Building Bridges through Collaboration in the Okanagan

Rocks, computer models and other tools for distributed networks

Collaborative processes grow and thrive through clear, open communication. The Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) is the hub for people to convene around when the topic is Okanagan water.

Anna Warwick Sears, OBWB Executive Director, is leading the collaborative water management initiative, water quality improvement programs and aquatic weed management. She recently began writing a blog. She calls it Building Bridges. The views in her blog represent a personal effort, sharing the unfolding process of work at the OBWB.

“I once read about a farmer in Africa whose land was bare, eroded and cracked by drought.  Without many alternatives, he tried an ancient practice of piling small rows of rock along the contour of the slope. The rocks slowed overland flow from short cloudbursts, and captured dust and seeds from the wind. Within a season he could see the land begin to recover. It is a simple, effective technique now being used around the world. For a while after reading this, I walked around saying ‘we need more stone-age solutions!’ Really, it’s about appropriate technology: sometimes you need a rock, sometimes a satellite,” writes Anna Warwick Sears.

"As information and communication become more integrated (What was life like before the internet?), distributed networks are emerging as powerful components of our social system. Rather than Big Brother gathering data and taking top-down action, responsibility is shared."

TO LEARN MORE: To read the complete article and learn more from the Building Bridges blog, click here.

E-Blast #2011-61

November 15, 2011