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Tim Pringle

    EAP TRANSITION STRATEGY PARTNERSHIP: “There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless; and from all angles. The strategy ensures that knowledge is retained at an institutional level, that is, Vancouver Island University,” stated Graham Sakaki, Manager of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute


    “The story behind the story is about the importance of embedding knowledge of EAP into the youth who are going to be the future of our local governments. The framework that we have set up ensures this will happen. Vancouver Island University, as a smaller university, is very focused on applied research and community engagement. This is a good fit for the EAP mission. The program enhances the ability of students to take part in applied research and have direct links to future jobs with these local governments who are providing project work experience for students,” stated Graham Sakaki.

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    CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “Held in Nanaimo, the summit is the event of record for announcing that henceforth Vancouver Island University will be known as the home for the EAP Centre of Excellence,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability (May 2024)


    “Held every five years as a 3-day event, the BC Land Summit is a watershed moment for showcasing new ideas. The Partnership delivered a 2-part program to introduce Blue Ecology and the Ecological Accounting Process. Because the audience comprised players involved in the land professions, the Partnership hopes that the summit will prove to be a seminal moment in sparking an attitude change about land and water. Time will tell,” stated Kim Stephens. “Everyone on the team delivered. The storylines flowed. The audience engagement was terrific. That is THE MEASURE of success!”

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “We had big goals. We had a lot of practitioners at the local government level who wanted to innovate, and we had a lot of political interest in how to do this,” stated Dale Wall, former Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs


    “Moving into the 2000s, the Green Infrastructure Partnership was bringing practitioners together in Metro Vancouver to have conversations about innovation. It was the convening for action process that built confidence among practitioners to introduce these approaches. It was a peer learning network that the Partnership was building. And that was one of the strands to introduce infrastructure innovation and build more sustainable regions. It was a conversation between practitioners who said, I tried that and this is how it worked or did not work, or this is what I learned,” stated Dale Wall.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “With the change of government in late 1991, all of a sudden land use planning and natural resource management was front and centre, and I really wanted something substantive to do,” stated Joan Sawicki, land and resource management champion, and former provincial cabinet minister


    “There was a clear understanding and consensus on the challenges – that the Georgia Basin was one of the most ecologically diverse regions and also one of the most threatened. There was trouble in paradise. All communities knew they were under intense pressures and that we had to do something about it. With a strong Minister of Municipal Affairs, Darlene Marzari, the ‘settlement side’ of land use planning went straight into regional planning and the Growth Strategies Act. We also had been given a clear vision along with sustainability principles,” stated Joan Sawicki.

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    CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE BC LAND SUMMIT: “The 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University has multiple layers and partnerships, with several moving parts to balance,” stated stated Anna Lawrence, Project Coordinator, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute at VIU


    “Absorb, communicate. and refine the communication. I am very focused on the 3-year transition strategy because Year One was just trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. And so, in Year Two I think it is time to begin that communication process. And Year Three will be refining that communication process. In Year One, it was a juggling process with many moving parts and trying to keep them all in balance. And so, we look forward to sharing our EAP experience at the BC Land Summit,” stated Anna Lawrence.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “Vancouver Island University is all-in because EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is an idea that can change the game and students are excited to contribute to the change,” stated Graham Sakaki of Vancouver Island University


    “The story behind the story is about the importance of embedding knowledge of EAP into the youth who are going to be the future of our local governments. The framework that we have set up ensures this will happen. There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless, and from all angles. It is a leap of faith for member local governments. Partnership for Water Sustainability commitment to passing the baton is unwavering,” stated Graham Sakaki when he spoke about the 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP at Vancouver Island University.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “A defining moment for me was the Salmon in the City Conference in 1998. It was a memorable event,” stated Susan Haid, career environmental and urban planner in BC local government, and adjunct assistant professor at the University of British Columbia


    “It is really heartening to observe the recent renewed interest in what I think of as ecosystem-based planning and is now often called green and blue systems in cities,” stated Susan Haid. “It sounds simple, but it is heartening because this has NOT really been a key theme in the public dialogue for some time. The pandemic has reminded us of the importance of green space and access to nature. It is even more important now because in 1997 we did not have the kind of weather extremes such as atmospheric rivers and heat domes that we are now regularly experiencing.”

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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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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “Think of Blue Ecology as a compass in terms of how it relates to a water-first approach to Water Reconciliation between cultures,” urges Richard Boase, Vice-President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia


    “We are implementers. Blue Ecology reinforces the attitude change that is necessary to support widespread use of tools and resources that the Partnership has been pioneering for more than two decades to help local governments design with nature. We have both been at this a long time. From experience, we have seen and know why the situation on the land has not been changing for the better. Our call for restorative action is this: design in concert with nature and make better decisions around our landscapes,” stated Richard Boase.

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