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“Today, the scope of involvement and influence of stream stewards is expanding beyond the creek channel. What happens on the land matters to streams. Hence, stewardship groups are champions for community-scale responsibility. Given staffing and funding constraints, creative partnerships with stewardship groups are truly ‘win-win’ for local governments – especially when stewardship groups can access funding sources that local governments cannot,” states Richard Boase,

“The e-Newsletter series is designed to paint a picture of the field day and 2-day symposium,” states Kim Stephens. “Our hope is that delegates will take the time to read and reflect on the desired outcomes and educational objectives for the program as a whole. Also, that they will arrive in Parksville well-prepared to contribute to the ‘sharing & learning’ segments that are a feature of each day. The symposium program comprises four modules each day, and these are structured to achieve the educational objectives.”

“A goal of restorative land development would be to restore the integrity of the natural water balance. If this work is done right, it should be possible to: first, halt ecosystem decline; and after that, bend the trend-line in an upwards direction,” states Paul Chapman. “Guided by a whole-system, water balance approach, restorative land development would reconnect hydrology and ecology. Connecting dots, then, a key message is that restorative land development results in sustainable stream restoration.”

The way communities have historically developed and drained land has disconnected hydrology from ecology. The consequences of this disconnect are more erosion and flooding, loss of baseflow and aquatic habitat, and an unfunded infrastructure liability for stream stabilization. “Delegates at the Parksville 2019 Symposium will learn how local government partnerships with stewardship groups can be transformational and respond better to a changing climate,” stated Glen Brown, General Manager, UBCM Victoria Operations.

“My presentation to the Utilities Committee alllowed me to make the first outreach announcement about the Parksville 2019 Symposium, even though the Organizing Committee was still in the early stages of program development. So, I decided to be bold and seize the moment in order to plant seeds about the vision for restorative development,” recalls Kim Stephens. “At the end of the day, it is essential to reconnect ecology and hydrology to bring the vision for restorative development to fruition. Only then would restorative development have a lasting beneficial impact.”

“The BC Society of Landscape Architects encourages our Members and Associates to be Life-Long Learners. To maintain the objectives of the Society, the Continuing Education initiative and to strengthen the public’s confidence in the BCSLA, all Registered Landscape Architects, Landscape Architects, Inactive Landscape Architects and Interns are required to annually monitor their Continuing Education activities,” stated Tara Culham, Executive Director.

A key message for the Parksville 2019 Symposium is that ‘sustainable stream restoration results from restorative land development’. The latter is only achievable through the integrated efforts of planners, engineers, biologists and community volunteers. “The content and discussion is certainly relevant to the planning profession and the program looks really good. We are assigning 10.5 CPL Credits (for a full conference attendance) and 5 CPL Credits per day (if attending only one day),” stated Dave Crossley, PIBC Executive Director.