Category:

“When we refer to The New Business As Usual, we mean that ‘design with nature’ will be everyday practice; and we will move to an approach that is cohesive, concerted and leads us to sustainability. We are being bold in using the mantra: What do we want Vancouver Island to look like in 50 years? Rather than being guided by 3-year municipal and 4-year provincial government election cycles, we are saying….look 50 years out and backcast to determine what decisions we need to make now to create the future that we want,” stated Eric Bonham.

“We are using the slogan The New Business As Usual to convey the message that, for change to really occur, practices that until now have been viewed as the exception must become the norm moving forward. We have to build regulatory models and develop models of practice and expertise to support The New Business As Usual. Vancouver Island is the pilot region. The shared vision is to move toward water sustainability by implementing green infrastructure policies and practices. This is a multi-year commitment by the funding agencies,” stated Dale Wall.

The Ministry of Environment included a progress report on CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island at the Ministry’s second annual ‘water workshop’, held in Nanaimo. “We took ourselves up and down the island. We asked the same question: What will Vancouver Island look like in 50 years? There was a sense of urgency. We wanted to talk about and establish some way of collaborating on Vancouver Island. We found that the north is not talking to the south, and the east is not talking to the west. So, we said why don’t we pull these people together,” stated Eric Bonham.

“The Green Infrastructure Partnership was an original element of the Water Sustainability Action Plan. Early success built awareness and galvanized action on the ground, and provided our Vancouver Island colleagues with confidence that they were on the right track. Success on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver helped to lay a strong foundation for incorporation of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC. This entity is now the hub for a ‘convening for action’ network in the local government setting, and the keeper of the GIP legacy,” said Paul Ham.

“CAVI is a collective effort to see where we can go on Vancouver Island, and do it in a way that is a little bit different. The operative words are vision, partnerships, communications, ecological integrity, human well-being, sustainability, water-centric, and a desire to work together for Vancouver Island. Never doubt that a group of concerned citiizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever does. And that is where we are today with CAVI,” stated Eric Bonham.

The workshop was an action item arising from an earlier consultation workshop held in conjunction with the Water in the City Conference in September 2006. “If we are to control our destiny and create our future, then we need to challenge our fellow Vancouver Islanders to visualize what they want Vancouver Island to look like in 50 years. We wish to influence Vancouver Island local governments to adopt Design with Nature as the preferred process of approving land development applications,” stated John Finnie.

The workshop focus was on bridging the gap between talk (interest) and action (practice) in advancing a water-centric approach to community development. To provide breakout groups with context for their brainstorming, Erik Karlsen addressed this question: “SO WHAT are the ways we inform, inspire and enable people to work together through partnerships to ACT NOW?” In addition, he introduced possible elements of a water-centric framework for land development approvals.

“The Meeting of the Minds initiative evolved into Convening for Action on Vancouver Island, known by the acronym CAVI. A consultation workshop held as an adjunct to the Water in the City Conference in Victoria provided a timely opportunity to test and validate an approach that can bridge the gap between talk (interest) and action (practice) in advancing a water-centric approach to community development,” reported Eric Bonham.

“The group was asked to identify what issues, problems or concerns exist currently within the Vancouver Island region,” wrote Kerry Elfstrom. “It was agreed that Vancouver Island could be the focus since it has clearly defined geographical boundaries, every element of the industry represented (suppliers, operators, consultants, educators, interested Associations etc.) and advantageous proximity to the provincial Government.”