"Forum within the Summit" attracts large turnout at the 2011 State of the Island Economic Summit

  The Public Infrastructure Dilemma

The 2011 State of the Island Economic Summit in Nanaimo included four pre-Summit sessions on the afternoon of October 18. One of these was hosted by Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI) in association with the VIEA Sustainability Task Force.

Branded as a "Forum within the Summit", the focus of this session was on solutions to the "Infrastructure liability" challenge confronting all local governments. The Forum theme was: The Public Infrastructure Dilemma - How Will We Sustain Our Water, Our Streets and Ourselves? The Forum attracted close to 80 attendees.

FORUM OBJECTIVES: "We had three objectives in convening the 'Forum within the Summit'. First, we were to CELEBRATE the collaboration that is happening in the Comox Valley. Secondly, and in building on what the Comox Valley has accomplished to date, we wish to START an Island-wide conversation about the '20-80 Rule' for infrastructure liability," explains Kim Stephens, Executive Director for the Partnership for Water Sustainability. 

"The '20-80 Rule' is shorthand for the fact that the initial capital cost of infrastructure is about 20% of the life-cycle cost. The other 80% largely represents a future unfunded liability. Historically, we have not thought about or planned for replacement of aging infrastructure. Governments are now challenged to find the money to mitigate this liability."

"The third objective was to paint the big picture for WATER SUSTAINABILITY on Vancouver Island. It is all about influencing choices by indiviiduals and organizations. We use the term 'sustainability' as a lens for considering approaches that influence choices. A key message is that we must get it right at the front-end of the land development process in order to achieve long-term sustainability, especially financial." concludes Kim Stephens.

TO LEARN MORE: To access the Forum 'homepage' on the Water Bucket website and learn more about the Forum context and program design, click here.  To view the program at a glance, click on VIEA Summit: Draft Agenda for CAVI Forum. 

To download a document that explains the Forum structure and what was covered, click on Convening for Action Vision for the Forum within the Summit.