Sunday, October 16, 2011

Peer-Based Learning Will Help Local Governments Implement ‘Watershed Blueprints’ in BC


At Heart of Course Correction is Paradigm-Shift to Landscape-Based from Model-Centric
On November 9-10, an inter-governmental team is teaching the first 2-day course on HOW to develop a Watershed Blueprint. The team is led by representatives of the Capital Regional District, City of Surrey, and North Vancouver District. The City of Surrey is hosting the course at the Surrey Arts Centre.

Titled ISMP Course Correction: Achieve More with Less, the course is designed for an interdisciplinary audience. It will provide planning, engineering, environmental, asset management and other professionals with a common understanding of the fundamentals for a landscape-based approach to watershed protection and restoration. An ISMP, or Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, is a potentially powerful tool.

“At the heart of the ‘Course on the ISMP Course Correction’ is the paradigm-shift to landscape-based from model-centric. In local government, we have seen what works and what hasn’t. The course will showcase tools and case study examples that will help local governments produce a Watershed Blueprint that is landscape-based AND action-oriented,” states Jody Watson, Chair of the Bowker Creek Initiative in the Capital Region. Jody Watson is a member of the ISMP Course Correction Team.

“The output from a model-centric process is a report that mainly deals with hydrotechnical matters. These go on a shelf when local governments cannot afford to implement them. In contrast, the outcome of a landscape-based and action-oriented process is a truly integrated plan to restore watershed function over time. Agree on the vision. Set the targets. Provide planners with the detail necessary to guide site level decisions as opportunities arise. Then implement.”


TO LEARN MORE: To access the ISMP Course Correction 'homepage' on the Water Bucket website and learn more about the program design, click here. 
 
News Release #2011-51
October 13, 2011

No comments:

Post a Comment