THERE IS NO TIME TO RE-INVENT THE WHEEL: “We are a movement built around water sustainability,” stated Ray Fung, a founding director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability, in his closing reflections on what he heard at the Summit at the Bastion in Nanaimo
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. Storylines accommodate a range of reader attention spans. Read the headline and move on, or take the time to delve deeper – it is your choice! Downloadable versions are available at Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Series.
The edition published on January 23, 2024 featured the Partnership’s Annual Report 2023. The document is written to inform and engage the reader through a storytelling approach to sharing of information.
There is no time to re-invent the wheel
Growing a network breaks all the rules of conventional thinking. It is the antithesis of building an organization that has staff. Instead, the network aligns individuals and organizations to deliver results across organizational boundaries.
However, a network that is guided by a collaborative leadership philosophy does require a nucleus or “engine” for legal and organizational continuity. The Partnership for Water Sustainability serves that function for our local government partners within the Georgia Basin bioregion.
Ensuring continuity of the network comes down to how organizations continue WITHIN the network.
Summit at the Bastion in Nanaimo
Last October, the Partnership for Water Sustainability brought together some 30 ambassadors representing a dozen organizations. They participated in a consultation session around what some might view as an existential topic:
Going forward, this watershed moment will forever be known as the Summit at the Bastion in Nanaimo. At the conclusion, Ray Fung summarized and reflected on aha moments that emerged during the sharing session.
“Emotion is important. Relationships are important,” stated Ray Fung. “It is not just the science and the work itself but the emotion that seems to bind us together in this purpose. And so storytelling becomes a really important way of pointing out successes. BE THE NEXT SUCCESS STORY.”
Ray Fung’s reflections are included in the Partnership’s Annual Report 2023 and thus provide a record of the summit outcome.
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
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STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The Partnership for Water Sustainability’s 3-Year Transition Strategy for ensuring continuity of the network – as explained by Ted van der Gulik, President
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Our mission is intergenerational in scope
“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. At the end of Year One, we can proudly state that we accomplished what we set out to accomplish in 2023. We exceeded our own expectations. We are ahead of schedule in moving forward with the strategy for network continuity.”
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About the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC
Technical knowledge alone is not enough to resolve water challenges facing BC. Making things happen in the real world requires an appreciation and understanding of human behaviour, combined with a knowledge of how decisions are made. It takes a career to figure this out.
The Partnership has a primary goal, to build bridges of understanding and pass the baton from the past to the present and future. To achieve the goal, the Partnership is growing a network in the local government setting. This network embraces collaborative leadership and inter-generational collaboration.
TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://waterbucket.ca/about-us/
DOWNLOAD: https://waterbucket.ca/atp/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2024/01/PWSBC_Annual-Report-2023_as-published.pdf