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Green Infrastructure

Green communities – ‘today’s expectations are tomorrow’s standards’ is a provincial government mantra in British Columbia. Since the built and natural environments are connected, design with nature to protect watershed function. The Green Communities Initiative provides a policy, regulatory and program framework for enabling local governments to create more compact, more sustainable and greener communities. Lead by example. Showcase innovation. Celebrate successes.

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Green Infrastructure Community-of-Practice is the online home for EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, which is an initiative of the Partnership for Water Sustainability for British Columbia


“Commencing with a launch announcement by the BC Minister of Environment in 2005, this community-of-practice has served an important function as the home for green infrastructure in British Columbia. Originally created to support the work of the Green Infrastructure Partnership, the community-of-practice now has a dual focus in supporting two interconnected initiatives, that is: EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process: and Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery in BC, which is led by Asset Management BC,” stated Mike Tanner, Waterbucket Chair.

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HOW WE CHANGE WHAT WE ARE DOING ON THE LANDSCAPE: Synthesis Report on EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, a BC Strategy for Community Investment in Stream Systems (released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability, June 2022)


“In 2016, the Partnership embarked upon a 6-year program of applied research to evolve EAP through a 3-stage building blocks process of testing, refining, and mainstreaming the methodology and metrics for financial valuation of stream systems. The program involved 9 case studies and 13 local governments and yielded 19 “big ideas” or foundational concepts. The program goal was to answer the question, how much should communities budget each year for maintenance and management of stream systems,” stated Tim Pringle.

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HISTORY OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The Partnership for Water Sustainability is the keeper of the GIP legacy,” stated Paul Ham, a Past-Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


During the period 2003 through 2010, the Green Infrastructure Partnership played a prominent role in leading change and assisting with implementation of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, primarily in the Metro Vancouver region. “I see my years of chairing the GIP as helping to get the ball rolling and ideas disseminated, on green infrastructure, all of which has subsequently been taken up by others to a much greater degree of implementation and success. Our efforts a decade ago moved the state of-the-art of green infrastructure to a more mainstream level,” said Paul Ham.

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FLASHBACK TO 2007: What is “Green Infrastructure”? Looking back to understand the origin, meaning and use of the term in British Columbia


In 2007, the first Beyond the Guidebook guidance document provided a clear distinction between natural and engineered green infrastructure. “Two complementary strategies can ‘green’ a community and its infrastructure: first, preserving as much as possible of the natural green infrastructure; and secondly, promoting designs that soften the footprint of development,” wrote Susan Rutherford. “Green infrastructure design is engineering design that takes a ‘design with nature’ approach, to both mitigate the potential impacts of existing and future development and growth and to provide valuable services.”

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EAP TRANSITION STRATEGY PARTNERSHIP: “There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless; and from all angles. The strategy ensures that knowledge is retained at an institutional level, that is, Vancouver Island University,” stated Graham Sakaki, Manager of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute


“The story behind the story is about the importance of embedding knowledge of EAP into the youth who are going to be the future of our local governments. The framework that we have set up ensures this will happen. 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. The program enhances the ability of students to take part in applied research and have direct links to future jobs with these local governments who are providing project work experience for students,” stated Graham Sakaki.

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CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Being an elected leader goes beyond saying I care about my community. We take that as a given. That’s the starting point,” stated Darrell Mussatto, former mayor North Vancouver City (2nd installment in a preview series)


“Now how do we become educated? What are we bringing to the table that is going to help make good decisions? Politicians know how to get elected. But do they know all that other stuff that they need to know? Today, the people getting elected know how to use social media to get people to vote for them. But do they know and care about what matters in local government? To ask the tough questions, you must be informed and educated about what matters,” stated Darrell Mussatto.

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ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Our investments in relationships, clarity, understanding, and direction-setting will help us in the work to come. We’ve laid the foundation, and now it’s time to build upon it,” wrote the City of Abbotsford’s Gracelyn Shannon (Summer 2024 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


“Asset management is a complex, arduous, exciting, long-term, involved process. As practitioners, we wholeheartedly embrace this journey because it empowers us to collaboratively make informed decisions about our infrastructure, ultimately benefiting the public we serve. But where do we begin? In the article, I explain what tools, documents, or processes I’m using to set the foundation for the asset management work to come in Abbotsford,” wrote Gracelyn Shannon. “With a better understanding of our stakeholders and current practices, we wrote our Asset Management Policy.”

