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“In 1990, the Metro Vancouver region initiated a growth strategy embodying many Smart Growth principles. Two former premiers, Mike Harcourt and Gordon Campbell, were planning influencers. When I was manager of policy and planning, I would tell my staff that we have been put in charge of the planning for the life support system for this region. We cannot own it but we can leave it to our children. To build a better place, we need people who understand the state of mind that lay behind the success of the Livable Region Strategic Plan,” stated Ken Cameron.

“Fundamental change in the scope of rainwater and stormwater planning, development standards, construction and operations will only happen if there is a broad understanding as to why the changes are needed, what they are, and how they can be practically implemented. Publicly-supported decision-makers will determine the timing and phasing of change. The ability of consumers and the development community to adapt will then set the pace of change, which will not take place with a single event. Success in one area will be transferred to others,” wrote Erik Karlsen.

“With the change in provincial government in 2001, the Guidebook steering committee recognized the need to be bold yet strike a balanced tone. We were successful and had support that cascaded down from the highest levels. Prior to 2002, the lack of a science-based bridge meant there was a disconnect between policy objectives and site design practices. The Guidebook integrated breakthroughs in hydrological and biophysical understanding to bridge the gap between policy and site design. It introduced achievable Performance Targets,” stated Peter Law.

Many individuals have played important roles in the green infrastructure movement. “A lot of this was off the sides of people’s desks originally. And then we turned it into something real…and real valuable,” stated Ed von Euw, former Senior Engineer at Metro Vancouver. But whose efforts were make or break during the crucible period? Seven individuals stand out for their ability to change the game. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That expression captures the collective contribution of the group of seven. They are described as Tier One champions.

“Working with local governments in British Columbia in the late1990s, I came up with the phrase ‘a shared vision of science-based watershed management’ to guide our work. A variety of perspectives need to be integrated in reaching consensus on shared achievable goals for watershed and stream corridor management. For this reason, we must understand how adults take up new ideas,” stated Bill Derry. For 20 years, he chaired the Washington State stormwater committee. They framed eight key questions. These defined areas of research by graduate students.

“My collaboration with Erik Karlsen played out in multiple ways during the period 1997 through 2005. High profile among these was Patrick Condon’s vision for the Headwaters Project in East Clayton. Erik brought the three of us together for a meeting at the Simon Fraser University campus in downtown Vancouver. Headwaters was still very much at the idea stage. I left the meeting committed to help Patrick bring the idea to life. That’s the kind of magic spell that Erik Karlsen cast when he brought people together,” recalled Kim Stephens.

“What the cell is to the body, the site is to the region.” A quarter-century ago, that Patrick Condon quotable quote was a call to action to fundamentally change drainage engineering practice in British Columbia from Stormwater Management to interdisciplinary Rainwater Management. Patrick Condon thinks on a grand scale. Recognizing the need for collaboration on the ground as a fundamental part of designing sustainable communities, he pioneered public engagement methods. One of his many claims to fame is his skillful use of charrettes.

The Real Estate Foundation is a creation of the Province. Adoption of the philosophy that ‘use and conservation of land are equal values’ provided me with the mandate and authority to leverage Real Estate Foundation grant funding to effect positive land use change. That is the context for Real Estate Foundation leadership as a co-funder of the Headwaters Project in East Clayton. Process issues could have derailed the Headwaters Project. But the Real Estate Foundation provided the workaround and Erik Karlsen made the workaround work,” stated Tim Pringle.

In 1999, Barry Janyk had a vision which morphed into the SmartStorm Forum Series. He chaired the inter-governmental committee which initiated the series. He added political profile in his moderator role for the series. His tone-setting presentation to kickoff each event was titled: The Political Consequences of Doing the Wrong Thing: Why Elected Officials Must Consider Smart Development. “Technical people have to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in order to transform political acceptability into political will to implement change and spend money,” stated Barry Janyk.

The Pacific Northwest is a part of North America acutely sensitive to environmental issues. And with the ‘salmon crisis’ being such a dominant issue, people wanted action rather than more talk. There was a commitment by all those involved in the Burnaby Mountain project to leave a legacy for the next generation. “One of the real advantages we had at UniverCity is that I had the budget to try out new ideas. So, as far as I was concerned, Kim Stephens could do whatever he wanted to protect Stoney Creek,” stated Michael Geller.