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“Change involves a paradigm shift from an old way of thinking-and-doing to a new way, typically to replace unacceptable outcomes with acceptable ones,” stated Erik Karlsen.
“When this occurs some might ask why the old way wasn’t designed to anticipate and prepare for its impacts from the outset? And, more to the point, how do we design and implement new paradigms to achieve more sustainable and resilient outcomes; those which consider and address all interests and are capable of dealing with uncertainties inherent in complex adaptive systems.”

Faye Smith, Project Coordinator with the Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society (MVIHES), is a champion for stream stewardship and watershed health. She is a catalyst for science-based action along the east coast of Vancouver Island. “Being passionate about fish and streams (which I am) and being passionate about music (which I am) are pretty much the same. You have to learn, practise and keep being involved with both. They take commitment and you need the time to stay engaged and keep learning more,” said Faye Smith. “The rewards come from hard work and the feeling you are making a difference, no matter how small.”

Launched in 2012, the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative (IREI) provides local governments on the east coast of Vancouver Island with a mechanism to share outcomes and cross-pollinate experience with each other as well as with local governments in the Metro Vancouver region. “The IREI program will integrate natural systems and climate change thinking into asset management, as well as demonstrate how local governments can progress along the ‘asset management continuum’ to achieve the goal of sustainable service delivery for watershed systems,” concludes Brian Carruthers.

“For the past 36 years, I have been involved in all aspects of large river to small stream stabilization and rehabilitation/restoration in every state but two,” states Dave Derrick. “Through 150-plus workshops in the last 8 years I have taught over 8,000 individuals the philosophy, methods, and concepts of river design and fluvial geomorphology. Over the course of my career as a research hydraulic engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers, I have been an educator, facilitator, designer, reviewer, and constructor of almost every type of river and stream stabilization/restoration project imaginable.”

In the mid-1990s, the pioneer work of Dr. Richard Horner and Dr. Chris May (University of Washington, Seattle) was transformational. Their findings resulted in a hydrology-based framework for protecting watershed health. “So many studies manipulate a single variable out of context with the whole and its many additional variables,” states Dr. Richard Horner, now an adjunct professor at the University of Washington. “We, on the other hand, investigated whole systems in place, tying together measures of the landscape, stream habitat, and aquatic life.” Richard Horner founded the Center for Urban Water Resources Management in 1990.

“Hurricane Irene in 2011 is the worst natural disaster to occur in the history of Vermont. Our climate is changing and we recognize the need to change our land and water management practices. A desired outcome of the Leahy Environmental Summit is creation of a ‘resiliency network/partnership’. In this regard, Vermont can learn from the success of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia,” stated Stephen Perkins.

Don Moore had a vision for making green infrastructure the ‘new business as usual’. He seized the moment and partnered with Dr. Val Schaefer of Douglas College to organize ‘Let It Rain: A Conference on Managing Rainwater Runoff with Low Impact Development Methods’ in March 2005. “We are working towards building a community on Burke Mountain (in the City of Coquitlam) that has an innovative and leading edge approach to rainwater management. The ‘Let it Rain’ conference is an opportunity for all of us to learn from our peers to help us better complement nature and not replace it,” wrote Don Moore at that time.

“When we first conceived of creating a document which would collate all aspects of environmental issues around urban/rural land development, we had no inkling that the document would be recognized world-wide, nor that it would be embraced so thoroughly by so many different disciplines,” reflects Marlene Caskey. “Clearly it was ‘the right information presented in the right place at the right time’! It is great to see it expanded and renewed to better meet the needs of today’s users. Develop with Care 2014 promotes ways to retain and create environmental function and resilience as communities grow.”

“The Partnership for Water Sustainability is facilitating an inter-regional collaboration initiative within the Georgia Basin. This program for local governments connects the cascading objectives for Watershed Health, Resilient Rainwater Management, and Sustainable Service Delivery,” explains Peter Law. “The initiative is designed to help local government champions integrate natural systems thinking and adaptation to a changing climate into asset management. A desired outcome is healthy streams and watersheds. So, implement ‘Design With Nature’ standards of practice for development and infrastructure servicing. Protect and restore stream corridors and fish habitat. Provide community-supporting ecosystem goods and services.”

The world is more complex and fragile than ever before. These trends are bigger than any one organization can solve,” says Todd Latham. “The Energy of Water theme for the 2015 Canadian Water Summit is more than the water/energy nexus conversation – it’s about water professionals celebrating the positives and opportunity that water can bring to Canada. The professionals in attendance will be engaged and inspired by a program that encourages collaboration and seizes advantages of the ‘energy of water’ in Canada and around the world.”