DOWNLOAD POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS: A Symposium on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate (April 11-12, 2018)

 

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PUBLIC LECTURE – The Hard Work of Hope

Renowned author and speaker Bob Sandford, EPCOR Chair for Water & Climate Security at the United Nations University, set the tone for the Nanaimo Water Symposium. At a public lecture on the evening of April 11, 2018 his inspirational message was a call to action.

The Hard Work of Hope, the latest book by Bob Sandford and co-author Jon O’Riordan, seeks to develop effective solutions to the growing urgency for global action on climate change. It builds on events that have transpired since the Paris Agreement in December 2015.

The Hard Work of Hope was launched following a public talk on January 23, 2018 at the University of Victoria.

MODULE A: How Communities Will “Get it Right” – Setting the Context

BC has arrived at a fork in the road. Consider the weather extremes experienced in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Impacts are magnified by human interventions. In his co-keynote presentation, Kim Stephens (Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability) explained the call to action for Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management.

He asked the audience to reflect on this question: How will communities ‘get it right’ through collaboration as land develops and redevelops?

Co-Keynote

In her co-keynote presentation, Zo Ann Morten (Executive Director of the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation) reflected on the role stewardship groups have played since the early 1990s, as advocates for stream-protection, collaborating with decision-makers and providing important on-the-stream observations and actions.

“Community members caring for waterways are the key to making a difference in restoring naturally functioning watersheds over time,” says Zo Ann Morten.

MODULE B: Panel & Town-Hall Session on Community Empowerment & Sustainable Partnerships with Local Government

“The panel and town-hall segment was the program heart for the Nanaimo Water Symposium,” stated Peter Law, panel lead. “Panel reflections on project experience set the scene for town-hall interaction. The over-arching theme was: collaboration is necessary for restorative development; and a ‘design with nature’ land and water ethic is key to ‘getting it right’ over time.”

“Success stories resulting from local government and stewardship sector collaboration were showcased. To inspire tangible and lasting action after the symposium, panel members painted a picture of what collaboration must look like in practice to truly achieve the vision for restorative development.”

MODULE C:  Building Blocks for Sustainable Watershed Systems

Julie Pisani led-off and elaborated on initiatives in the Regional District of Nanaimo under the umbrella of the Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Program. These included outreach and education, local water studies and community-based monitoring, and policy advocacy and support for land use planning.

Then Tim Pringle shared demonstration application anecdotes about the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP), a whole-system view of watersheds that assesses hydrology in order to accurately describe ecological services.

Christine  Mettler followed and reported on research conducted with dozens of urban watershed practitioners across B.C., outlining environmental and management challenges and how new tools developed under B.C.’s new Water Sustainability Act could help to address some of these challenges.’