Vancouver Island Water

Parksville 2019 on YouTube > The Whole-System Approach – “Dear rain, may you fall in abundance, but not in excess. Wet the ground, water the trees, and continue throughout the seasons – preferably at night, while I sleep,” stated Paul Chapman in setting a humourous tone in the opening module of the Symposium on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate (April 2019)

July 3, 2019 - Posted in Convening for Action in 2019, Day One - Morning Session, Parksville 2019, YouTube Videos

Note to Reader:

The Parksville 2019 Symposium has been captured in its entirety in a comprehensive set of videos that have been uploaded to the Partnership for Water Sustainability’s YouTube Channel for ease of access by those who are curious and/or interested to learn about what transpired on April 2-3-4 in Parksville, British Columbia.

Galvanized by what they learned during at the Nanaimo 2018 Symposium, a diverse group of stewardship groups took their first coordinated action before leaving the symposium. They formed a ‘creekshed coalition’, united by water, to put symposium words into actions. In reporting out at Parksville 2019, Paul Chapman shared their strategies, actions, successes and lessons to grow a community of stewardship.

“We set out to do the hard work to become another collaboration success story,” stated Paul Chapman. “The time was right – a civic election was on the horizon, and the energy of the symposium was sparking ideas. We gathered as a group of like-minded and unlike-minded, and began to plan.

“Branding is very important. Early on, we spent some time coming up with a name for our initiative. We tried many combinations of water stewardship buzzwords. We soon settled on Nanaimo Creekshed Coalition. We thought about it a bit more and decided that coalition might not be quite the right word for what we wanted to be. And so, we came up with the Nanaimo Watershed Health Community of Practice.”

Paul’s presentation was part of the first module in the morning session on Day One of the Parksville 2019 Symposium on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate. The module was titled ‘The Whole-System Approach’.

PAUL CHAPMAN’S TOPIC: Nanaimo Watershed Health Community of Practice: The Hard Work of Hope.

Paul Chapman is the Executive Director, Nanaimo & Area Land Trust (NALT). His organization is collaborating with the Partnership for Water Sustainability and others, include the federal and provincial governments, to deliver the Vancouver Island Water Stewardship Symposium Series.

What Do You Wonder?

The story of Parksville 2019 is told in a magazine-style narrative titled “RE-CAP AND REFLECTIONS”.

The “re-cap and reflections” document was written for two audiences – first and foremost, for those who attended Parksville 2019 and wish to have an accessible and quotable reference document at their fingertips, so that they can share the story with others; and secondarily, for those who have heard about Parksville 2019 and are curious to learn more about the ‘story behind the story’, so that they may understand why this event represents a watershed moment for so many who were there.

About Parksville 2019

Close to 200 delegates attended this 3-day event. Parksville 2019 comprised a field day followed by a 2-day symposium. The program objectives for Parksville 2019 helped to inform and establish expectations. It was a matter of providing context and then being clear and succinct about the desired takeaways.

To provide relevance for streamkeepers, the theme for Day One was Sustainable Stream Restoration. To capture the attention of those in local government, the theme for Day Two was Restorative Land Development.