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“The Climate Change Resilient, Floodwater Smart initiative is based on a simple notion that when it comes to enterprise innovation and integration, there is nothing that brings out the best in human systems, faster, more consistently, and more effectively, than the power of ‘the whole’,” stated Senator Patrick Leahy. “True innovation happens when strong multi­-disciplinary groups come together, build a collaborative interchange, and explore their different points of strength.”

“Vermonters are more resilient to climate change and impacts they see in the environment. So, I’m here to encourage their good work, to talk a little bit about our role as the federal government and how we can work better together,” Jewell said. “You’re getting storms that you’ve never seen before; you’re getting winds that you’ve never seen before. We’ve got to be adapting. We’ve got to be addressing it. We can share with the public the benefit of green infrastructure.”

“It was an honour to be invited to Vermont by the Senator and his Environmental Summit team to participate in this transformational process,” stated Kim Stephens. “I appreciated the opportunity to observe history in the making, because that is what I believe it will prove to be. Speaking from experience, I predict that a decade from now the Summit team will be celebrating this milestone event and what it set in motion.”

“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.

“The Water Balance Methodology now synthesizes fundamentals of hydrology, flood protection, aquatic ecology, geomorphology and hydrogeology,” stated Jim Dumont. “The flow-duration relationship is the cornerstone of the Water Balance Methodology. By maintaining flow-duration, stream erosion is not increased during wet weather and ‘environmental flows’ are sustained during dry weather.”

“In this first step, town conversations and plans moved to regional, watershed based projects. Using BC as inspiration the next step will weave those regional projects and plans in a network of resiliency and sustainability for Vermont that is hoped to be a model for the rest of the country,” wrote Jan Lambert.

“We chose to work with road runoff because roads are the common denominator across all urban land uses,” states Jennifer McIntyre. “We don’t need to know everything about how toxic runoff is, or how it causes toxicity, to be able to do something about the problem. To date, the experimental results are pretty impressive – for example, 100% fish dead in polluted runoff compared with 100% fish survival in the same water after it had been filtered.”

“Unless and until land development practices mimic the natural water balance, communities cannot expect to restore the biological communities within streams. Simply put, hydrology hits first and hardest – one could pour an equivalent volume of distilled water into a stream, and the consequences for stream health would be the same as if it was urban runoff,” stated Richard Horner.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a combination of two other significant concepts: EBM (ecosystem-based management) and climate change adaptation. “The research by Julia Berry provides rainwater and adaptation planners with an overview of EbA from principles to practice in British Columbia. The evaluation framework can be used to assess and score the extent to which provincial, regional or municipal documents incorporate EbA principles,” concludes Kim Stephens.

“Short-term thinking governs much of what we do. In many organizations, the long-term view has somehow become excluded. Both ways of thinking are important, but the sad part is that we have convinced ourselves that the Left Hemisphere can do EVERYTHING. The new research by Ian McGilchrist now ‘turns the table’ because it demonstrates the true and indispensable role of the Right Hemisphere for ALL sustainable development work,” states Eva Kras.