Asset Management BC Newsletter raises awareness of Inter-Regional Education Initiative
Note to Reader:
The State of the Island Economic Summit hosted by the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) is an important meeting place for building collaboration between communities. A featured breakout session on October 15, 2012 is the “Forum within the Summit” organized by the CAVI (Convening for Action on Vancouver Island) initiative.
The Forum will showcase how the CAVI initiative has brought together four regional districts – Capital, Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo and Comox Valley – as partners in an Inter-Regional Education Initiative, one that will result in collaboration, alignment and consistency up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island.
To help draw attention to the “Forum within the Summit”, Asset Management BC published an article on the Inter-Regional Educational Initiative in its September 2012 issue.
2012 Vancouver Island Economic Summit: Springboard to Inter-Regional Education Initiative on ‘Sustainable Service Delivery’
“Effective change in the way we develop land and respect water will result from collaboration of business, local government and community. A desired outcome is that local governments will view watersheds through a ‘sustainable service delivery’ lens,” writes Kim Stephens, Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in the Asset Management BC Newsletter.
Settlement, Ecology and Economy in Balance
“The time to shape future life-cycle costs is at the infrastructure planning ‘front-end’; hence, the importance of thinking at a watershed scale. The linkages between the natural Water Balance, watershed and stream health, and infrastructure liability have emerged as important pieces in Sustainable Service Delivery, both fiscally and ecologically.”
“Because nature has no borders, the Inter-Regional Educational Initiative will link activities up and down Vancouver Island so that those working in the local government setting can align and integrate their efforts to achieve settlement, ecology and economy in balance.”
To Learn More:
To download a copy of the article by Kim Stephens, click on 2012 Vancouver Island Economic Summit: Springboard to Inter-Regional Educational Initiative on ‘Sustainable Service Delivery’.
To download a complete copy of the entire Fall 2012 issue of the Asset Management BC Newslettter, click here.
“Asset Management BC and the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC share a vision for transforming local government practice. Our vision is that the principles embodied in the term Sustainable Service Delivery will be the ‘new business as usual’ in BC. To that end, we are providing each other with mutual support in carrying out our respective missions,” states Wally Wells, Executive DIrector for Asset Management BC.
Sustainable Service Delivery
“Asset management usually commences after something is built. The challenge is to thinkabout what asset management entails BEFORE the asset is built. Cost-avoidance is a driver for this ‘new business as usual’. This paradigm-shift starts with land use and 
watershed-based planning, to determine what services can be provided affordably,” states Glen Brown, the Executive Director of the Province’s Local Government Infrastructure and Finance Division and the Deputy Inspector of Municipalities.
“The legislative authority for integration of land use planning and asset management, including financial management, already exists. Also, the provincial Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives are catalysts for ‘designing with nature’: Start with effective green infrastructure and protect environmental values. Get the watershed vision right. Then create a blueprint to implement green infrastructure.”
To Learn More:
To view Glen Brown talking about sustainable service delivery on video clips posted on YouTube, click on Provincial Funding in British Columbia Linked to Viewing Watersheds through a “Sustainable Service Delivery” Lens.
