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“What is the Dialogue in Nanaimo about? We want to entertain you a little bit. We want to engage you. We want to show you an atypical presentation – that is, a few vignettes taking a wander throughout the world of water sustainability. So, why are we doing this today? We want to structure some dialogue that perhaps will create some networking for the future. What outcome do we want? We would hope that the individuals in this room would learn some more about this incredibly critical component of our lives. We want you to seek, greet and meet folks in this room; and find out what other people are doing,” stated Patrick Ross.

The Dialogue in Nanaimo was organized and facilitated by Kathy Bishop of Leadership Vancouver Island, She recruited a team of and knowledgeable individuals who were willing to participate in an ‘improv theatre’ format rather than make formal presentations. “It was a team-building process, with the objective of becoming comfortable with the ‘improv format’. Kathy was doing her PhD at the University of Victoria, and we were part of her applied research. We came together as a team, and our camaraderie was on display for all to see on the day of the Dialogue.”

“Farmers are saying it is not the big storms that cause them problems. Rather, it is all the little storms. All the water from the uplands is just enough that the farmers cannot get on their land and plant or harvest their crops. Development in the uplands is affecting the way we are trying to manage agriculture. So we need to change the way we are doing things in the uplands. It is about replenishing the groundwater,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is really the story of convening for action for water sustainability. It is about what we are calling the ‘new business as usual’. We have the tools. We have the knowledge. We know what to do on the ground. It is just a matter of applying those things when we are talking about development opportunities,” stated John FInnie. “We really need to change the way we think about land use and development. The goal is to be water-centric. The key to this way-of-thinking is the idea of ‘designing with nature’.”

“We have had the guts to start this dialogue, but we will also need bigger guts to complete what we started. Part of the process is summarizing what we heard today, inviting people back to the table to talk about what we have determined in that summary, and then putting together a plan of action together for moving forward. When we have that plan in draft format, we will be hosting a breakout session at the State of the Island Summit ,” stated Cori Lynn Germiquet.

“Before I came to the session, I did not know much about water sustainability. But now I do. What I learned reinforces the complex layers of the challenges that we face. Our objective was to identify some of the issues, inform some people, create some initial hope with some initial solutions, and stimulate some dialogue. When I watched the discussion in the small groups, we certainly stimulated dialogue. We cannot just leave it here. It is not acceptable, in terms of a leadership realm, to have a dialogue and not complete the cycle,” stated Paul Ross.