The Water Sustainability Project team continues to communicate project research and policy priorities widely including numerous presentations, briefings and workshops, selected examples include:
On Wednesday, November 9th the WSP and the Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT) at Simon Fraser University are hosting the Victoria, B.C. stop of the cross-country water policy discussion series, “Securing Our Water Future” with Bob Sandford.
Water is integral to our daily lives but we rarely consider whether it is being managed adequately. Canadians tend to believe we have a limitless supply of clean water. In reality, human activity, climate change, and industrial development are reducing available water resources across the country, even in its most remote corners.
The Government of Northwest Territories is strategically addressing threats to water supply through its innovative new water management strategy, Northern Voices, Northern Waters. This National Discussion Series will present new research on the NWT water strategy and its applicability to the rest of Canada.
By attending the National Discussion Series, you will learn:
- Why we need to improve water management to secure our social and economic future;
- How climate and governance related factors are affecting Canada’s water resources;
- How leading-edge jurisdictions such as the Northwest Territories are finding innovative ways to protect water;
- What people in the south can learn from water management experiences in the north; and
- What this means for protecting water in your own community.
*No RSVP is required for this public event.*
WHAT: National Discussion Series on Canadian Water Policy and Management
WHERE: University of Victoria, MacLaurin Building, Room D110
DATE: Wednesday, November 9th
TIME: 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Victoria event will include a a special panel presentation with some of Canada’s top water experts:
Presenter:
Bob Sandford, EPCOR Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of United Nations “Water for Life” Decade; author of ACT’s Climate Change Adaptation and Water Governance report
Panellists:
Oliver Brandes, Co-Director of the University of Victoria’s POLIS Project on Ecological Governance
Jon O’Riordan, former BC DM of Sustainable Resource Management; Senior Advisor, ACT, Simon Fraser University; Principal, Fidelis Consulting
Moderator:
Rod Dobell, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Victoria; Associate, POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria
Bob Sandford will also be speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, November 8th. Details on the Vancouver event can be found here. Full tour details are posted on the FLOW website.
For updates on each stop as the tour progresses visit the ACT blog.
To mark the first-ever Canada Water Week, Victoria’s environmental organizations came together to talk about water – the good, the bad, and the future.
On March 17th, POLIS WSP and Sierra Club BC hosted an exclusive, advance screening of the new documentary “White Water Black Gold” by Edmonton filmmaker David Lavallee. The film follows David on his three-year journey across western Canada in search of answers about the world’s thirstiest oil industry: the tar sands.
After the screening, Tria Donaldson, Pacific Coast Campaigner at Wilderness Committee, and Celine Trojand from Dogwood Initiative's No Tankers Campaign led a panel discussion. The discussion focused on the national water issues brought about by the oil industry, and then looked at Victoria's local water issues – specifically, the impacts of local energy demand on water.
The POLIS WSP Team partnered with Alberta Urban Municipalities Association to plan and facilitate a pre-convention workshop at their 2010 Convention. The WSP team acted as an advisor for the 6 months
leading up to the event in creating the content and provided the keynote speakers for the day. Throughout the day POLIS facilitated the discussions and made introductory remarks on the critical importance of water setting the context for the day. For more information click here.
WSP Project Leader Oliver Brandes and POLIS Water Conservation Special Advisor Kirk Stinchcombe presented "Worth Every Penny: Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing" at the Nanaimo Water Pricing Workshop hosted by CAVI and the Regional District of Nanaimo.
The workshop provided participants with an introduction to conservation-oriented pricing for the West Coast - how water service providers can use price as a tool to improve financial performance and community water use efficiency.
Project Leader Oliver M. Brandes presented “Thinking Like a Watershed – Towards Ecological Governance in British Columbia” June 17 CWRA 63rd Annual National Conference – Information, Infrastructure and Environment: What is our Legacy?
Susanne Porter-Bopp presented "Water in the City - Toward a New Paradigm: Turning Innovative Water Conservation Planning Into Action" at CWRA's 63rd National Conference in Vancouver, June 15-18, 2010.
Carol Maas, steering committee member of the Ontario Water Conservation Alliance, outlined key benefits of actions included in Ontario's proposed Water Opportunity and Water Conservation Act at the Canadian Pollution Prevention Roundtable in Toronto, Ontario.
The POLIS Water Sustainability Project and the Division of Continuing Studies invite you to join the students of the Making the Most of the Water we Have Course for a panel discussion about the future of water in our region.
This 3 week course will culminate with this engaging conversation with leading water experts who will share their experiences and insights about where our priorities must lie if we are to build resilience and develop water sustainability in our communities.
With Panelists…
• Jon O'Riordan, former Deputy Minister of the BC Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, “ Integrated Resource Management and Recovery ‐ Turning Waste into Resources”
• Patrick Lucey, Senior Aquatic Ecologist, Aqua‐Tex Scientific, "Smart, Clean and Green Communities of the Future”
• Susanne Porter‐Bopp, Community Water Coordinator at POLIS, “Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps”
WSP was pleased to host a special public guest lecture by renowned author Bob Sandford on March 30th, 2010. This event helps launch the Future of Water Law and Governance in Canada series – a new program at the POLIS Water Sustainability Project.
Bob shared his experiences and “lessons from elsewhere” as they relate to current efforts to modernize the BC Water Act and the future of fresh water in Canada.
Bob Sandford is the Canadian Chair of the United Nations “Water for Life” Decade, a partnership initiative that aims to advance long-term water quality and availability issues. In this capacity, Bob is the only Canadian to sit on the Advisory Committee for the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy. Bob is also the Director of the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, and is a current co-Chair of FLOW- Canada a prestigious national water policy expert group. Bob’s third book on water issues, Restoring the Flow: Confronting the World’s Water Woes, was published by Rocky Mountain Books in the fall of 2009.
Final proceedings can be read below.
WSP Community Water Coordinator Susanne Porter-Bopp delivered a workshop on the history of water management in Canada and how we can move toward the soft path at this unique 3-day student-led conference on water issues in Montreal, March 26th-28th, 2010.
Dr Jon O'Riordan (with Oliver M Brandes) presented "Watershed Governance and BC's Water Act Modernization" to the Collaborative Watershed Governance Initiative Steering Committee as part of Phase I of the development of a Watershed Governance Blueprint for British Columbia.
