E-Bulletin - July 2006
The Launch of Smart Growth Advisory Services
Smart Growth BC's mission is to create more livable communities. For the past six years, we have been working diligently towards this goal through various strategies such as our Community Assistance Program (CAP), alternative policy promotion, Smart Growth on the Ground, our research program, voter education and annual conference. We are now pleased to announce that we have launched our Smart Growth Advisory Services program. Through this program, we provide consulting on smart growth strategies, land-use planning, policies, public processes, and First Nations' Comprehensive Community Planning.
Smart Growth Advisory Services is mission-based, meaning that the projects we take on will move us towards achieving our goal of creating more complete, livable communities.
Please contact Tom Lancaster, the Smart Growth Advisory Services Manager, for more information. He can be reached at tom@smartgrowth.bc.ca or 604-689-4600.
Summary of Conference and Awards
On May 5th, 2006, Smart Growth BC convened a one-day conference at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver on "Innovations in Smart Growth Housing." The purpose of the event was to present lessons from projects in Europe and across North America and to examine policies and incentives for encouraging the creation of compact, affordable, green neighbourhoods across British Columbia.
The 2006 conference was a great success on many fronts: we had a great variety of participants, we stimulated discussion regarding many housing issues, we launched the smart growth awards, and the participant evaluations were extremely positive.
Our keynote speaker, Claire Bennie, Research Manager for Peabody Trust, presented the award-winning BedZed brownfield redevelopment project in the UK. The keynote speaker was followed by presentations on "A Housing Forecast for BC" by Helmut Pastrick of the Central Credit Union of BC and "Turning NIMBY into YIMBY" by Matt MacNeil of Housing Strategies Inc., Calgary. Proceedings will be mailed to all participants in the next few weeks.
Smart Growth BC launched its first ever award, the Smarty, during the luncheon. We were proud to honour four winners: Selkirk Waterfront Community in the Project category, the City of New Westminster Smart Growth Development Checklist for the Policy category, Dockside Green Development Concept in Victoria in the Proposal category, and the Founders of the Agricultural Land Reserve - Protection and Enhancement Committee (ALR-PEC) in the People category. The Vancouver Design Nerds received an Honourable Mention. For more details about the winners please visit our Smart Growth BC Awards website.
Planning for next year's conference - in May 2007 - will begin shortly!
Release of our Health Report
Smart Growth BC is proud to launch Promoting Public Health Through Smart Growth. The report details how our built environment shapes our transportation choices and in turn, human health. Authored by Larry Frank, Sarah Kavage, and Todd Litman, it reviews the existing research for a range of transportation-related health impacts on public health outcomes.
Smart Growth on the Ground: Oliver Update
In May, a dedicated group created a smart growth vision for the Oliver BC region. Twenty-three citizens, experts, and representatives from the Town of Oliver and Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen worked together to design a vision. Their recommendations included a general increase in housing and employment within the town, guidelines to preserve agriculture and the rural ambience, enhancement of a key ecosystem along the Okanagan River, and more. The charrette was facilitated by staff from the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC and Smart Growth BC. To learn more about the charrette, visit the Smart Growth on the Ground website.
Staff Changes
We are please to welcome Laura Princic as the new Community Assistance Program coordinator! Laura has a background in environmental engineering and has done a Masters in Environment & Management. Having started at the beginning of May, she has already started to get involved with several CAP communities! Tom Lancaster is staying with the Smart Growth BC team and has moved into the position of Smart Growth BC Advisory Services manager. We are all very excited about the new Smart Growth BC team.
Agricultural Land Reserve Update
Smart Growth BC continues to be an advocate for the preservation of farmland as a tool for urban containment and food security for all British Columbians. We attended a public hearing regarding the Barnston Island exclusion application held by the Agricultural Land Commission in June 2006 and have submitted our position on the matter to the ALC. We also continue to distribute our popular Citizen's Guide to Agricultural Land Protection in BC at all of our speaking engagements.
Smart Growth BC in Action
Check out some of the places we've been to discuss smart growth this year:
* GVRD Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting in Burnaby
* Climate Change Research Symposium in Vancouver
* Imagine South Delta workshop series
* CAP workshops in Osoyoos, Invermere, South Cowichan Valley, Mission, Vernon, and Campbell River
* Canadian Jewish Congress forum on affordable housing
* Langley Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting
* Planning for Healthy Communities workshop in Royston
* Saving Small Towns conference in Cumberland
* Gaining Ground conference in Victoria
* Festival of Architecture in Vancouver
* World Planner's Congress in Vancouver
* World Urban Forum in Vancouver
Smart Growth BC is a provincial non-governmental organization devoted to fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible land use and development. Working with community groups, businesses, municipalities and the public, we support the creation of more livable communities in British Columbia. |