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“Launched in 1994, the Georgia Basin Initiative was a call to action by the provincial government. Its influence has rippled through time in profound and lasting ways. In 2024, the Partnership honours and celebrates the 30th anniversary of a watershed moment in BC history with a sweeping narrative of the GBI mission, the key players, and what followed in its wake over three decades and counting. The living legacy of the Georgia Basin Initiative is embedded in and embodied by the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative which the Partnership leads today,” stated Kim Stephens.

Part A of the Green Infrastructure Chronicle is dedicated to the shared legacy of three inspirational leaders who ran with the vision for the Georgia Basin Initiative: Creating a Sustainable Future and gave it life three decades ago. Without the passion and commitment of Darlene Marzari, Joan Sawicki and Erik Karlsen, the report may not have gone anywhere. They made a difference and they changed history in the Georgia Basin. Darlene Marzari had come out of local government. She was a strong Minister of Municipal Affairs. Land use planning was front and centre.

“Erik Karlsen served the public interest – the public hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow, for the environment, for human communities, and for future generations – almost without equal. And he did it with a style likely not to be seen again for a very long time. An amazing individual, he was one of a kind,” stated Joan Sawicki in a tribute statement when Erik Karlsen died in 2020. “He not only was way ahead of his time, but he also had an unparalleled network of connection with Georgia Basin communities – and, most importantly, a high degree of trust with those communities.”