Outreach

The Water Sustainability Project team continues to emphasize a strategic public policy advocacy role and is communicating project research as widely as possible. Outreach efforts are organized in the following two
areas: Media Highlights and Workshops and Presentations.

Media Highlights

CKUT Radio Interview with Oliver M Brandes about the Soft Path by Charlotte Scott of CKUT Radio program "Ecolibrium" December 18, 2007. Listen to Part 1 & Part 2.

"Top 10 Ways to Save Water and Money" by Oliver M Brandes, Tony Maas and Ellen Reynolds. Watershed Sentinel, September/October 2007.

Conservation, innovation best sources of 'new' water an opinion piece by Oliver M Brandes in the Times Colonist, September 7, 2007.

The August 2007 edition of Alternatives highlights POLIS's soft path work with Friends of the Earth Canada and includes articles by Oliver M Brandes and Tony Maas.

"Water Issue Urgent," by Oliver M. Brandes and Tim Morris (Sierra Club of Canada), Toronto Star, May 19, 2007.

"A new view of water Security: Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps," by Oliver M Brandes, Tony Maas and Ellen Reynolds. Municipal World, March 2007.

“It’s not just clean air we need, Minister Ambrose,” by Oliver M Brandes, The Expert’s Opinion, CBC Alberta water web site Blueprint Alberta: H2O. This opinion piece also appeared in a number of newspapers across Canada in October 2006, including Lethbridge Herald, October 11; Windsor Star, October 12; Stratford Beacon-Herald, October 11; Times Colonist (Victoria), October 16; Calgary Herald, October 17; Alberni Valley Times, October 23.

CFUV Radio Interview with Oliver M Brandes about the Water Sustainability Project by Dana Martin of CFUV Radio program, “You in the Ring,” March 3, 2006.

“Putting Water Security on the Agenda,” by Oliver M Brandes and Ellen Reynolds, Dialogues, Canada West Foundation, Volume 2, Issue 1, Winter 2006.

"Canada running out of fresh water: Clean water should be as important a priority as clean air" Comment by Oliver M Brandes, Times Colonist (Victoria), October 16, 2006. p. A11.

“Putting the watershed first,” by Oliver M Brandes and Ellen Reynolds in Watershed Sentinel, Volume15, Number 5, November/December 2005.

CBC Radio Commentary by Oliver M. Brandes, CBC Radio One, June 7, 2005. [View transcript here]

“Our Water: the undervalued natural resource,” by Jean Crowder, NDP MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, The Hill Times, December 6-12, 2004.

“Preserving Canada's Blue Gold,” Canada West Foundation Newsletter, Guest column by Oliver M. Brandes and Ellen Reynolds, November 2004.

“Trickle-Up: Demand-Side Water Economics,” by Oliver M. Brandes, Corporate Knights Magazine (See the CK Web site for the entire issue), October 2004.

“Planning for Uncertainty,” by Oliver M. Brandes and Tony Maas, Municipal World Magazine, July 2004.

“Canadians are gluttons for water,” by Oliver M. Brandes, The Times Colonist, January 27, 2004.

CBC Radio Commentary by Tony Maas, CBC Radio One, December 22, 2003.

CBC Radio Commentary by Oliver M. Brandes, CBC Radio One, March 14, 2003.

“Low Priced Water is sucking us down the drain,” by David Boyd, The Globe and Mail, Tuesday August 14, 2003.

“Canadians abusing water supply,” by Oliver M. Brandes, The Toronto Star, Tuesday, August 27, 2003.

“Flushing the Future?” by Thomas Winterhoff, The Saanich News, October 3, 2003.

“Will warming trends impact our water supply?” The Saanich News, September 10, 2003.

“Canadians waste water, UVic study shows,” by Bill Cleverley, The Times Colonist, August 23, 2003.

“Fit to Drink and that’s a problem!” by Oliver M. Brandes and Michael M'Gonigle, FresH2Outlook, Issue 15, May 2003, p.10.

“Politics, Platitudes, and Privatization the three Ps of the World Water Forum,” by Oliver Brandes, FresH2Outlook, Issue 15, May 2003 p.15.

“UVic Project to Examine Water Use,” by Michael M'Gonigle, The Times Colonist, July 30, 2002, p.B2.

