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“Twenty years after inception, BCIT suspended green roof courses until further notice. BCIT green roof programming was an early victim of an ebbing tide. Part of the vision for GRIN is the N for network. We have the tools. We just need political will, and critical mass,” stated Dr. Christine Thuring. Her claim to fame is that she is the first person in North America to obtain a green roof-focused master’s degree! The “story behind the story” of GRIN as told by Christine Thuring is a great story. It links past to present and future and to where GRIN wants to take a re-energized green roof movement.

“You cannot absolutely verify the solution during the short period of time for a charrette. So you are operating on intuition. You are operating on experience. Collective experience and collective intuitive ability to say, this is a good idea. Oh yes, that is a good idea! GOOD is adjudged collaboratively by society. Good versus bad is not an absolute. But perfect is an absolute which depends on mathematics. That is why we should strive for a GOOD SOLUTION rather than a PERFECT SOLUTION. You are operating on intuition. You are operating on experience,” stated Patrick Condon.

Gracelyn and Mike put the word out about the safe space forum idea. By making it by invitation only for local government employees, those attending would then be able to talk about the tough things that needed to be talked about. We wanted it to be a learning session. We did not want it to be a bitch session. We wanted everyone to think through how we contribute and how we add to the solution to help the conversation be productive for everyone involved. We spent time talking about the ground rules and that contributed to people opening up,” stated Gracelyn Day.

When Premier Gordon Campbell penned this lynchpin objective for Living Water Smart, it became the Partnership focus for outreach and peer-based learning. “Look long term. Think about what is best for the future. Not for you, but for those who will follow you. Think about how we can create a better environment that others can live in and benefit from. We get to make our own choices. We get to make our own future. We just have to have the vision to imagine, and the tenacity to pursue it. Collaboration is essential. We also have to bring people together,” he stated.

“In the early 1980s, the Province took the draconian step of legislating the elimination of planning as a function of all regional districts and cancelling all Official Regional Plans. In a defining moment of our history, Metro municipalities pushed back, saying they wanted to continue to have the benefits of the Livable Region Strategic Plan, the knowledge and data the region could provide to help in their work, and the policy dialogue that is at the heart of regional planning. The Livable Region Strategic Plan was approved by the Province in 1996,” stated Ken Cameron.

When he was Premier, Mike Harcourt was the political champion for a TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP network approach to collaboration in BC. A defining moment for local governments during his time as Premier was the launch of the transformational Georgia Basin Initiative in 1994. At the Partnership for Water Sustainability Forum in January 2026, Mike Harcourt said: “I would like to put a call to action on the record to do with land use planning and ecological and economic sustainability. We need to integrate all the disparate changes now taking place.”

“The Partnership for Water Sustainability is hosting a forum in January 2026 that will provide a safe space for current frontline staff to tap into insights from alumni who are retired from leadership positions. The forum theme is that we can support each other to make everyone’s work easier by creating a knowledge network. When we are part of a network, everyone goes further! Solutions to the issues of our time lie in WHAT stories we tell and HOW we tell those stories. Stories that help us understand historical context and policy frameworks also point the way forward,” stated Remi Dube.

“When I was on the faculty at the Harvard Business School, I began my research into the concept of a networked approach that is more focused on network-building and trust-based relationships, and less about building an organization to get to your mission impact. People learn from and are inspired by stories. Work is easier, more effective and more fun when people collaborate. The big idea is to try and seed a culture change and shift in climate-conservation work to one that really values the power of relationships and networks,” explained Jane Wei-Skillern.

Developing and crafting the Water Sustainability Act was a difficult and challenging job, as there are many views on water. Provincial staff consulted far and wide. The end result is legislation that had broad-based support. There are many water management issues that need to be resolved and the Act established a process that can address many of them. “A decade later, some people have qualms and issues with the Water Sustainability Act. Quite often they are minor things. It is easy to throw darts when you don’t know what you don’t know. That is what I see happening,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“We are adapting asset management to a changing world. One of the big priorities for me this year is to just start bringing Asset Management back to reality. To say, we are all facing the same struggles. Let’s talk about what those struggles are, instead of just believing that we have the solution to it. The theme that I am now promoting is this, just tell us your story because people can learn from stories. It does not have to be perfect. We know it is not perfect. But do not be afraid to tell the story. Passing on knowledge really is about the stories,” stated Arnold Schwabe.