‘Creating Our Future Workshop’ energizes Vancouver Island participants
Flagship event sets the stage for moving Green Value ‘from awareness to action’ on-the-ground
The Creating Our Future Workshop, held on June 3rd as a shoulder event to the Gaining Ground Summit Conference in Victoria, was high energy from start to finish and achieved its objective of celebrating Vancouver Island success stories. This sets the stage for building on success to move green value from concept to practice.
The workshop provided context for green value, designing with nature, green infrastructure and water sustainability….from the shoreline to the watershed, and from the development site to the municipality.
Hosted by the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia under the umbrella of CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island partnership, the workshop was by invitation. Attendance was capped at 50.
According to John Finnie, CAVI Chair, “We had an excellent mix of people from local government, provincial agencies, First Nations, the private sector – including Corix and TimberWest -, and the real estate industry. Because we believe that how land is developed within the domain of local government holds the key to achieving settlement in balance with ecology, the CAVI Leadership Team is excited that we had representation from five regional districts and fifteen municipalities.”
“We are also excited that the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations were represented by Michael McCarthy”, added Finnie, “As Michael pointed out during the roundtable feedback 
session, First Nations communities are on the threshold of major changes insofar as land development is concerned. It is therefore great that Michael has offered to facilitate lines of communication between First Nations and CAVI.”
Workshop Presentations
For a program overview, please click on this link to Creating Our Future Program Overview. The focus was on case studies that demonstrate how “green value” approaches are being adopted in planning for and accommodating settlement growth. To learn more about green value, please click here. To download copies of the individual presentation, please click on these links:
- Kim Stephens (Program Coordinator, Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia): Creating Our Future One Site at a Time: Challenge, Inform and Enable
- John Finnie (General Manager, Environmental Services, Regional District of Nanaimo): Why We Are Convening for Action: To Move Green Value from Concept to Practice
- Chris Corps: Green Value: What is it…..Really?
- Tim Pringle (Executive Director, Real Estate Foundation): Green Value Perspectives
- Tom Anderson (Manager of Development Services, Cowichan Valley Regional District): Cowichan Basin Water Management Plan: Water for LIfe & Livelihoods – from awareness to action
- John Manson (City Engineer, City of Langford): City of Langford: Managing Risk, Learning by Doing, and Adapting
- Brian Emmett (Vice-President, Archipelago Environmental Services Ltd): Green Shores: Sustainable Approaches to Shore Design and Development
- Patrick Lucey (Nature’s Revenue Streams): Sustainabiltiy by Design, Design with Nature: turning “green” into “gold”
- John Finnie (Chair, CAVI Leadership Team): What Next: Green Infrastructure Forum for Mayors & Chairs
For a detailed program road-map, please click on this link to Creating Our Future: What will Vancouver Island look like in 50 years?
Previous Water Bucket Stories on Creating Our Future Workshop
For previous stories that provide background information leading up to the Creating Our Future Workshop, please click on these links:
- Real Estate Foundation Funds ‘Creating Our Future’ on Vancouver Island
- ‘Convening for Action’ shoulder event at Gaining Ground Summit is designed to inform decision-makers
- ‘Creating Our Future’ Workshop Attracts Vancouver Island Local Governments
- Creating Our Future Message: Celebrate and build on Vancouver Island successes
CAVI Partnership
The CAVI Partnership includes the British Columbia Water & Waste Association, the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, the provincial Ministries of Environment and Community Services, and the Green Infrastructure Partnership.
According to CAVI Chair John Finnie, “If we are to control our destiny and create our future, then we need to challenge our fellow Vancouver Islanders to visualize what they want Vancouver Island to look like in 50 years. We have identified two desired outcomes in 
Convening for Action. First, we wish to influence Vancouver Island local governments to adopt Design with Nature as the preferred process of approving land development applications. Secondly, we intend to facilitate the move from awareness to action in changing the way that land is developed and water is used on Vancouver Island.”
Posted June 2007