POLIS Project on Ecological Governance
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The POLIS Project on Ecological Governance is a centre for research and action situated in the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. POLIS was established in 2000 by the Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy at the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada). POLIS is a place where academic and community researchers work with others to dismantle the notion of the environment as merely another sector, and to make ecological thinking and practice a core value and practice in all aspects of society. Among the many research centres investigating and promoting sustainability worldwide, POLIS is unique in its focus on transdisciplinary research, education and advocacy oriented to defining and cultivating ecological governance.
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Item From stream to steam: Emerging challenges for BC’s interlinked water and energy resources(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance / Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2012-11) Parfitt, Ben; Baltutis, Jesse; Brandes, Oliver M.British Columbia's water and water-derived energy resources are vital assets that show signs of being under increased stress across the province—the result of mounting pressures such as population growth, climate change, and water-intensive industrial activities. This report examines the importance of policy coherence and improved governance around the management of these interlinked resources. It was co-published by the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. It is the first report in a two-part series addressing the water-energy nexus in British Columbia.Item Building professional capacity for a water-sensitive future in Ontario(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance Water Sustainability Project, 2012-12) Maas, Carol; Wolfe, Sarah E.This paper has been prepared to provide a concise and integrated summary of emerging research on social and process changes in water management. It is designed to build on existing literature and practice by offering ideas for the application of current research insights. The paper is structured to first provide an overview, in Section 1, of the rationale for considering the social processes that enable the implementation of innovative water practices. This is followed, in Section 2, by a series of recommendations and examples of relevant activities in a range of jurisdictions. The recommendations are woven throughout the text of Section 2 and divided into three broad categories: networks, collaboration, and continuing education. This paper is intended to emphasize the importance of experiential knowledge and social knowledge sharing in hopes that both local and provincial decision-‐makers will consider budgeting sufficient time and resources for these often overlooked activities. In the interest of a more integrated dynamic between community and government, this paper is also intended to inform community groups and offer insight into activities they may choose to organize themselves or advocate for at the local level.Item Top 5 Water Challenges That will Define British Columbia's Future(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2016-09) Simms, Rosie; Brandes, Oliver M.Escalating water challenges in BC require a better understanding and coordinated work to avoid future crisis. Drawing on an extensive review of media, court and tribunal cases, and insights from attending over 100 recent events related to water issues, this report documents dozens of examples of why and where critical water issues exist in the province’s watersheds. It focuses on 5 key issues: (1) Building resilience to droughts & floods; (2) Sustaining water for nature; (3) Understanding the state of B.C.’s watersheds; (4) Protecting water quality for drinking, swimming & fishing and (5) Reconciling the water-energy nexus. The report also suggests possible solutions to these five water challenges to create water security and sustainability over the coming years.Item Maintaining Natural BC for Our Children: Selected Law Reform Proposals(Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria, 2012-11) Sandborn, CalvinMaintaining Natural BC for Our Children: Selected Law Reform Proposals is a series of 35 short (3-5 page) articles that describe important environmental law reforms that the next B.C. provincial government should consider. The book is divided into 8 sections, which are titled as follows—Section A: Planning and Environmental Assessment, Section B: Regulating Industries, Section C: Protecting Wildlife & Water, Section D: The Urban Environment, Section E: Pollution, Section F: Climate Change and Energy, Section G: Ensuring Justice for Nature, and Section H: Key Structural Changes.Item Transcending boundaries: A guidebook to the Alberta-Northwest Territories Mackenzie River Basin bilateral water management agreement(Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), & the Gordon Foundation, 2016-11) Phare, Marrell-Ann; Pentland, Ralph; Miltenberger, Michael; Brandes, Oliver M.; Coppes, Mieke; Dubois, Carolyn; Maas, TonyThis report, authored by members of the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW) and developed in partnership with the Gordon Foundation, provides a detailed examination of the key elements of the Alberta-Northwest Territories Mackenzie River Basin Bilateral Water Management Agreement. It describes what these will achieve and how they will be implemented. It also provides a broader understanding of the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement.Item Illumination: Insights and perspectives for building effective watershed governance in B.C.