CAVI Forum within VIEA Summit – "making a difference takes time," says the Partnership's Peter Law
Note to Reader:
The Hour #1 panel session brought to life defining moments along the ‘CAVI timeline’ for the period 2006 through 2012. In his segment, Peter Law provided a regulatory perspective on why the province has embraced an educational approach to rainwater management in a watershed sustainability context.
Formerly with the Ministry of Environment for 33 years, Peter Law chaired the inter-governmental steering committee that was responsible for Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, released in 2002. As an outcome of Peter Law’s leadership, the Guidebook is recognized internationally as being a catalyst for a ‘design with nature’ approach to achieving water sustainability through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practices.
Peter Law is a founding Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia. The Partnership was incorporated as a not-for-profit society in 2010.
Bridging the Implementation and Integration Gap
“My background was one of trying to seek decisions that would move the issue forward in protecting the environment. However, I could see through my involvement in that process that the courts were very slow to act, and defendants were absolutely ignorant of the environmental issues that they were not addressing in their developments.
“So, it became obvious to me that to go after land development violations, one guilty plea at a time, just was not going to make a difference. We needed another approach,” Peter Law told the VIEA audience.
Educational Foundation
“Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia has a strong educational approach because it recognizes that this is going to take time; it is not going to be top-down; and in fact it is going to require a bottom-up approach in order to be successful. This is a case of educating everyone in the process, from the backhoe operator right up to the smalltown politician.”
Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration
“Collaboration is the pathway to a consistent approach to water sustainability and green infrastructure policies and practices up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island. As we look ahead, we believe that the Inter-Regional Education Initiative will help all regions bridge the ‘implementation and integration gap’ in moving from awareness to accepted practice,” predicted Peter Law.
To Learn More:
To read the complete story about what Peter Law said at the “CAVI Forum within the VIEA Summit”, click on Design with Nature: Peter Law provides historical context for Inter-Regional Education Initiative.
