Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia

July 30, 2013 - Posted in articles for period 2011 thru 2015, Beyond the Guidebook Initiative, British Columbia Guidance Documents, Uncategorised

 

 

Note to Reader:

Bringing together local government practitioners in neutral forums has enabled implementers to collaborate as regional teams. Their action-oriented focus has resulted in ‘how to do it’ examples that help decision-makers visualize what ‘design with nature’ policy goals look like on the ground.

Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is the story of what has been accomplished on the ground over the preceding decade, through partnerships and collaboration, under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia.

 

 

How Change is Being Implemented

“People learn through stories. Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is the ‘telling of the stories’ of how change is being implemented on the ground in British Columbia. These stories demonstrate that the practitioner and community culture is changing as an outcome of collaboration, partnerships and alignment,” states Kim Stephens, editor of Beyond the Guidebook 2010, and Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.

“Case study experience presented in Beyond the Guidebook 2010 clearly shows that a new land ethic is taking root in British Columbia. Changing the culture requires a process. This takes time to complete. There is no short-cut; however, lessons learned by those who have done it can help those who want to move to a design with nature strategy.”

“Building on case study experience, Beyond the Guidebook 2010 provides local governments with ‘how to’ guidance for developing outcome-oriented urban watershed plans. It describes web-based tools that British Columbia has developed to support new approaches to water management.”

 

An Educational Path

“If one goes back 10 years, there was a void of policy and legislation. This led us down an educational path as the logical alternative,” states Glen Brown, Executive Director in the BC Ministry of Community & Rural Development. “We took the Guidebook, which is a document, and we have moved it to implementation. Beyond the Guidebook 2010 tells our story.”

“There is now clear guidance for aligning local actions with provincial and regional goals to ‘design with nature’ so that British Columbians can create greener communities, live water smart and prepare for climate change.”

 

To download “Beyond the Guidebook 2010”, click on the links below:

Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia (complete document) (PDF/9.0MB)

• Cover Page (PDF/58 KB)
• Front-End (PDF/253 KB)
• Executive Summary (PDF/165 KB)
• ‘Urban Watershed’ Explained (PDF/159 KB)
• Chapter 1 – Moving from Awareness to Action in BC (PDF/514KB)
• Chapter 2 – Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for BC (PDF/533KB)
• Chapter 3 – Changing the Culture (PDF/679 KB)
• Chapter 4 – Convening for Action in British Columbia (PDF/990 KB)
• Chapter 5 – Outreach  & Continuing Education Program (PDF/2.1 MB)
• Chapter 6 – Beyond the Guidebook: Connecting Dots & Building Blocks (PDF/1.2 MB)
• Chapter 7 – Developing Outcome-Oriented Watershed Plans (PDF/2.3 MB)
• Chapter 8 – To Learn More: Reference Documents (PDF/104 KB)

To access a set of stories posted on the Convening for Action community-of-interest, click on Beyond the Guidebook 2010 Homepage.