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“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.

“It is evident that there are many champions in local government; and it is important that we recognize and celebrate what they are doing. This is all part of creating our future. And when we ask ‘what will this community look like in 50 years’, we can point to the green infrastructure examples and then we will know what it will look like in 50 years,” stated Mayor Lois Jackson.

“A history of top down management of water in Australia was challenged by drought. Concerned citizens called for implementation of bottom up strategies and inclusion in the decision making process. It was an emerging insight that there were no ‘silver bullet’ single solutions for water management. Both bottom-up and top-down approaches were needed,” wrote Peter Coombes.

“Natural capital assets, such as green space, aquifers, foreshore area and creeks, can be as effective as engineered (or grey) infrastructure in water management. When considering the civil function that many of our natural assets perform, in many instances at a fraction of the cost of engineered assets, it makes good sense to recognize and manage them in a manner that reflects their true worth,” concluded Dave Newman.

A key finding of new research by Dr. Iain McGilchrist is that we need to re-learn basically ‘how we think’, using both the Right and Left hemispheres of the brain, to achieve a viable balance between the two types of thinking processes. THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE ‘sees the big, long term picture’ of the world, and THE LEFT HEMISHERE finds ways of putting these ideas gained from the Right Hemisphere, into practice.

“Our community is deeply committed to watershed management and stewardship. However, often they are missing the specific tools and information to transform that commitment to concrete actions they can take in their own lives. This often means simple changes to how they develop or care for their properties,” stated Kate Miller. “The purpose of the rainwater brochure is to inform and educate property owners as to how their properties can act like a watershed.”

“The initiative is a unique format for Georgia Basin local governments to learn from each other by sharing approaches and successes in managing our water resources. The program will integrate natural systems and climate change thinking into asset management, as well as demonstrate how local governments can progress along the ‘asset management continuum’ to achieve the goal of sustainable service delivery for watershed systems,” stated Brian Carruthers.

“When the watershed goal is protection of aquatic resources, two decades ago Richard Horner and Chris May proved that it is necessary to first mitigate ‘changes in hydrology’ – that is, changes in how rainwater reaches streams. The Water Balance Methodology addresses flow path differences, and leads to solutions that would maintain watershed health,” states Richard Boase.

A goal was to advance implementation of an integrated and balanced approach to land use. “To change the way people think and do, we defined smart development as protecting property and sustaining natural systems in a cost-effective manner. We made it clear that RAINwater management is at the heart of smart development,” stated Barry Janyk, Mayor of the Town of Gibsons (1999-2011).

“The goal of the 2015 Leahy Environmental Summit is to inspire multi­-organizational, regional teams to produce or further develop specific projects, programs, and plans that engage an enthusiastic community to address social and structural resiliency for flooding and stormwater issues related to climate change. Given the energy in the room, it is clear that we achieved that goal,” stated Phelan Fretz.