Outreach
The Water Sustainability Project team continues to communicate project research and policy priorities widely including numerous presentations, briefings and workshops, selected examples include:
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.
This video presentation provides an overview of POLIS' second report on the water-energy nexus. The report offers Ontario’s first estimate of the large quantities of energy used to pump, treat and heat water and to generate steam. The study reveals that pumping and treating water and wastewater consumes enough energy to light every home in the province. In addition, heating water for activities such as showering and doing laundry was found to be the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the residential and commercial sectors because of the heavy reliance on fossil fuels. As a result of these findings, initiatives to support greater water conservation and efficiency could be a path to realizing future energy savings, to the benefit of municipalities, taxpayers and our environment.
Check it out on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro86QMt3j0A
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.
Oliver M. Brandes presented two sessions in the recent Water Policy and Watershed Governance Seminar Series hosted by the Institute for Coastal Research.
The WSP Team with the University of Waterloo's Blue Builders Project (UW) developed and delivered a Water Efficiency Workshop for municipal staff in the Comox Valley Regional District, British Columbia in August, 2009. The Workshop was built on current initiatives at POLIS and UW to enhance water practitioner engagement and capacity in sustainable urban water management. By integrating applied learning with practical experience and extensive research, the Workshop focused on equipping participants with skills needed to address the complex factors that influence municipal water efficiency and conservation policy and practice on Vancouver Island.
The Institute for Research on Public Policy hosted a working lunch to discuss national water policy and BC's water plan with presentations by water experts Hans Schreier and Karen Bakker of the University of British Columbia and Oliver M Brandes of the WSP presenting "BC's Living Water Smart - Lessons for a National Strategy."
