CV2050: 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Brian Rice 3x2x8

Brian Rice is the owner of Courtenay Toyota, a car dealership in the Comox Valley. He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the series of conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley hosted at www.CV2050.com. Hans asks him about the current Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy's "transportation" goals, what Brian sees as the challenges of meeting those goals, and how he and his business are going to play a role in helping this community move towards a more sustainable future.

Jon Ambler 3x2x8

City of Courtenay Councillor Jon Ambler talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability and social well-being as part of the #3x2x8 project. Jon came to the Comox Valley as Commanding Officer at CFB Comox. He was elected to City of Courtenay Council in 2008. He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of a series of "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page

Monday, November 30, 2009

Tom Dishlevoy - An Alternative Project Approval Process #3x2x8

Comox Valley architect Tom Dishlevoy makes his own #3x2x8 video as part of the "conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley." Here Tom talks specifically about an alternative project approval process that he thinks will help move our community towards its sustainability goals.

Kudos to Tom for taking this on.

Anyone else what to give it a shot? Let me know if you do; I'll do what I can to walk you through the process of getting your video or audio (or text) interview posted here and on our Facebook page.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wedlidi Speck talks about social well-being and sustainability #3x2x8

Wedlidi Speck talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability and social well-being as part of the #3x2x8 project. Wedlidi is the Executive Director of the Wachiay Friendship Centre in Courtenay, and a long-time resident of the Comox Valley with a reputation for successfully bringing together diverse cultures and points of view. He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of a series of "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CV2050.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

...local eyes looking at CV2050 from a distance...

It's starting to happen. The online chatter about CV2050 – what sustainability looks like from different points of view inside and outside the Comox Valley.

You'll see comments on some of the video posts on Facebook (go to www.facebook.com/CV2050). We've also had a few folks send tweets about the #3x2x8 work. Sometimes I'm able to corral someone into an interview. Which is what this is meant to do: spread the #3x2x8 beyond the 16 folks that David, Meaghan, and I wanted to start the convo with.

One of those found via Twitter is Jackie Connelly. You can hear my interview with her here as an audio blog post. (We did this over the telephone and I used gabcast.com to turn it into a podcast – super simple tech folks; I encourage you to try it.)

You can also read Jackie's recent blog about it on her site, where she talks about "Comox Valley residents are talking about sustainability."

Jackie's a Valley girl gone to Vancouver, keeping busy as foodie photographer. Her connection to this place is pretty strong – she does work for at least one local restaurant and visits here often. She also did the photo work for the North Island Chefs' recent cookbook, Island Inspirations. I mention that because both of my #3x2x8 interviews on the "food security/sustainability" topic emphasized the need to buy and eat local food. Yup. Some message from an ag economist and a gourmet chef.

Gary Rolston is pretty close to the ground on the producer side of this issue. He said that buying local food, even if it was more expensive in the short term, is probably the single most important thing to do for long term sustainable food production. Chef Ronald St. Pierre made the same point – and then held up Island Inspirations as part of the solution: learning about what's available locally, buying local, and learning how to cook local product so it tastes delish.

So, I was happy to have Jackie play along with #3x2x8. She's got "local food" creds, and she's got a bit of distance on the local scene. Like so many of us, getting away really helps to make this place even more magical.

Thanks for playing along with the #3x2x8 project Jackie. Thanks for making our local food look so delicious with your photos!

hpm

ps. If you're looking for a copy of Island Inspirations, Beyond the Kitchen Door in downtown Courtenay just received a fresh box load at $25 each.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sam Sommers talks about "change" #CV2050

Sam Sommers talks to hanspetermeyer about the process of accepting "change," and just how important it is to create time and space for people to talk about the kinds of changes that living sustainably is going to require from all of us.

Sam is a long-time resident in Courtenay, with a history of working with people dealing with "change issues" in their personal lives in the Comox Valley. She talks to hanspetermeyer as part of a series of "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Sam Sommers talks about housing and #sustainability in the #ComoxValley 3x2x8

Sam Sommers is a long-time resident in Courtenay, with a history of working in addiction and social services in the Comox Valley. She talks to hanspetermeyer about housing as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project.

For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Andrew Gower talks about "infrastructure" - and makes a challenge! #3x2x8

Andrew Gower is a civil engineer with Wedler Engineering in the Comox Valley. He talks to hanspetermeyer about "infrastructure" and the need for more aggressive targets as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project.