Workshops and Presentations back to top>>

FCM Sustainable Communities Conference-February 2008. Oliver M Brandes and Carol Maas presented a workshop on the Water Soft Path ScenarioBuilder at the FCM Sustainable Communities Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, February 14 - 16, 2008.

CI Drinking Water Quality Management Conference - January 2008. Susanne Porter-Bopp presentedThinking Beyond Pipes & Pumps at the Canadian Institute's Drinking Water Quality Management Conference in Toronto, Ontario, January 28-29.

Water, Ours to Protect - November 2007. POLIS Research Associate and UVic Professor Emeritus Rod Dobell presented Thinking Beyond Pipes & Pumps at the Water, Ours to Protect conference hosted by the Greater Victoria Water Watch in Victoria, British Columbia, November 17.

Latornell Conservation Symposium - November 2007. Oliver M Brandes presented a workshop on Thinking Beyond Pipes&Pumps at the Latornell Conservation Symposium in Ontario, November 14-15.

Oliver M Brandes was invited by the Grand River Conservation Authority to present a workshop on the soft path and Thinking Beyond Pipes & Pumps approach for staff in September 2007.

Oliver M Brandes presented Thinking Beyond Pipes & Pumps for a "webinar" hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on Sept 26, 2007. Listen to audio podcast and view PDFs of the webinar presentations. An earlier version of the presentation was given at the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) Annual meeting in June 2007.

Building SustainAble Communities - November 2006. Oliver M Brandes presented “A Soft Path to Water-centric Planning” workshop session at the Building SustainAble Communities conference in Kelowna, BC November 22, 2006, attended by over 200 local/municipal decision makers, elected councillors, planners and engineers.

Canadian Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference - May 2006. Oliver M Brandes presented a peer-reviewed submission on the topic of ecological governance at the Canadian Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference Expanding the Polis: Law’s Engagement and Location in Toronto, Ontario on May 29-31, 2006.

Salt Spring Island KAIROS group - May 2006. Oliver M Brandes gave a presentation based on The Soft Path for Water in a Nutshell at a community meeting organized by the Salt Spring Island KAIROS group (Canadian ecumenical justice initiatives) on May 26. The event was sponsored by the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, the Water Council, and local KAIROS.

Presentation at Lake Cowichan Secondary School - May 2006. Ellen Reynolds gave a presentation about the Water Sustainability Project and generally about water conservation to an assembly of grade six students at Lake Cowichan Secondary School in Lake Cowichan, BC on May 4, 2006.

BCWWA Convening for Action - April 2006. Oliver M Brandes helped lead a discussion about “Convening for Action on Vancouver Island” at the Joint Working Session with Green Infrastructure Partnership sponsored by the Water Sustainability Committee of the BCWWA on April 5, 2006. The theme of the session was “Creating a Network of Water Practitioners.”

Environmental Science Symposium at University of Guelph - January 2006. Tony Maas presented the WSP research at the Environmental Science Symposium at University of Guelph on January 28, 2006. The theme of the symposium was “Water Conservation and Canada’s Role in the Global Water Crisis.” At a Watershed and other WSP reports were distributed at the symposium.

Pollution Probe National Water Policy Workshop Series - 2006. Oliver M Brandes joined Pollution Probe’s Advisory Committee for the National Water Policy Workshop Series planned for 2006. The series of six workshops across the country are to bring together representatives from all levels of government, scientists, academics, First Nations, policy experts, the private sector, and NGOs to examine the state of water policy in Canada and to discuss solutions to policy challenges.

Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) - December 2005. Oliver M Brandes gave a presentation on water demand management at “Preparing for Action: A Learning Event” hosted by Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) in Oliver, BC on December 6, 2005.

The Policy Research Initiative (PRI) - November 2005. Oliver M Brandes attended a water sustainability working group November 18-19 led by The Policy Research Initiative (PRI) in collaboration with Health Canada and Environment Canada. Participants at this two-day workshop discussed the development of a Canadian Water Sustainability Index (CWSI)—a composite index to measure the benefits derived from a variety of freshwater uses and functions at the community level.