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ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “When data collection is undertaken in the absence of critical thinking, one runs the risk of analysis paralysis,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (Summer 2024 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


“Local governments need data that is meaningful for infrastructure asset management, but quality and usefulness have emerged as issues of paramount concern. Before collecting data, make sure you ask the right questions,” states Kim Stephens. “Be clear on why data is needed. What is the desired outcome? How will you use the information or data? Will it help you make better decisions? How much and what kind of data do you actually need? Does the cost meet the test of being affordable and effective? What are the tradeoffs between risk, complexity and cost?”

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CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “With the housing issue dominating the conversation, how will you reframe the goal and objective for restoration of stream systems in a way that restores political commitment and rebuilds the coalition?” asks Ray Fung, stated Ray Fung, a retired Director of Engineering in local government (1st installment in a preview series)


In the 1990s, there was trouble in paradise. In response, the provincial government launched the Georgia Basin Initiative. It was all hands on deck and catalyst for the green infrastructure movement. “Knowing what we know, you have to build new political commitment and basically start all over again in a new crucible phase…where you coalition-build to develop a new shared vision, etc. The task at hand is about how to redefine things in a new political environment so you would be able to get a new vision and new political commitment,” stated Ray Fung.

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CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “Held in Nanaimo, the summit showcased the transition strategy for the passing of an intergenerational baton from the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC to create an EAP centre of excellence at Vancouver Island University,” stated Anna Lawrence, Program Coordinator in the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute for EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process


Because the audience comprised players involved in the land professions, the BC Land Summit was a watershed moment for showcasing new ideas. “The session about the Ecological Accounting Process began with Tim Pringle detailing EAP and its nine demonstration applications in local governments in BC. Then I spoke about Year 1 of the three-year transition strategy to transfer the knowledge and methodology of EAP from the Partnership to VIU. We concluded with a pre-recorded video segment by Sam Gerrand about incorporating EAP into his Master’s thesis,” stated Anna Lawrence.

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ADDRESSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING’S HIDDEN UTILITY COSTS: “When you go down four, five and six levels of underground excavation for high-rise building foundations, you are intercepting and dewatering the groundwater resource,” stated Robert Hicks, career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia


“Land use intensification and redevelopment – where does that water go? I see the answer having two faces for RISK and LIABILITY. You are creating a drainage demand by preventing rainwater from reaching building foundations or removing groundwater at depth. But the other face is the lost opportunity because the water resource is not being managed in either a coordinated or holistic manner. Creating a drainage demand is the more immediate consequence of land use intensification. The loss of groundwater as an option for water supply is a future reckoning,” stated Robert Hicks.

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DESIGN WITH NATURE TO CREATE A SPONGE CITY: “On a regional, larger scale, we need a massive plan, to see where it’s possible to give water more space. It certainly has holistic benefits,” stated Kongjian Yu, landscape architect


Kongjian Yu pioneered China’s “sponge city” concept—less concrete and more green spaces to exploit stormwater instead of fighting it. Metropolises all over the world are following suit. “Industrialized engineering solutions have messed up the whole water system globally. You have to solve the problem holistically, and the sponge city is a nature-based, holistic solution. It is inexpensive, and it can be done at a small or large scale. You can have your garden, but you also have to plan from the top. It is a sponge planet, it is a sponge countryside, it is a sponge urban district,” stated Konjian Yu.

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DESIGN WITH NATURE TO CREATE LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES AND PROTECT STREAM HEALTH: “Downstream engineering solutions are treating the symptoms and not the root cause of an increase in flood risk, which actually happens in the headwaters,” stated Younes Alila, professional engineer and professor in the UBC Faculty of Forestry


“What is being done in the upland wilderness affects what goes on in the low land because the source of runoff and sediment that runs through urban areas is in the headwaters,” stated Younes Alila. “Forest hydrologists for over a century swept the dimension of frequency under the carpet in the name of the “public does not understand probability”. The rest is history and it has not turned out well. So, I made the conscious decision to make probability central to my outreach to the media, wider public, professionals, and scientists.”

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DESIGN WITH NATURE TO CREATE LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES AND PROTECT STREAM HEALTH: “By 2010, we were beyond the innovation stage. The prevailing attitude was let’s get it done. We were action-oriented,” stated Ray Fung, a retired Director of Engineering in local government, and former Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


“And then something happened. We just seemed to lose momentum in the 2010s. With the benefit of hindsight, others have made the same observation. We got bogged down in the implementation plan. We just talked about the burden on local governments from all the capital items that were arising from the completion of integrated stormwater management plans. Coincidentally, this was just as the region’s needs became dominated by transportation, transit, active transportation and cycling. And then we were hit by the pandemic in 2020 and this huge retirement wave,” stated Ray Fung.

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