For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

(cc) hanspetermeyer.ca / 2009

Gary Rolston talks to hanspetermeyer #3x2x8

Gary Rolston is an agricultural economist based in the Comox Valley - "the best place to grow food in BC." He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project.

For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Vivian Dean and hanspetermeyer talk about... Get Socialer!

Vivian Dean is a business and development consultant in the Comox Valley. In this 2nd conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley, Vivian talks about "getting socialer" - using social media to create fun, real-time/real-space interactions that celebrate life and living in this beautiful place, the Comox Valley. She challenges Todd Butler to a 30 words from 30 people format. It's a light-hearted, but heartfelt, approach to an often difficult topic. Watch it and laugh along with Vivian and hanspetermeyer!

Vivian Dean and hanspetermeyer talk about... Get Socialer!

Vivian Dean is a business and development consultant in the Comox Valley. In this 2nd conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley, Vivian talks about "getting socialer" - using social media to create fun, real-time/real-space interactions that celebrate life and living in this beautiful place, the Comox Valley.
She challenges Todd Butler to a 30 words from 30 people format. It's a light-hearted, but heartfelt, approach to an often difficult topic. Watch it and laugh along with Vivian and hanspetermeyer!
(apologies for the too-bright background)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Patti Fletcher talks to hanspetermeyer 3x2x8

Patti Fletcher is a business owner and a 3rd term Councilor in the Town of Comox in the Comox Valley. She talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Mark Holland responds to #3x2x8

In this, the 2nd of hanspetemeyer's conversations with sustainability practioner Mark Holland, Mark responds to the 3 questions that are at the heart of the #3x2x8 project.

Mark Holland is a principal with the HBLanarc sustainability planning firm (Vancouver/Nanaimo). Mark and his company are currently working with local governments, community organizations, and residents on the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy. He talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability planning and community strategies for meeting the future. In this interview Mark answers the #3x2x8 series of questions that are part of the CV2050 "all about sustainability and the Comox Valley" project initiated by hanspetermeyer, David Stapley, and Meaghan Cursons.

(cc) hanspetermeyer.ca / 2009

Betty-Anne Juba talks about housing and sustainability #3x2x8

Betty-Anne Juba is a housing and food activist in the Comox Valley, and one of the founders of the Comox Valley Affordable Housing Society. She talks to hanspetermeyer about housing and sustainability as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project.

For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Resources for Responsible, Sustainable Citizenship (excerpts from Mark Holland's 8 Pillars of Community Sustainability)

CV2050 is about stimulating, inspiring, and catching the conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley. The timing of our little project coincides with work being done in the Comox Valley on a sustainability strategy (CVSS) for our collection of local governments.

Amazing but true: Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, and the Regional District are doing some planning together.

That's probably the single biggest thing that excites the folks I've interviewed: they're seeing their elected officials coming together to do some planning for the future of this place. After years of not doing what it will take to set some policy and procedures in place to sustain and enhance this place, we're starting to move together (more or less) to do some very, very important work. The next steps will be up to us (the citizens and taxpayers in this paradise).

What kinds of resources do we have? Well, there is the CVSS. Goals, objectives, measurable targets. Good stuff. We've also got the smarts of one of the bright lights in community sustainability planning working with us. And here's another thing to be excited about vis-a-vis our local elected leaders: they hired one of the leading practitioners and thinkers in the field to do the CVSS – Mark Holland. Several years ago Mark put together some influential thoughts on what a sustainability community is about. With his permission I've excerpted them here.

As I said, whatever local government does with CVSS, it's up to us – as residents, taxpayers, citizens, business owners, employees – as people who care about this place to make sustainability a reality in the Comox Valley. Mark's words are a resource. They may help you make "sustainability choices" in your businesses, families, neighbourhoods, and in our elected leaders. Dig in!

hpm

Excerpts from Mark Holland's 8 Pillars of a Sustainable Community [the full document can be downloaded here as a PDF]

by Mark Holland

Introduction
Much has been written and said on “sustainable communities” in the past 15 years. Many projects around the world have taken up the challenge of becoming more sustainable – some driven by the public sector and others by private developers. When these examples are examined closely, they typically show some similarities but more differences. These differences are largely due to the unique conditions of the project – physically, financially, politically and otherwise.

