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Michael Blackstock

    CONVENING FOR ACTION IN THE COWICHAN REGION: “What is possible for climate resiliency in the Cowichan? We are at this really unique moment in our community about what is possible, how do we drive it, who is going to drive it,” stated Cindy Lise, co-lead for the Cowichan Climate Gathering, a collaborative initiative for collective impact


    “I have been doing collective impact work in the community for more than 10 years. It takes time, it really does. It is only NOW that it is really starting to have a profound impact on some of the other initiatives that we are doing. It is really hard to do really hard work unless you trust and have a relationship with the people doing the work.We know it takes a sustained effort and a sustained backbone or people at the helm to drive it. And so, for this big climate gathering piece, we are at hello! But some of the work behind it is decades in,” stated Cindy Lise.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “In 2025, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of waterbucket.ca, storytelling platform for showcasing and sharing success stories about an ecosystem-based approach to land and water use in southwest BC,” stated Mike Tanner, founding chair of the intergovernmental waterbucket.ca partnership


    The vision for an ecosystem-based approach to land use originated with the Georgia Basin Initiative, a call to action in 1994 to achieve settlement, economy and ecology in balance. This was the context when Mike Tanner brought together a consortium of provincial and regional organizations and federal agencies to form a partnership to fund development of waterbucket.ca as the communication platform for the Water Sustainability Action Plan. “We profile those who do good work in the spirit of Living Water Smart.This validates what they do,” says Mike Tanner.

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    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


    “I see myself as merely a narrator speaking about a shared experience that we all had in planning the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering. We just know that ultimately, the network of networks can help us to work together towards a common vision,” stated Keith Lawrence. “It was recognized from the beginning how important it would be to ground the event in the traditional ways of the local First Nations communities and people in the region. And we recognized that we needed to have this big space discussion about climate action to connect a network of networks within the region.”

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    CONNECTED BY WATER: “While inter-regional collaboration was the context for my conversational interview with Zoe Norcross-Nu’u, the story behind the story went in an unexpected direction,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket Editor


    “Zoe Norcross-Nu’u, a marine scientist who previously taught at the University of Hawaii Maui College, is in her second decade with Comox Valley Regional District after joining in 2012. Her responsibilities revolve around the Comox Lake Watershed Protection Plan. At the end of our conversation, Zoe connected her reflections about Hawaii and interweaving Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science to Blue Ecology, the water-first approach that bridges cultures. Zoe represents the Comox Valley Regional District on the Partnership’s Watershed Moments Team,” stated Km Stephens.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “Inter-regional collaboration allows us to support each other in addressing problems that transcend boundaries,” stated Zoe Norcross-Nu’u, Comox Lake Watershed Protection Coordinator


    “When the regional districts on the east coast of Vancouver Island present a united front, it is so much stronger than us trying to speak as an individual local government, especially for a small one within a larger provincial context when you are one among many. In a provincial context, we are just one tiny voice. Coming together as neighbouring regional governments has strengthened our relationships and increased inter-regional communication and sharing of methodologies, ideas, strategies and information–all our communities are benefitting!” stated Zoe Norcross-Nu’u.

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “Rather than wondering how much more can we take or impact land before we need to stop, instead we should ask how much longer should we let the water and land heal, before we ask for more,” stated Michael Blackstock (September 2023)


    The Blue Ecology video documentary seeds the idea that hope lies within the spheres of influence for local governments, whether Indigenous OR non-Indigenous. At its heart, Blue Ecology is about taking responsibility for care of the land and passing on the intergenerational baton. The video also seeds the idea that making it so requires a change in attitude to achieve the five Blue Ecology principles – Spirit, Balance, Harmony, Respect, Unity. The primary audience is local government. The Watershed Moments goal is to help remove their fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “Blue Ecology shows us a path to interweave Indigenous and Western science to better steward our watersheds,” stated Paul Chapman, co-producer of the Watershed Moments 2023 documentary video released on World Rivers Day 2023


    “The earliest inhabitants on the land, BC’s First Nations, settled near rivers. More recent settlements have followed suit, settling near rivers for fresh water supply, travel, commerce, food supply, recreation, and in our built environments storm water and wastewater services. Climate change has compounded the stresses our modern practices and settlements impose on watershed health and healthy functioning. The new normal includes drought, flood and fire on a seasonal basis. A hopeful way forward is found in Blue Ecology,” stated Paul Chapman.

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “Water brings people together. It is a natural starting point for any conversation about common interests, and by extension, our shared future,” stated Kim Stephens, co-producer of the Watershed Moments 2023 documentary video released on World Rivers Day 2023


    “In 2017, we commenced the process of mainstreaming awareness of Michael Blackstock’s work and ecological philosophy into the local government setting. Watershed Moments 2023 is the latest evolution. The Partnership is on a journey with Michael Blackstock. It is taking us time to build trust and relationships with First Nations to the point of being able to showcase Blue Ecology in action. Watershed Moments 2023 showcases a free-flowing conversation, with Richard Boase steering the process. This allows the chemistry with Brian Carruthers and Michael Blackstock to take its natural course,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “Our Gitxsan legal system, laws and traditions dictate that we must leave a functioning house group and a functioning landscape for future generations of people from the house,” stated Gitxsan hereditary chief Hanamuxw in the Watershed Moments 2023 documentary video


    “Our job as chiefs is to take care of the members of the wilp and the land base that we have. The concept of that responsibility is found in the word gwelx ye’enst which means leaving things for the future generations. That is the ethic that we need to uphold. We have based that experience on what we have been doing since the last glaciation period. That is some 15,000 years of experience. We take our Gitxsan science and we meld it and weave it in with Western science and look at how those two systems can co-exist,” stated Chief Hanamuxw.

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    BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “We need to measure progress in different ways. We are not going to measure Water Reconciliation in a year-end report because it is about a mindset change,” stated Richard Boase, moderator of of the Watershed Moments 2023 documentary video released on World Rivers Day 2023


    “For 30 years, I have used only Western science in my efforts to make changes in water resources. For the most part, I have not been successful. I asked a First Nations elder what can I do differently? By viewing everything around us in the natural world as having spirit, and having a personality and a purpose in how it relates to the people who live on the land, you are starting on the right path, the elder explained. This was a profound moment for me. It dawned on me that if we redirect water into a wetland, for example, life is going to happen. Water will create life with little or no help from us,” stated Richard Boase.

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