Green Infrastructure

ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “We are all facing the same struggles. Let’s talk about what those struggles are,instead of just believing that we have the solution to it,” stated Arnold Schwabe, Executive Director with Asset Management BC

November 4, 2025 - Posted in 2025 posts, BC Framework for Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery establishes expectations for community planning, Contextual Resources

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 November 4, 2025 featured Arnold Schwabe of Asset Management BC. His reflections about their 2025 annual conference led into four interconnected topics. He is demonstrating what courage and leadership look like as Asset Management BC embarks on a new era in a changing world. His key message is that the story is the context. What comes through in his narrative is that he has his finger on the pulse of his audience.

ONE MINUTE TAKEAWAY for the extremely busy reader

The 2025 Asset Management BC Conference was held in Richmond and included pre-conference events. The notable one was by invitation. It was for local government staff only. “This is the year we decided we were going to try something different,” says Arnold Schwabe, Executive Director.

Adapting to a changing world

image source: City of Terrace

The story is the context

Images are mostly from the Partnership’s library. Some are from the public domain and Creative Commons.

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER

“Arnold Schwabe had a career in local government before taking on the role of Executive Director with Asset Management BC a year ago. Just tell me your thought process for the conference theme is how I opened our conversation. What is in your mind about the long game for Asset Management BC that goes beyond an annual conference?” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

Asset Management BC is helping people in local government rediscover the power of storytelling to turn problems into solutions

Storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the dawn of time. But in the post-COVID era, this essential way of passing on deep knowledge and wisdom gained through lived experience is all too often missing in action.

image source: Artim Consulting

Unless and until they know what they do not know, how will they turn problems into solutions?

“In conversation after conversation when I am doing interviews, the need for organizations to rediscover the power of storytelling keeps coming up. When Forbes business magazine is publishing articles about the heightened need for storytelling, then you know that the urgency is seen as real.”

Walking the talk to turn problems into solutions

“Within the local government sector, the good news is that Asset Management BC is taking the initiative to walk the talk and create a forum for storytelling. Their initiative is newsworthy and notable. They are onto something.”

image source: 21st Century Learning Conference, 21clconf.org

image source: cover of book by Aniker Ghanashyam

image source: .prowritingaid.com

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Advancing municipal asset management in a changing world: the story is the context – a conversation with Arnold Schwabe

My question to Arnold Schwabe about the 2025 conference led into four interconnected topics. Topic 1 provides a window into the conference purpose. This spills into Topic 2 which is about providing a safe space at the conference for local government people. In a by invitation forum, they are having a frank sharing of their pain points.

Topic 3 describes Asset Management BC as being at a crossroads. Arnold Schwabe seeds the idea of a long game. Topic Four foreshadows a future grounded in the emergence of communities-of-practice. Peer-based learning and sharing, he believes, is the means to adapt to change in an era when knowledge and understanding are being lost.

TOPIC ONE: Pain points for local governments in a changing world; what will they do for relief

“What we want to address with the program is how the world around us is changing and what this means for municipal infrastructure asset management. The problem with conferences, however, is that the theme always has to be general enough so that you can shoehorn submissions into the topic.”

Conference themes have been building to this moment

“In 2022, it was people, places and purpose. In 2023, the theme was collaborating and converging towards a sustainable future. In 2024, it was today’s decisions, tomorrow’s future. So, this year it is HOW we are dealing with the changing world.”

image source: smartsurvey.co.uk

“What our presentations look like and how they fit the conference theme is that these are the things that are happening around us that are really affecting local governments.”

“We are seeing a lot of modern-day treaties. First Nations governments are facing new responsibilities and requirements, like every other local government, but they are also charged with delivering housing, education, and healthcare. So, what are they doing to accommodate all of those changes?”

What do we do when knowledge is not sticking?

“The cycle of the last 15 or 20 years has been like a 1-year cycle for a conference. You get everybody started. You have your first events. And then everybody goes back and forgets what it was all about. And then the cycle starts all over again.”

image source: factohr.com

TOPIC TWO: Local government people need a safe space to share their stories of struggle

“We are doing a pre-conference session with local governments. It is by invitation only. No consultants.”

“So, the theme that I am trying to promote now is to say, just tell us your story because people can learn from stories. It does not have to be perfect. We know it is not perfect. But do not be afraid to tell the story. We have to forgotten how to learn. It is through the sharing of stories.”

“One of the big things for me this year is to just start bringing asset management back to reality. To say, we are facing the same struggles. Let’s talk about what those struggles are, instead of just believing that we have the solution to it.”

image source: unknown

image source: cover of book by Anna Sale

TOPIC THREE: To advance change, what the long game may look like for Asset Management BC

“This is the first year where I have taken on planning of the annual conference. And we are going to try out several ideas. We are adapting asset management in a changing world.”

“We are having separate meeting rooms so that people can book off-the-cuff meetings. Or if we hit a hot button topic and people want to follow-up on it, then they can have a pop-up meeting in a separate space.”

Asset Management BC is approaching a crossroads

“I do not know how this will go. It is really about adapting more than anything else. Going forward, I see Asset Management BC conferences as an evolving thing. They may change; they may disappear in the future.”

“You have to convene for action by bringing people together. But you have to build to something. You do not get lasting momentum from a conference. You just do not. You feel good in the moment. Then everybody goes back to their daily grind. We lose that momentum.”

TOPIC FOUR: Emergence and surge in number of asset management communities-of-practice is powered by sharing of stories by and for peers

“The first Asset Management BC community-of-practice started in 2014 when Mike Wall of qathet Regional District and I had a telephone conversation. Now we are up to seven.”

“Qualicum Beach hosted the first ‘official’ meeting of an Asset Management Community-of-Practice. I recall that between 10 and 15 people attended. When Mike Wall hosted the second meeting in Powell River, about two dozen local government staff participated.”

“More people in this position have realized that they can come forward and tell their stories because everyone else is sharing in these same issues. People are more comfortable telling their stories even if they are not perfect.”

Share experience and solutions through storytelling

“To sum up and tie it all together, it is really all about people being put in situations, or being put in these roles, and asset management changing.”

“More than that, it is about people coming forward and having the courage to tell their stories and work towards coming up with solutions. That ties back to transitioning to the next group of people coming in.”

“In the beginning, it was just Mike Wall, Gracelyn Shannon and me sharing stories with other municipalities. And now we have gone from 1 to 7 communities-of-practice. That is my weird way of tying it all together.”

Asset management is more than just recordkeeping

“When we talk about asset management, it is about documenting things and having records and all that. Maybe the part that is missing is having the stories that go with that.”

“It is great to have the documentation, and somebody should be able to just pick it up and read it. But unless they have the story that goes with it, there is no context for it. The story is the context!”

BC Framework for Sustainable Service Delivery

“Asset Management BC works with the wheel. The whole idea is that you are not perfect. It is an iterative process where you review what you did and you do it again with improvements. To me, what we are talking about in this conversation is part of the same process.”