The intergenerational nature of drainage experience and evolution in Surrey is unique in the region. The City of Surrey had a 25-yr head start on other BC municipalities. And there has been staff continuity over a 50-yr period.
For this reason, 4 of the 13 interviewees are current or former Surrey staff. Their continuous experience covers the entire 50-yr period.
Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Regional Team Approach to Municipal Collaboration Powers Change.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/05/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Green-Infrastructure-Influencers_2025.pdf