Category:

“I was teaching an MBA elective on social entrepreneurship, was doing some case writing, and came across Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Geraldine Peacock, the CEO, did all of these counter-intuitive things in order to get her organization’s impact bigger. But it was by decreasing their own organizational footprint, investing in their peers and former competitors, and focusing more narrowly on their core business, that enabled them to leverage their resources more broadly and create greater and more sustainable impact in the entire field,” stated Jane Wei-Skillern.

“In my conversations with current and former senior level municipal staff around the Metro Vancouver region, there is a sense among them that the current generation of politicians appears more interested in appeasing a few people who are outspoken, as opposed to listening to the advice of their professional staff. More than ever, we need STRONGER CHAMPIONS and people who believe in what they are doing at heart. When I reflect on my time with Langley Township, I hope my lasting contribution is the confidence that I instilled in people to not be afraid of trying something and being a champion for it,” stated Ramin Seifi.

“The purpose of the Metro Vancouver region’s Adaptive Management Framework is to measure watershed health. How well are your watershed plans working? We kept it simple, practical and implementable for a reason,” stated Melony Burton. “You are not going to measure everything every five years because it is unaffordable when you have multiple watersheds or limited resources. If you were to go back every five years and check, could you see your watershed health improving? How many of your recommendations have you implemented? ARE THEY WORKING?”

“Streams need a place to be. If we cannot get our heads around that, we are not going to keep our streams. EAP provides a value picture of a stream system as a land use. Because nature is a system, you cannot slice and dice it. EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, recognizes this and is a financial tool to give streams the support they need to survive in the local government setting. How are Blue Ecology and EAP interconnected? My answer is that Blue Ecology emphasizes the social perspective for protecting watersheds and streams. EAP shows how to achieve that outcome with a financial tool,” stated Tim Pringle.

“The Partnership is the engine for a network in the local government setting. Our mission is intergenerational. This means we are striving to bridge the gap in understanding; and we are doing what we can to help governments overcome organizational amnesia. The clock is ticking, and we are working hard to shape this outcome: what the Partnership and associated network will look like after the Year 2025. In 2023, we exceeded our own expectations. We are ahead of schedule in moving forward with the strategy for network continuity,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“As I reflect on the planning and operational implications of these interconnected issues, I am reminded of what the late Dr. Wesley Eckenfelder, a legendary professor from Vanderbilt University, told my engineering class when he was a guest lecturer for a week-long course at UBC,” stated Kim Stephens. “He said what are the numbers telling you? Understand the context. What are the assumptions? Look for the pattern. Ask the right questions! Wesley Eckenfelder’s words of wisdom have influenced my career as a professional engineer involved in policy and planning.”

“In these challenging times, it is imperative that we offer hope. Sharing stories of people’s experiences is valuable for inspiring others. Each week, we start with a compelling quotable quote and delve into the story behind the story. During the past 3-month period, the Partnership has published 11 feature stories. This edition constitutes our “season in review”. We have kept it simple. To refresh reader memories about the topics and how much ground we have covered, we have brought forward the headline plus defining quotable quote from each of the 11 storylines,” stated Kim Stephens.

The 100-Year Action Plan for bringing Bowker Creek back to life will be achieved through an intergenerational commitment to a shared vision. Key words that capture the essence of the Bowker story are perseverance, dedication, and TIME in capitals. Changes do not happen overnight. It is a journey and journeys take decades. “That is what makes the Bowker Creek Initiative the best. We are watching it implement organically and operationally, unlike how it was 10 years ago when we were always banging at doors and saying don’t forget about the creek,” stated Jody Watson.

“Watercourses really do drive a lot of what we do in Surrey. It always goes back to the natural resource that we inherited. From an urban fabric perspective, between the Agricultural Land Reserve and our watercourses, the city would be quite a bit different if not for them. Between those two assets, you drive through Surrey and there is an environmental sense to it despite the density in the City Centre. When the Natural Drainage Policy was adopted in 1975, formalizing that need to preserve creeks in the 1970s made a huge difference to what we have now,” stated Rémi Dubé.

When senior governments cut programs in the 2000s and downloaded responsibilities to local government, the City of Surrey and Carrie Baron stepped up. Her passion and commitment garnered internal support at Surrey to fund data collection and performance monitoring programs. These advanced science-based understanding. “It was disheartening when senior governments started cutting all the science and data collection programs. The more you learn, the more you try to bring in. That was always the key – we knew that as technology advanced and we learned more, we had to change,” stated Carrie Baron.