Water-Centric Planning

COWICHAN REGION CLIMATE GATHERING IN DECEMBER 2024: “The planning team aimed to strengthen the important relationships that allow us to build a stronger and more aligned collective approach to caring for our environment and increasing our resiliency,” stated Cindy Lise, co-moderator

February 25, 2025 - Posted in Contextual Resources, State of Water in British Columbia

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on February 25, 2025 featured a remarkable cross-sector planning team that organized and delivered the Cowichan Region Climate Gathering on December 9-10, 2024 on Vancouver Island.

Cindy Lise of the Our Cowichan Community Health Network and Keith Lawrence of the Cowichan Valley Regional District were co-leads and co-moderators for this seminal moment in a 30-year journey for water reconciliation and climate action. The following article featuring Cindy Lise is an extract from Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Network of networks in Cowichan Region is like a forest ecosystem. She presents the storyline for the “day of the event “as a photo essay. This visual approach brings key themes to life for readers.

Convening for water reconciliation and climate action in the Cowichan Region

“The Cowichan Region Climate Gathering was an opportunity for us to celebrate the incredible climate action work in the Cowichan Valley Region,” states Cindy Lise, Regional Facilitator / Executive Director with the Our Cowichan Community Health Network and co-lead for the Climate Gathering.

“There are many benefits to sharing, coordinating and collaborating in our own region, and the Cultural ways of being teach us that there is so much more that we could be doing.”

Photo essay captures the spirit of the event

“Throughout the two days, I took photographs to record the moment. After the event, when I looked at the photos and added captions, I tried to capture the essence of what it was that we wanted to accomplish at the Climate Gathering.”

“Fernanda Gutierrez Matos did a wonderful job in creating the two program booklets and compiling a synopsis of the Climate Gathering. As well, she brought through many of the insights from a community health perspective.”