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“We all need to be backed up by each level of government responsibility. As a Regional Director, I will take on my responsibility regarding land use. But so must the other levels of government. Senior governments need to use their regulations to help local governments solve local problems. We need a provincial hammer. But there is nobody on the ground to take responsibility and follow through to resolve issues and concerns. All the agencies have cut back staff. The result is a free-for- all.,” stated Lori Iannidinardo.

“Start with an understanding of the parcel because that is how communities regulate and plan land use. It is the parcel level where you get the information that you need to change practice to protect natural assets. That is what everyone must get their heads around. Having a defensible number allows us to look at riparian condition and set targets for restoration. The riparian condition is one measure of the state of M&M over time. We usually find the streamside setback zone is in a deficit position because things that ought to have occurred to protect it have not,” stated Tim Pringle.

“We can all agree that water is important, that water needs to be protected, and we need to do that sooner rather than later. And it was not just the elected leaders of the three local governments doing the talking. The stewardship sector, Squamish First Nations and provincial government were represented too. Now, as an outcome of the Dialogue, the Sunshine Coast Regional District is looking at creating an aquifer protection area in concert with the Town of Gibsons. This will benefit the Town and other communities reliant on groundwater,” stated Mayor Bill Beamish.

“The old way of thinking comes to mind when we look at what the Public Sector Accounting Board has in mind when it talks about including natural assets in PSAB 3150.. My suggestion is practical and straightforward. Just do what the Town of Gibsons did in 2014. They included an accountant’s note in the Financial Statement that refers to natural assets. That is all you need. An auditor’s note is an appropriate form of recognition and can be accompanied by reference to a separate report specific to natural assets,” stated David Allen

William MacAskill is a proponent of what’s known as longtermism – the view that the deep future is something we have to address now. Although most cultures, particularly in the west, provide a great many commemorations of distant ancestors – statues, portraits, buildings – we are much less willing to consider our far-off descendants. “In societies undergoing rapid change, we feel more disconnected from the distant future because we struggle to conceive what it will be like,” stated William MacAskill.

Every generation is handed a world that has been shaped by their predecessors – and then seemingly forgets that fact. In a short-but-influential paper published in 1995, legendary UBC fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly argued that this blind spot meant scientists were failing to account fully for the slow creep of disappearing species. Daniel Pauly coined this effect as the Shifting Baseline Syndrome. Since then, this has been observed far more widely than the fisheries community – it takes place in any realm of society where a baseline creeps imperceptibly over generations.

“EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, evolved as one ‘big idea’ led to the next one. We could not have made the leap directly from the first to the last. It required a building blocks process. This is the beneficial outcome of a systematic approach to applied research that tests and refines the methodology and metrics to get them right, and is founded on the principle of collaboration that benefits everyone. With the perspective of hindsight, each local government took a leap of faith that EAP would fit into their strategic directions,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Stewardship groups have local knowledge about local water resources, and are the most invested and most connected to the land base. It is in the small tributary streams where the impacts of changes in the seasonal water balance are being felt most. Small streams are now going dry and have zero levels of riparian protection . Now that I am the one standing in the creek to take the flow measurements, I appreciate just how much variability there is around hydrology. So, I can see why it take 10 years to have confidence in computer model results,” stated Peter Law.

“My approach starts with a belief that the administration is there for its role, and the elected officials are there for a different role entirely. I firmly believe that the operational side of city business is nowhere near the purview of city councils. The goal is to get us in alignment so that staff are guiding us with their expertise, and that the policy decisions that we make are consistent with the staff recommendations and advice. I work with Council to make sure everyone understands that. And by and large, we have now reached that shared understanding,” stated Richard Stewart.

“I find that many people who are network leaders are often swimming upstream, struggling, and fighting an uphill battle. That is such a waste of time and energy. They are the unsung heroes, who should be free to catalyze and build the network to get the work done without so many senseless barriers getting in of the way. Much of the work that I am doing is with an eye toward how we remove those barriers that are keeping people from building thriving networks. It was exciting to hear about the work of the British Columbia Partnership for Water Sustainability exemplifies network leadership as I have conceptualized it,” stated Dr. Jane Wei-Skillern.