Symposium 2007

Planning for Change:

Working Together For BC's Grasslands

Date: Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8 2007

Location: Coast Capri Hotel, Kelowna, BC

Throughout its existence, the GCC has been active in communities located in grassland regions throughout British Columbia and has been working to facilitate smart development strategies and sustainable community growth in fast-growing areas like the Thompson-Nicola, the Cariboo-Chilcotin and the Okanagan valley. In recent years, exponential growth in urban areas in the interior of British Columbia has been an increasing concern to the GCC and its partners.

In light of the rapid development happening in the Okanagan, the GCC decided to hold its annual symposium in Kelowna in 2007; the symposium focused on smart growth programs like the GCC’s own Planning for Change initiative, highlight tools such as the Green Model Bylaw Toolkit created by the Wetland Stewardship Partnership and facilitate discussions about sustainable best management practices like the BC government’s Develop with Care document.

Our symposium was held over two days and included a field tour of the Department of National Defense grasslands in Vernon, BC, and a wine and cheese reception held at the Okanagan Heritage Museum in downtown Kelowna.

Mike Harcourt, former premier of British Columbia, addressed issues of sustainability and healthy communities in a keynote speech. The symposium was titled Planning for Change: Working Together For BC’s Grasslands.

British Columbia’s grassland communities currently lack the information and appropriate tools to stop the fragmentation and development of grasslands, or achieve effective conservation of these endangered ecosystems. Grasslands are a small but significant component of BC’s natural landscape; in fact, BC’s grasslands are considered one of Canada’s most endangered ecosystems. Although they represent less than 0.8 percent of the province’s land base, they provide habitat for over 30 percent of BC’s species at risk. Grasslands not only provide habitat for a wide variety of species, they also provide a significant forage base for BC’s ranching industry.

The afternoon sessions were divided into three sections: Science of the Grasslands, Economics of the Grasslands and Politics of the Grasslands. In each session, four speakers presented and then the floor was opened up to discussion.

To download any of the speakers Power Point presentations (in PDF format), click on the links below.

The concurrent session were followed by the entire group uniting once again for a group discussion and wrap-up by Erik Karlsen. Each concurrent session brought forth the salient points from their discussion to present to the group as a whole.

To review the key points from each session, click on the link below.

Symposium attendees were invited to leave their comments. The resulting information was compiled into a document that can be reviewed below.