(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, 2016-06) Brandes, Oliver M.; Morris, Tim; Archer, Jennifer; Brandes, Laura; Moore, Michele-Lee; O'Riordan, Jon; Overduin, NatashaRecent reports and events exploring the concept of watershed governance have laid a foundation for reform in British Columbia. However, considerable knowledge gaps still exist in turning concept into practice. Through an extensive investigation involving interviews, surveys, and a First Nations roundtable, this study illuminates the practical needs and capacities required to implement watershed governance in B.C. Key findings and critical insights include that the current system of water management and governance is not working, and that collaborative watershed governance is critical for better decision-making.Item Awash with opportunity: Ensuring the sustainability of British Columbia's new water law(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, 2015-11) Brandes, Oliver M.; Carr-Wilson, Savannah; Curran, Deborah; Simms, Rosien May 2014, the Province of British Columbia enacted the new Water Sustainability Act, which provides an unprecedented opportunity to fully modernize British Columbia’s water law regime. This report provides an analysis of the Water Sustainability Act and the core regulations required to bring its sustainable aspects into full effect. It outlines leading best practices from around the globe and offers clear recommendations for WSA regulation development in five key areas: (1) Groundwater licensing; (2) Environmental flows; (3) Monitoring and reporting; (4) Water objectives; and (5) Planning and governance.Item Resilience in a Watershed Governance Context: A Primer(Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, 2015-10) Krievins, Katrina; Baird, Julia; Plummer, Ryan; Brandes, Oliver M.; Curry, Allen; Imhof, Jack; Mitchell, Simon; Moore, Michele-Lee; Swartling, Åsa GergerThis primer is a first step in establishing resources that practitioners can turn to when applying resilience thinking to watershed governance. It introduces key ideas associated with resilience and how they may be applied by those engaging in various facets of governance in Canada. Released by Brock University's Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, the primer is the product of collaboration involving Canadian and international researchers as well as Canadian watershed practitioners.Item Building Capacity to Build Trust: Key Challenges for Water Governance in Relation to Hydraulic Fracturing(Canadian Water Network, 2015) Moore, Michele-Lee; Shaw, Karena; Castleden, Heather; Breiddal, Rosanna; Kot, Megan; Murray, MathewThis report identifies the key water governance challenges specific to hydraulic fracturing across Canada (with a particular focus on British Columbia, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, and Nova Scotia) and those knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to resolve such challenges. It emphasizes that the use of water in hydraulic fracturing activity in Canada has not caused, but has certainly illuminated, the fractured nature of existing water governance arrangements. The authors conclude there is an urgent requirement for generative actions that build capacities for accountability, transparency, engaging and co- governing with Indigenous Nations and non-Indigenous communities, and making informed decisions. The report is based on research undertaken as part of one of five projects within the Canadian Water Network (CWN) hydraulic fracturing program. See CWN's 2015 Water and Hydraulic Fracturing Report for a high level assessment of program activities and identified knowledge gaps.Item California's oranges and B.C.'s apples? Lessons for B.C. from California groundwater reform(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria/Ecojustice, 2015-06) Christensen, Randy; Brandes, Oliver M.British Columbia can learn valuable lessons from California’s extreme drought and recent groundwater law reforms as it drafts its own groundwater regulations under the new B.C. Water Sustainability Act. This report analyzes California’s legislation while taking into account the climatic, social, and legal differences between the state and province. It offers a number of key findings and insights including the urgent need to begin piloting groundwater sustainability plans in critical watersheds in B.C.; the necessity for clear performance standards, timelines, and accountability for local decision-making bodies to ensure successful watershed or aquifer plans; and the importance of shared responsibility between senior government and local decision-makers.Item A blueprint for watershed governance in British Columbia(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, 2014-01) Brandes, Oliver M.; O'Riordan, Jon; O'Riordan, Tim; Brandes, LauraThis report focuses on current water governance issues in British Columbia and offers a path forward for how the Province could transform its current approaches to decision-making to ensure a more sustainable and resilient future—especially given the provincial government’s commitment to new water legislation by later in 2014. It sets out a strategic 10-year program and proposes nine winning conditions to ensure success. Recognizing the unique institutional, legal, cultural, and geographic challenges of the province, this Blueprint outlines a timeline and clear milestones for moving towards watershed governance in B.C.Item The State of the Water Movement in British Columbia: A Waterscape Scan & Needs Assessment of B.C. Watershed-Based Groups(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria & Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, 2013-07-01) Morris, Tim; Brandes, Oliver M.This report compiles the perspectives and opinions of a diverse mix of British Columbia’s water leaders; a survey was sent to over 230 water groups and interviews were conducted with 11 selected water champions. Based on the responses received, there is a clear feeling amongst B.C.’s water leaders that the province has the potential to become a global leader in freshwater protection and sustainability. But, there are a number of challenges to achieving this vision. The authors present a series of recommendations for addressing key needs and gaps in the B.C. water community and for strengthening the collective water movement.Item Counting Every Drop: The Case for Water Use Reporting in B.C.