COWICHAN REGION CLIMATE GATHERING IN DECEMBER 2024: “The network of networks within the Cowichan region is like a forest ecosystem in a way. There are connections happening in these networks that are beyond what we can fully characterize,” stated Keith Lawrence, lead person from the Cowichan Valley Regional District and co-moderator
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on February 25, 2025 featured a remarkable cross-sector planning team that organized and delivered Cowichan Region Climate Gathering on December 9-10, 2024 on Vancouver Island. Keith Lawrence of the Cowichan Valley Regional District is the narrator for this story of a seminal moment in a 30-year journey for water reconciliation and climate action.
Network of networks in Cowichan Region is like an ecosystem
The Cowichan Region on Vancouver Island is in the forefront of striving to learn from Elders and Indigenous leaders and community members. And a seminal moment in a 30-plus-year journey in pursuit of a Watershed Security Strategy is the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering held in December 2024.
This flagship event brought together champions from three worlds — local government, stewardship groups. and First Nations communities — to learn from each other, unite and build relationships through a network of networks.
Cowichan Region Climate Gathering: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Grounded in the cultural ways of the Indigenous partners, the event originated as an outreach initiative of the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) Program. It morphed into something much, much bigger.
“Starting in May 2024, we reached out to local First Nations staff and Chiefs and Councils. We met with elders, youth and community members. To listen to indigenous voices for this Climate Gathering idea,” Keith Lawrence recounts.
The concept of a “network of networks” emerged
“In our meetings with each community, we gathered their ideas on what the event should look like and how it should happen. Different suggestions that came forward ultimately became part of the overall experience of the event.”
Story behind the story is about the team that organized and delivered the Climate Gathering
THE CLIMATE GATHERING TEAM: David Reay, Fernanda Gutierrez Matos, Katie Mosewich, Cindy Lise, Sandra Thomson, Keith Lawrence
“It is not just the set of cross-cutting mandates but also the capabilities that everybody brought forward to the planning team. That mix really did strengthen the process and made it possible for the Climate Gathering to be what it was in the end.”
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“My history of collaboration with Cowichan Valley local governments goes back several decades. This provides me with a firsthand context for judging the historical significance of what Keith Lawrence and team accomplished at the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering in December.” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
“The fact that Michael Blackstock, Paul Chapman and I tag-teamed to deliver a breakout session also gives me a participant’ s perspective.”
“Our breakout session was about the Blue Ecology in the Cowichan initiative which is a partnership with the regional district. Building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures is about a mind-set change. To quote Michael Blackstock, it costs zero dollars to change one’s attitude.”
The people of the Cowichan Region are again taking the future into their own hands
“The roots of the Climate Gathering are found in the “Our River, Our Future Symposium” which was a launch event for the Georgia Basin Initiative 30 years ago. The lead story in the premiere issue of the GBI newsletter in 1995 was the water situation in the Cowichan Valley.”
“The issues and concerns expressed then are still topical three decades later. Expressed another way, a reality is that change does not happen overnight, and it takes hard work and determination decade after decade to inspire change.”
“The Honourable Joan Sawicki, who was the Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative, foreshadowed the future when she wrote:
Network of networks is like an ecosystem and is “transcalculational”
“When I interviewed Keith Lawrence for the story behind the story, he introduced me to the word transcalculational. What does that mean and is your use an original application of the idea, I asked Keith.”
“I cannot take credit for the term. Just the application,” replied Keith Lawrence. The earliest reference to it that I can find in the literature is the chapter contributed by Richard C Strohman to a book published in 1993.”
Counterbalancing AI with an understanding of molecular and cell biology
“Once Keith explained what transcalculational meant, it struck me that there is an intuitive linkage to what Michael Blackstock advocates when he says Counterbalance Artificial Intelligence with Natural Intelligence!. So, we decided to draw attention to Keith’s inspired application of the concept and see whether and how readers respond,” Kim Stephens reported.
“Essentially transcalculational refers to systems that are so complex that they cannot be fully characterized by our existing understanding, tools and methods. What I find intriguing is that Strohman uses the term in relation to the connections between the physical dimensions of our human selves (genes and proteins) and the environmental signals we receive,” concluded Keith Lawrence.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Network of networks in Cowichan Region is like an ecosystem – conversations with Keith Lawrence and Cindy Lise
The story behind the story is structured in four parts. In Part One, Keith Lawrence provides an over-arching context. In Part Two, he then delves into how the Climate Gathering came about. Centre-stage is an emphasis on building relationships with First Nations communities.
PART ONE: Context for Water Reconciliation and Climate Action Work in the Cowichan Region
“Across the region we have collaborative networks that are each focused on a particular set of actions that support climate resilience,” explains Keith Lawrence. “For example, stewardship groups for a particular watershed, airshed protection roundtable, energy reduction champions and climate action planning leaders.”
