Launched in May 2006, the goal of the Celebrating Green Infrastructure Program is to build regional capacity through sharing of green infrastructure approaches, experiences and lessons learned as an outcome of ‘designing with nature'.
“We wished to present as a group so that you would see that the province, local government, and practitioners are working together, helping one another, and working hard to reach out to you. You can trust these people. Their only goal is to turn local governments on to the practical reality that designing with nature – particularly water – is underway, is working, and holds out hope for communities and cities to function better, to our lasting benefit” stated Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones.
“Monthly breakfast meetings provide an ongoing opportunity for network and partnership building while at the same time building awareness and understanding of urban sustainability challenges, bringing together individuals and organizations interested in the sustainability of the region,” stated Mayor Lois Jackson when explaining the Strategic Region Initiative.
This study recommends best practices that will help communities in British Columbia better understand the impacts of higher and lower density on their water resources. The findings indicate that low-density developments may not always be the preferred strategy for protecting water resources.
Increasingly, the focus of design professionals is on how to build and/or rebuild communities in balance with the natural environment. Green infrastructure means use of processes and systems that are natural or mimic nature to provide community services — i.e. “design with nature”.