(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria & Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2013-06-01) Parfitt, BenThis report argues that the B.C. provincial government should safeguard the public interest by creating a robust, publicly accessible water-use database that covers all withdrawals from both surface and groundwater sources by major users. It recommends three immediate courses of action to set the stage for a robust water use reporting regime in future years.Item Inventory And Research Survey Summary: Needs And Priorities of Watershed-Based Groups in British Columbia(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2013-03-01) Wilkes, Brian; Collier, Jason; Brandes, Oliver M.This research survey summary is the first phase in a larger project to assess the needs and priorities of watershed-based groups in British Columbia. It inventories and identifies many of the groups that are currently working at a watershed scale within B.C., and begins to determine the role these groups can play in more formalized decision-making going forward.Item What the Experts Think: Understanding Urban Water Demand Management in Canada(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2003-12-01) Maas, TonyUrban water management poses many logistical and financial challenges in Canadian communities. By increasing water use efficiency, Demand Side Management can mitigate many of the impacts of human water use on overstretched municipal infrastructure and overstressed aquatic systems. Despite these benefits, Demand Side Management is seriously underutilized in Canada. What the Experts Think draws on interviews with Canadian experts in the field of water resource management and initiates a national network of water demand management practitioners.Item Flushing the Future? Examining Urban Water Use in Canada(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2003-08-01) Brandes, Oliver M.; Ferguson, KeithThe majority of Canadians live in large urban and regional centres, and municipal water use represents a significant portion (12 percent) of overall water withdrawals in Canada. Urban users in Canada use more than twice as much water as their European counterparts, with significant levels of wastage and inefficiency. Such high levels of urban water use have resulted in expensive supply and disposal infrastructure expansions, ecological impacts in developed areas where environmental stresses are already high, and increasing pressure on water treatment facilities to treat all water to drinking quality standards. Demand-side management (DSM) is an alternative (or, more accurately, complementary) approach to increasing supply infrastructure. It involves decreasing the demand for water through a mix of education, technology, pricing reform, regulation and recycling. This report provides insight into water use and supply in Canadian cities and the potential for demand side management.Item The Future in Every Drop: The Benefits, Barriers and Practice of Urban Water Demand Management in Canada(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2004-04-01) Brandes, Oliver M.; Ferguson, KeithThis report focuses on identifying benefits as well as the barriers to water demand-side management in Canada. The interconnected and interrelated nature of barriers creates a gridlock that resists the adoption of a comprehensive approach to demand management for urban water in Canada. The report explains why a comprehensive and long-term approach to demand-side management is necessary and provides action plans for all levels of government and other stakeholders for implementation.Item At a Watershed: Ecological Governance and Sustainable Water Management in Canada(Polis Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2005-05-01) Brandes, Oliver M.; Ferguson, Keith; M'Gonigle, Michael; Sandborn, Calvin; Reynolds, Ellen (ed)This report focuses on the enabling environment that ensures holistic water management is institutionally embedded. Water is the strategic resource of the 21st century and Canada stands “at a watershed” in freshwater management. Attitudes, institutions, and policies are changing, but an outdated supply-oriented paradigm still dominates. Ultimately, the goal is “ecological governance,” where natural ecosystem processes are carefully considered at all levels of decision-making. The strength of this report lies in the rich mosaic of experiences and examples from around the world where theory and concept inform practice.Item Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps: Top 10 Ways Communities Can Save Water and Money(POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, 2006-10-01) Brandes, Oliver M.; Maas, Tony; Reynolds, EllenThinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps presents an expanded definition of urban water infrastructure—one that goes beyond the existing physical infrastructure of pipes, pumps and reservoirs. This new infrastructure includes innovative physical components, water sensitive urban design and conservation programs designed to complement existing water supply networks. By developing such an infrastructure, water management shifts its focus beyond expensive, expansive and ecologically damaging physical infrastructure, toward dramatically increased water productivity. In this context, increasing water efficiency and conservation is more than just the right thing to do. It is the only way to address the dual goals of meeting human water demands and sustaining aquatic ecosystem health—foundations of lasting water security.Item Changing the Flow: A Blueprint for Federal Action on Water(Gordon Water Group of Concerned Scientists and Citizens (Now FLOW), 2007-02-01) Morris, T.J.; Boyd, D.R.; Brandes, Oliver M.; Bruce, J.P.; Hudon, M.; Lucas, B.; Maas, T.; Nowlan, L.; Phare, M.This report outlines the steps necessary to create an effective freshwater strategy in Canada, created by the Gordon Water Group of Concerned Scientists and Citizens (now FLOW). The Gordon Water Group was founded in part by three POLIS Research Associates. The Group brings together a number of organisations, including the Water Sustainability Project and scientific expertise on sustainable water management.