The concept of “sustainable development” emerged from the United Nations Brundtland Report in the late 1980s, in recognition that we need to create prosperous economies and communities, but we cannot damage the planet while we do this, because our children need the same opportunities we have had.

The core sustainability issues that emerged from this report include climate change, energy security, water and wastewater management, solid waste management, environmental protection, food security, health, safety, economic opportunity and responsible business practices.

Applying sustainability to a community
There are many aspects to any community and in order for a community to make real progress on sustainability objectives, the issues of sustainability must be considered for every aspect of a community.   As is immediately evident, this approach yields a matrix where one axis has sustainability issues on it, and the other has community aspects.

Our firm calls this the Sustainability Matrix © ... [you can download the full version of this excerpt, with Sustainability Matrix©, here]

[....]

Any community pursuing sustainability can identify what sustainability “really means to them” by filling in each cell on this matrix as best as they can, with issues and Best Management Practices (BMPs). Where certain suggestions repeat themselves often, these should be considered the highest priority, as by pursing them, many sustainability objectives will be met simultaneously.

Our firm has worked with this Matrix tool for many years and we are seeing a range of patterns emerging. We have clustered these and now call them, “The 8 Pillars of a Sustainable Community.” They are described below.

Pillar #1) – A Complete Community - Land Use, Density & Site Layout
A sustainable community needs to be a complete, vibrant, mixed use community that offers its residents the opportunity to work, live, play, shop, learn and pray within a convenient walking or transit distance. The community should be structured to protect key riparian areas and other important natural features sible while respecting the challenges of developing on any particular site. The community should offer a diversity of housing for a range of incomes, family sizes and ages. Commercial areas should offer office, retail, commercial space, in addition to residential and community amenities. For new communities, the issue of providing land use structures that can offer “real jobs” (not just retail) is critical for the long term prosperity of the community. The landscape in the community also needs to offer a wide range of recreational opportunities to provide a great quality of life to residents and visitors.

Pillar #2) – An Environmentally-Friendly and Community-Oriented Transportation System
A sustainable community should priorize pedestrian and cyclist modes of mobility and provide as many alternatives to the automobile as possible, including planning in advance for convenient transit service, and providing shared cars / auto co-ops to reduce the need for single person auto use. Parking strategies should minimize negative landscape disruption wherever possible (underground or ecologically sensitive design). A fine-grained pedestrian / cyclist path network should link all areas to each other to permit pedestrians to move in as straight a line as possible to their destinations.

The streets in a sustainable community should be designed with multiple objectives in mind, unlike conventional streets which are designed solely for moving and storing cars. More sustainable streets support vehicle movement and parking, but offer many other thingsas well as to contribute to environmental and social values, such as stormwater management, trees, bird habitat, play ground areas and other community uses. The Dutch woonerf (“play street”) is a good example of this approach.

Pillar #3) – Green Buildings
A sustainable community should be populated by green buildings. Buildings stand for 50-100 years or more and their design greatly determines the impact their occupants have on the planet as they live their daily lives. A green building strategy needs to be created for each community that establishes a logical approach to promoting green buildings including addressing issues such as:
          o Energy efficiency;
          o Renewable, clean and highly efficiency energy supply (such as geoexchange);
          o Passive solar oriented design;
          o Indoor air quality;
          o Green roofs;
          o Water efficient fixtures; and
          o Many others.

Green buildings can be promoted either through green design guidelines which set a standard everyone must meet. These are easy to introduce into regulation but few will exceed their minimum standards. In alternative, green buildings can be promoted through green building rating systems which promote flexibility in choice of many things one can do to make a building greener. This approach has been popularized widely in the USGBC/CaGBC’s LEED system. A rating system stimulates competition to do better, but is very difficult to regulate.

Pillar #4) – Multi-tasked Open Space
A sustainable community should offer a wide range of opportunities in its open space design, to accommodate both community and ecological needs. Key environmental areas such as riparian corridors, important natural features, groves and forested areas should be protected where possible, although impact will occur and the possibly more important question, is how the disturbed ecosystem will be rehabilitated through ecological design after development. This is because forests force many tradeoffs with human habitat. Beyond protection of critically sensitive areas, the landscape should be designed with ecological enhancement in mind, including enhancing the habitat for songbirds and butterflies through using native plants and native-compatible plants. Landscape design should also minimize or eliminate the need for irrigation and the use of pesticides.