Capital Regional District (CRD) Water Advisory Committee - November 2005. Oliver M Brandes made a presentation about the “soft path for water” to the Capital Regional District (CRD) Water Advisory Committee on November 7, 2005 in Victoria, BC.

Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) Community Forum - November 2005. Oliver M Brandes participated in a forum hosted by Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) November 2, 2005 in Oliver, BC. This “interactive town hall session” brought together political leaders and community members to discuss a “smart growth” plan for the area.

Environment Canada - July 2005. Oliver M Brandes made the presentation “Water: The Strategic Resource of the 21st Century” to the Sustainable Water Use Branch of Environment Canada on July 20 in Ottawa, Ontario.

“Thinking Outside the Pipe” Rainwater Harvesting Workshop Series - May 2005. Water Sustainability Project co-sponsored this workshop series in Vancouver May 31 and in Victoria June 20, 2005. Co-sponsors: Capital Regional District, RD, BCWWA, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Company, BC Government, POLIS Project, Canadian Green Building Council, GVRD, CWRA and the Real Estate Foundation.

BC Water and Waste Association 33rd Annual Conference & Exhibition - April 2005. Presented research on DSM and the “soft path” for water at the “Technology Transfer” workshop “Demand Management Strategies - Achieving Water Balance” April 20, 2005 in Penticton, BC. Sponsored by Land & Water BC and the BCWWA Water Sustainability Committee.

National Canadian Water and Wastewater Benchmarking Initiative - March 2005. Tony Maas and Ellen Reynolds presented the WSP research at conference on March 7, 2005 in Montreal. This annual conference brings together water and wastewater utilities to “measure, track and report on utility performance” including water conservation.

Canadian Water Resources Association Conference - February 2005. In February 2005, WSP research associate Oliver Brandes co-presented a joint paper on demand management with Lynn Kriwoken from BC’s Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection at the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) conference in Kelowna, BC.

Conserve Our Blue Gold Seminar - December 2004. Oliver Brandes co-facilitated a seminar with Peter Dixon from the Veins of Life Watershed Society on water supply from source to tap, consumption patterns and water recycling at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Victoria.

Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Task Force - October 2004. Oliver Brandes presented “Water Demand Management: A Provincial Perspective” to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Water Conservation Task Force in Ontario October 18th, 2004.

Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Drought - September 2004. Oliver M Brandes presented WSP research at the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Drought September 8, 2004. This Committee consists of senior deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers from all ministries dealing with water in BC.

Workshop/Presentation for Provincial Government Representatives - July 2004. The WSP team facilitated a solutions-based workshop/presentation on implementation of a broad water strategy in BC for provincial government representatives on July 20, 2004. View some of the workshop materials on the Publications page.

Environment Canada Sustainable Water Use Workshop - April 2004. Oliver M Brandes and Tony Maas from the WSP team presented the research paper "Developing Water Sustainability through Urban Water Demand Management" as part of a panel of experts at the Environment Canada workshop, "Charting the Course for Sustainable Water Use in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities in the Urban Sector" April 14, 2004 in Ottawa, Ontario.

The White Paper on Watershed-based Source Protection Planning - March 2004. In March 2004, members from the POLIS Project and WSP teamed up with David Brooks from Friends of the Earth Canada to jointly submit a response to the Government of Ontario’s White Paper on Watershed-based Source Protection Planning.

BC Ministries of Water, Land and Air Protection & Sustainable Resource Management - March 2004. The WSP team met with representatives from BC's Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management in March 2004 to provide a project overview and discuss provincial strategies for implementing DSM for urban water.

Simon Fraser University Think Tank/Workshop - March 2004. With the assistance of the Gordon Foundation, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC convened a two-day think tank meeting on March 15-16, 2004 for water experts, including representatives from POLIS and WSP.

World Water Day - March 22, 2004. As part of a full day of presentations to celebrate World Water Day at UVic on March 22, 2004, Oliver M Brandes presented the discussion paper "Developing Sustainability through Urban Water Demand Management."

Mountains as Water Towers' Banff Mountain Summit - November 2003. The Banff Mountain Summit 2003 in at the Banff Centre in Alberta took place November 23-26, 2003. The summit explored the issues of fresh water storage in mountain regions around the world.

The 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan - March 2003. Oliver M Brandes attended the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan March 16 to 23, 2003.

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