Tag:

Erik Karlsen

    UNDERSTAND WHY THE LIVABLE REGION STRATEGIC PLAN MATTERS: “We have one system of local government in BC, not two like in other provinces. Some things in a regional district are done by agreement at a regional level. And some are done by agreement at a local level,” stated Ken Cameron, co-architect of Metro Vancouver’s Livable Region Strategic Plan in the 1990s


    “When I was manager of policy and planning at the Greater Vancouver Regional District, I would tell my staff that we have been put in charge of the planning for the life support system for this region. We cannot own it but we can leave it to our children. And to build a better place, we need people who are interested enough to understand the state of mind that lay behind the success of the Livable Region Strategic Plan. It had four pillars: a Green Zone, complete communities, a compact region, and increased transportation choice ,” stated Ken Cameron.

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    REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: “Each time we face an environmental challenge, we are once again looking at how we do business. A changing context causes us to ask important questions about how we might do things better,” stated Dale Wall, former Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs


    “The provincial government had taken on an interest in climate action after the 2003 Kelowna fires. And we were looking in a new way at infrastructure innovation and the consequences of how we went about developing regions and urban spaces. It became clear that if one did not have a way of building confidence amongst practitioners, the rate of innovation would be slow. And we needed quite a lot of innovation in order to achieve some of the things that we hoped to achieve through regional growth strategies,” stated Dale Wall.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INITIATIVE LEGACY RIPPLES THROUGH TIME: “If we have lost anything in the last 30 years, it is a strong provincial commitment to supporting community and regional planning,” stated Joan Sawicki, land and resource management champion, and former provincial cabinet minister


    “As Parliamentary Secretary, I had a visionary document and strong personal support from Minister Marzari at the top,” stated Joan Sawicki. “And I had Erik Karlsen’s on-the-ground connections with Basin communities and their issues. All I had to do was run with it. And that’s what we did! Most of my work was just going out to communities. Talking and listening to everybody. The Georgia Basin Initiative was successful because we had the right people at the right time doing the right thing. How rare is that in government?”

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    DELTA’S RAIN GARDEN PROGRAM FOR STREETSCAPE REVITALIZATION: “Road designers have a major influence on the future condition of a watershed,” states Hugh Fraser, former Deputy Director of Engineering, City of Delta


    “Delta urban areas are built out. This reality means there are limited opportunities for slowing, spreading and sinking rainwater. The municipality is effectively limited to retrofitting of rain gardens within road corridors in order to provide rainwater infiltration that protects stream health. Delta has some 500 kilometres of roadways. In 2005, the municipality embarked upon a long-term initiative to incrementally improve the urban landscape though streetscape revitalization. The corporate vision is to enhance community liveability by beautifying streets, one block at a time,” stated Hugh Fraser.

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    POLICY FRAMEWORKS TO SHAPE URBAN DESIGN: “Erik Karlsen was the secret sauce who convened the fantastic streamside regulation discussions that created collegiality between municipalities,” recalls Susan Haid, adjunct assistant professor at the University of BC


    Susan Haid has played a leadership role in trailblazing an ecosystem-based approach to community planning in British Columbia, first with the City of Burnaby and then with Metro Vancouver. This approach also took root in her subsequent experience in the District of North Vancouver and the City of Vancouver. “In many ways, what I am teaching comes back to the same kind of framework around ecosystem-based planning which Erik Karlsen and others were advancing in the 1990s, and which is synonymous with watershed-based planning,” stated Susan Haid.

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    HEALTHY WATERS PROGRAM FOR SALMON, WHALES, AND PEOPLE: “I think what is happening now is that we have lost touch with our watersheds,” stated Dr. Peter Ross of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation


    “For Healthy Waters, we basically said, we would like to set up a community-oriented water pollution monitoring program for salmon, whales and people. Every conversation that I am having with watershed folks revolves around people wanting to know more so that they are empowered to do more. There is real value in the conversation and providing the data that helps them identify priorities and actions,” stated Peter Ross.

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    Erik Karlsen and the Streamside Protection Regulation


    With release of the Water Sustainability Action Plan in 2004, a “design with nature” philosophy became an integral part of the branding for green infrastructure, rainwater management and water sustainability in BC. In 2015, the legendary Erik Karlsen created a matrix to explain how to integrate two foundational concepts that provide a path forward for designing with nature: Daniel Pauly’s Shifting Baseline Syndrome (1995); and Richard Horner and Chris May’s Road Map for Protecting Stream System Integrity (1996).

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    IN MEMORIAM: Erik Karlsen (1945-2020) – as a professional planner, he was someone quite special


    Over the course of his career in government, Erik Karlsen bridged the worlds of municipal affairs and environmental stewardship. For a generation of elected representatives, his was a familiar face in the local government setting. He was indeed one of a kind, and his ability to envision the big picture, yet identify practical steps going forward, was what made him stand out from the crowd and earned him much respect from his colleagues.

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