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PART TWO: Genesis for the concept of a “network of networks” in the Cowichan Region
“Our outreach for the Climate Gathering idea started in May 2024, continued right through 2024, and culminated with the actual event in December. Along the way we recognized the need to have this big space discussion,” continues Keith Lawrence.
“The idea in many ways came through from the Vancouver island-wide forum in January 2024 on Making Connections for Climate Action. That forum was co-hosted by Island Health and the Snuneymuxw First Nation and held in Nanaimo.”
“It really was collective enthusiasm and energy. Cindy and I fed off each other’s enthusiasm. It snowballed from there. Essentially she and I realized that what was being done on an island-wide scale could be done within our region.”
“This is another example of inter-regional learning being something that could be applied regionally.”
Peer-based sharing and learning
“In that regard, I was able to apply the insights that I gained over the years through my participation in the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative. Insights into how we gather and what would be important to share.”
“One of the primary thrusts of the Climate Gathering was to celebrate work that is ongoing in the Cowichan Region. And I wish to really underline the word celebrate because so much is happening by so many folks.”
“The Climate Gathering was an opportunity to acknowledge community members, organizations, and in particular volunteer stewards who have been carrying so much work forward. The Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable is one example. It is chaired by volunteers who give so much.”
Climate Gathering supports the 10-year goals of the Drinking Water & Watershed Protection Program
“Each group working on climate action in the Cowichan Region has its own network. We realized it could be quite valuable for folks in each network to see how what they were doing might connect with what other networks were doing.”
“Now that Michael Blackstock has connected with Indigenous elders who participated in the Climate Gathering, the Partnership’s Watershed Moments team has a conversation starter in each of the First Nations communities about the concept for the Blue Ecology Circle Tour.”
“Increasing awareness of Indigenous wisdom related to water and climate change supports the 10-year goals of the Cowichan Region Drinking Water and Watershed Protection program. “
Learning and relationship-building is an ongoing cycle in the Cowichan Region
“When I reflect on my time with CVRD, I see a cycle of learning and relationship-building over decades. I think, for example, of the various folks who began relationship-building though the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable back in 2003. And that really is just one point in time. It was happening prior to my involvement.”
“When I joined CVRD in mid-2013, I had a strong sense that this would be a place where I could work in a more collaborative setting. There was a willingness to foster a collaborative framework between partnering organizations so that together we can respond to climate threats to our water resources.”
Outreach experience from watershed governance study process completed in 2015 carries forward to today
“We went and met with First Nations chiefs and council members and staff in their communities where they lived. That led to important discussions and understanding their interests and priorities for watershed management. I feel honoured to have had that opportunity to be part of those meetings.”
“In the end, all that work supported establishment of the watershed protection function by referendum in 2018. And through the Climate Gathering, that set us up to showcase a tremendous amount of work being done across the region.”
Relationships, relationships, relationships
“And so, it does come back to relationships that were started through the watershed governance process. The outreach we did a decade ago carries forward.”
“When we have relationships, we can have more effective, more deliberate, and more focused discussions about areas of overlapping opportunities. We are then able to address those issues that are of importance to our partners.”
Ecosystem of relationships is beyond human calculation
PART THREE: Framework for water reconciliation and climate action in the Cowichan Region
“The Cowichan Region Climate Gathering was an opportunity for us to celebrate the incredible climate action work in the Cowichan Valley Region,” states Cindy Lise, Regional Facilitator / Executive Director with the Our Cowichan Community Health Network and co-lead for the Climate Gathering.
“There are many benefits to sharing, coordinating and collaborating in our own region, and the Cultural ways of being teach us that there is so much more that we could be doing.”
Photo essay captures the spirit of the event
“Fernanda Gutierrez Matos did a wonderful job in creating the two program booklets and compiling a synopsis of the Climate Gathering. As well, she brought through many of the insights from a community health perspective.”
PART FOUR: What Next – Climate Gathering is a springboard for the “network of networks”
“Yes, there is the story of the development of the gathering which is something in itself. But the story behind the story is everything that comes before and goes on afterwards. We have already started meeting to decide what we will do next,” reports Keith Lawrence.
“The Climate Gathering was successful because each member of the planning team brought their unique perspective from their organization and place. We worked at building relationships among ourselves.”
Narrator role for shared experience
“I see myself as merely a narrator speaking about a shared experience that we all had in planning the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering. I have that role because I was involved in the earlier stages. And so, I hold that and I carry that with me as an obligation or responsibility to be able to share that story.”
“Our whole planning team very much lived that experience of coming together and it becoming a lived experience for all 150 participants who were present on those two days.”
There will be a “next something”
“The planning team has been reflecting on what happened last December 9th and 10th, what was heard, what folks experienced, and where we go from here. There is a nexus. It is still to be determined what it looks like. BUT THERE WILL BE A NEXT SOMETHING!”
“There is lots of energy and enthusiasm, even just within the CVRD organization, to move forward and go out into the community and build relationships. It is still very early days for getting planning done for the coming year. But we are getting there.”
Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
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