Tuesday, June 28, 2011

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

Conditions recently imposed by the BC Minister of Environment in Metro Vancouver provide a driver for a ‘course correction’ in the way Integrated Stormwater Management Plans (ISMPs) are developed. To fill a professional development need, the Partnership for Water Sustainability is spearheading a peer-based learning program. The centrepiece is a 2-day course titled ISMP Course Correction: Achieve More with Less. The City of Surrey will host the first course on November 9-10.
“An ISMP is a potentially powerful tool. It can influence other municipal processes for the better. It can generate the blueprint for truly integrated and coordinated action at a watershed scale,” states Carrie Baron, Surrey’s Drainage and Environment Manager. "The course will guide land use and infrastructure professionals through the stages and steps in developing a plan that is balanced, landscape-based and financially sustainable.” 

The experience of local government champions who have developed precedent-setting watershed plans will provide the curriculum backbone for the 2-day course. Carrie Baron is a lead member of the team that will share their experiences in this course for water resource, infrastructure and land use professionals. To download a copy of the Curriculum Overview, and to learn more about the course, click here. 

Local governments have many competing priorities. Everyone is challenged to do more with less, and get it done. The course will demonstrate the benefits of collaboration, alignment and integration: Establish the vision, set the target, and then implement.


News Release #2011-31
June 28, 2011

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