“The Convening for Action in Metro Vancouver initiative was launched through the Green Infrastructure Partnership, in 2005,” reports Ray Fung. “Metro Vancouver experience then informed implementation of the Vancouver Island program (commencing in 2007). For the past decade, cross-pollination of ideas and approaches has been ongoing among local government leaders.”
“The multi-jurisdictional nature of our watersheds requires the collective commitment of local and senior government agencies, First Nations, and communities to improve the health of our watersheds. Utilizing a ‘Design with Nature’ approach, we are changing the way we develop our land by attempting to re-engineer the hydrological function back into our urban landscape. We are, in some ways, cultivating a new land ethic,” wrote Jody Watson.
“The fact that we are all at the same point on the trajectory in terms of infiltrating these ideas into our organizations suggests that we are indeed on the right path. We each have come to the conclusion that collaboration is critical,” wrote Nancy Gothard. “This relationship building is key to accelerating the sharing and learning further and the Georgia Basin approach to water sustainability.”
“We truly have a rich basis in which to begin the process of stepping back, learning and reflecting on our next steps,” wrote Kate Miller. “As we look out into the future in a changing environment – our new normal – this richness and the depth of community participation can only help our region’s future resiliency…..at the end of the day we need to have everybody at the table.”
“The CRD is composed of 13 municipalities and 3 electoral areas. Watershed boundaries are not political boundaries or even neighbourhood boundaries. When local government champions come to the table to work with regional staff and each other, great things happen,” wrote Dale Green. “We continue to look forward and enhance cooperative efforts to make us all stronger and better able to protect and enhance our watersheds.”
“Among the many partners it takes to tackle these issues, the First Nations in our region are likely the most important. The traditional knowledge and indigenous value of the land and the water is a realm of knowing that our scientific method does not touch,” wrote Julie Pisani. “Conversations about what we care about, stories about the past which help us understand the present, and dialogue about the future and positive vision about what that may look like.”
“We respectfully challenge each other’s ideas to come up with solutions that are far more robust than any one of us could develop in isolation. There are big, audacious visions and goals for reform in watershed health and stormwater management,” wrote Melony Burton. “Collectively, we bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, ideas and organizational resources to the table to tackle big goals together. This is how the hard stuff gets done.”
“This is superlative work. It records so much in visual and conversational ways that everyone who reads it will see how changes are informed and guided towards collaborative action to achieve real results. You have connected the dots enabling those who were part of the stories to see how they have contributed in so many meaningful ways for themselves and their communities of place and practice,” stated Erik Karlsen.
“The ‘convening for action’ initiative is the best example of peer driven innovation that I have ever seen,” states Dale Wall, former Deputy Minister. “It has led to nothing less than a quiet revolution in how we approach the design and construction of human settlements in British Columbia. I firmly believe that this ability to creatively innovate in support of sustainable practices will enable us to meet a host of future challenges.”
The ‘Beyond the Guidebook Series’ documents the progress of local government champions who are leading implementation of practices that would restore hydrologic integrity after land is urbanized. “Over the next two years, we will progressively inform and educate an expanding network of practitioners on how to integrate watershed systems thinking and climate change adaptation into asset management,” stated Kim Stephens.
