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“The primary purpose of the consultation was to explore the diversity of issues and difficulties inherent in defining and implementing a green infrastructure approach to land development. The consultation resulted in identification of 17 recommendations in five theme areas,” reported Chuck Gale. “An over-arching theme that emerged from the discussion revolves around the need to provide the bridge between those who make the decisions and those who implement the decisions.”

“The Consultation Workshop held in conjunction with the Water in the City Conference provided a timely opportunity to test and validate an approach that can bridge the gap between talk (interest) and action (practice)in advancing a water-centric approach to community development,” stated Eric Bonham.

The workshop was designed to engage the Metro Vancouver Regional Engineers Advisory Committee (REAC). “The 2005 workshop truly was a dynamic and transformational event. We witnessed the motivational power of celebrating successes. We also recognized the need to get the story out about the leadership being shown by local government. This influenced everything that followed, including the work on Vancouver Island,” stated Ray Fung.

McHarg’s book Design With Nature is widely considered one of the most important and influential works of its kind. It remains one of the most widely used textbooks on landscape architecture and architecture in the United States. His premise is simple: “that the shaping of land for human use ought to be based on an understanding of natural process.”

“The goal of Water Smart is to develop a regional approach to water conservation by providing support and tools to Basin communities. Water Smart will allow Basin communities to benefit from shared resources, expertise and learning to achieve their community specific water conservation targets,” said Kindy Gosal.

“Water Bucket averages over 10,000 per month page views per month. The most popular COI is Rainwater Management with a 22% share. In second place is the Green Infrastructure COI at 19%. It is the communication vehicle for the Green Infrastructure Partnership,” states Mike Tanner.

“In British Columbia, we are watching with interest to see how green infrastructure legislative initiatives play out federally in the United States. The American experience provides a frame of reference for comparing the effectiveness of a top-down regulatory approach with the 'bottom-up' educational approach in British Columbia,” states Raymond Fung.

“Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is outcome-oriented. When the right people with the right knowledge are involved at the right time to apply informed judgment in a collaborative process, the outcome-oriented approach saves time and money,” stated John Finnie at the ‘Dialogue in Nanaimo’.

The goal is to turn local governments on to the practical reality that designing with nature holds out hope for communities and cities to function better, to our lasting benefit. “As the leaders appointed to design the Sustainable Region Initiative, we view you as critical partners in affecting positive change with regard to infrastructure design in the region,” stated Mayor Goldsmith-Jones.

“Conserving the existing, improving or adding ‘topsoil’ to a site is one means of achieving on-site source control of rainwater. Adequate depth of good quality topsoil on new or existing (re)developments has many benefits. Upping absorbency, the topsoil layer assists community rainwater management infiltration objectives and supports strategies to conserve water which may be in scarce supply,” states John Sidnell.