Food should be celebrated in the landscape, particularly through the provision of community garden space where appropriate in multi-family areas to provide an opportunity for residents to grow food and meet each other.

Health, social networks and fun in the community should be enhanced through the provision of active and passive recreation opportunities throughout the neighbourhood. Great efforts should be undertaken to provide as many facilities and opportunites for all imaginable outdoor activities in the centre of the community. These animate the public realm, greatly increase health and quality of life, and can significantly reduce transportation impacts from people leaving the community to play. It is also important to recognize that in an increasingly diverse population, good landscape programming involves adding new facilities and activities over time, as the desires and activities driven by the market continue to change.

Pillar #5) – Green Infrastructure
A sustainable community should pursue innovative and green infrastructure wherever it can. “Green” infrastructure strategies should be created for every sustainable community to address sustainability objectives in the supply and management of energy, water, waste water, materials, solid waste, and others.
    * A Community Energy and Emissions Strategy – A sustainable community should develop an energy and emissions strategy to look at ways to increase energy efficiency, reduce emissions and support local, clean and renewable energy sources.
    * A Water and Waste Water Management Strategy – A sustainable community should develop an innovative water and waste water management strategy to consider the water supply and treatment management systems with an eye to reducing demand for potable water, finding benign treatment systems, recycling and reusing treated water where possible to reduce potable water demand, and others.
    * A Stormwater Management Strategy – A sustainable community should develop a coordinated stormwater management strategy that addresses issues such as street design to minimize runoff, emergency flood management, stormwater retention and re-use, stormwater quality management through swales and natural treatment systems, the integration of stormwater runoff into artistic characteristics or public art in the neighbourhood, and other issues.
    * A Solid Waste Management Strategy – A sustainable community should develop an innovative solid waste management strategy to ensure it diverts as much waste from the landfill as possible, and turns wastes into resources where possible. Waste is really a “verb” rather than an noun. Issues to consider in such a strategy may include construction waste management, design to accommodate recycling and organic compost diversion (3 stream separation) both at the scale of the unit (eg kitchen design) and at the building (eg: garbage room design) in multi-family buildings, the provision of “share shelves” in the garbage rooms of each multi-family building to encourage the sharing amongst residents of items that have a lot of useful life left in them, site clearing waste management, such as composting wood waste, making bark mulch, re-use of clearing wood by local artists , or others, plant salvage from construction areas for reuse as landscaping vegetation, and others.
    * An integrated system strategy: Eco-Industrial Networking – A sustainable community explores opportunities to integrate their infrastructure systems to increase their efficiencies, but also to increase environmental performance. For instance, often significant heat can be drawn from a sewage pumping station flows – enough to heat hundreds of nearby homes.   Parking and transportation facilities can often be shared amongst land uses or businesses to reduce impact and cost. The practice of designing these integrated systems is known as Industrial Ecology and its practice is known as Eco-Industrial Networking. The term “industrial” is merely a reference to where the practice emerged – in industrial and chemical plants where models of the “ecosystem” are now being used as templates from plants and industrial parks.

Pillar #6) – A Healthy Food System
A sustainable community should recognize both the importance of a healthy food supply for the community, but also the great opportunities for culture and community spirit that food can offer. Food is like any other flow in a community such as energy, water or materials. Moreover, it is a major element of every household’s expenditures and the food supply has a significant impact on the planet. The community should encourage the development of a food store and restaurants within convenient distances of all residents to reduce driving, increase local economic activity and increase the quality of life. Village areas should be designed to support a farmer’s market, including the provision of necessary infrastructure such as power, water and washrooms. Community garden space should be provided where possible in multi-family areas to permit the growing of some food. Celebration of food throughout the season will be encouraged, such as through the establishment of an apple festival or other events, in a partnership with the local homeowners or business owners associations. Organic food supplies should be encouraged as they not only taste better and are healthier, but they also significantly reduce the impact on the planet of producing food.

Pillar #7) – Community Facilities and Programs
A sustainable community should provide key community facilities to support a healthy lifestyle and the creation of a vibrant social community including a high quality public realm design that promotes safety and encourages residents to meet each other and build relationships. These facilities and programs vary for each community and a strategy to provide amenities and facilities for all age groups needs to be developed to support a good quality of life for people of all ages and to support “Aging in Place” opportunities.

