DOWNLOAD THE PRE-PANDEMIC PROGRAM BROCHURE for “Comox Valley 2020: Third Annual Vancouver Island Symposium on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate –– Climate Change, Collaboration and Landscape Restoration” (HISTORICAL NOTE: originally scheduled for April, the 2-day symposium was initially postponed to October due to the COVID 19 pandemic, before being re-imagined as the virtual Video Trilogy Series for delivery via YouTube)
Note to Reader:
The waterbucket.ca website is a living record of activities and outcomes resulting from initiatives implemented under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan. In 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic changed everything and created a new reality for everyone on Planet Earth. Hence, an important part of the Partnership’s historical record is preserving for future reference articles such as the one below. Otherwise the story will be lost of how the three Comox Valley 2020 co-hosts responded and adapted over the course of a once-in-a-century event.
Have you heard about the Vancouver Island Symposia Series on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate? Are you curious to learn more about the ‘convening for action’ process to improve where we live? Do you anticipate that you might wish to attend? If your answer to any of these questions is YES, then download a copy of the COMOX VALLEY 2020 BROCHURE to learn more!
The challenge when ‘Convening for Action’: How will communities ‘get it right’ as land develops and redevelops?
“The Comox Valley 20200 Symposium is a milestone event on a multi-year ‘convening for action’ journey that commenced in 2004 with release of the Water Sustainability Action Plan,” reports Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.
“The genesis for Comox Valley 2020 was the 2017 Comox Valley Eco-Asset Symposium, held in the City of Courtenay. The impact was transformational. It inspired the 2018 Vancouver Island Symposium on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate, held in the City of Nanaimo. This event introduced a vision for ‘restorative land development’ that would re-establish creekshed function. And it energized the audience with this challenge:
How will communities ‘get it right’ through collaboration as land develops and redevelops?
“Building on the energy that was released in Nanaimo, the dot-connecting theme for the 3-day Parksville program in 2019 was: Restorative land development would result in sustainable stream restoration. Parksville 2019 celebrated local government initiatives on Vancouver Island that are ‘getting it right’ over time. They are on a pathway to reconnect hydrology and ecology. Achieving this outcome depends on collaboration, commitment, and the ‘hard work of hope’.
“In October 2020, the third in the series will further open eyes and minds as to ‘what can be’ – because the Comox Valley has emerged as an incubator region for provincially significant precedents. Collaboration, across sectors and among rightsholders and stakeholders, is essential in order for communities to: mobilize and respond effectively to the present climate emergency; reconnect hydrology and ecology; and demonstrate that restorative land development is attainable.”
To Learn More:
For the complete storyline, download a copy of the COMOX VALLEY 2020 BROCHURE.