Pillar #8) – Economic Development
A sustainable community should offer many economic opportunities for investment, businesses and employment that can support an economically diverse and prosperous community. Commercial and village areas should offer a range of commercial (retail and local office) facilities to maximize working and shopping opportunities. The commercial areas should not only focus on retail jobs, but also on encouraging the development of real job opportunities appropriate to the income level of the neighbourhood, including live/work opportunities. The pursuit of greener buildings in a commercial area may also reduce energy and other costs for its businesses making the village a desirable and competitive place to locate. Greener buildings also have marked increases in employee satisfaction which also supports prosperous businesses. Opportunities to leverage a community’s natural locations adjacent natural or recreational areas, or as part of a rich history of past activity needs to be identified and leveraged.   Finally, A sustainable community works to encourage the adoption of green business practices and other systems that enhance both the environmental and economic performance of businesses in the community.

Conclusion
The 8 Pillars of a Sustainable Community is offered as a summary of the many opportunities a community can pursue to become more sustainable. By pursuing these, a community will not only increase its livability and prosperity, it will reduce the ecological footprint of its residents and increase human and ecological health, both locally and globally.

Each community is unique and not all the BMPs noted above will be appropriate. Through using the Sustainability Matrix, a community can build a personalized “hand-in-glove” sustainability strategy, tailored to their specific needs, challenges and opportunities.

[Thanks to Mark and HBLanarc for allowing CV2050.com to post this excert here. For the full document, you can download it here as a PDF]

Friday, November 6, 2009

Responding to Anya Mac: $ CV2050 CVSS

I'm a pretty loose-lips kind of guy around some things – things that I make assumptions about, or think should be common knowledge. This give me lots of opportunity to pull my foot out of my mouth. Or, as I prefer to think about it, to create conversations that get a little deeper (and sometimes more uncomfortable) than I'd intended. Good stuff in my books.

So, thanks for your email Anya Mac: you made the point that there are some questions about $, CV2050, the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy, and the #3x2x8 "convos about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. Questions raised by my loose references to "cash" related to the CVSS.

Here's how it looks to me: I saw an opportunity to do what I do (stimulate convos about sustainability in my town) because there was a sustainability project happening; with some collaborators a small proposal was put to the CVSS consultant, HBLanarc – and they liked it.

In the end, it turns out they liked it so much they were willing to go into their own pockets (not the CVSS budget) and give us some seed $. Most of the energy for CV2050 and the #3x2x8 convos comes from the commitment of the folks – like me – who've been working on this "conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley" for lotsa years, and others – like you – who are relative newcomers but already appreciate what a special place this is.

This kind of bits-and-pieces approach, with official processes providing a context for interesting and experimental convos, isn't new. I've been here before: cobbling together volunteer passion and diverse bits of $ to make convos happen. It's very much like what I did in the 90s, when I and a different crew of collabs initiated the Communities Institute (it died a premature death several years before things like today's SmartGrowthBC and the Communities in Transition program institutionalized and stabilized some of the kinds of things we were doing on a shoestring).

I was reminded of the cool things we did through CI just this morning when I replied to a CV2050 post by Alison Mewett. I met her in '94 at my first taste of what a "design charette" might look like. Very fun. (I wish I had the drawings from that day. Eight different, exciting visions of what Courtenay could look like if it embraced density, mixed-uses, walkability. Way ahead of its time.) AM was part of that. Within a couple of years, she and Judy Walker had become the brains behind something we called the "Land Use Café." Today's #3x2x8 convos, and the whole CV2050 experiment owes its genesis to what JW & AM helped cook up in the mid-90s, and to Judy's comment this past summer that, "We need another Land Use Café, but this time online."

Thanks Judy. Here it is. Only we're calling it CV2050. Just like that earlier effort at stimulating and informing the "convo about sustainability in the Comox Valley," this takes advantage of opportunities and challenges (ie. CVSS), engages a bunch of diverse folks (see the list of folks who've participated in the #3x2x8 convos so far), and draws on bits of $ and volunteer energy wherever they are to be found.

So, thanks to all who are playing along. And thanks to HBLanarc for seeding the convo outside of or alongside of the CVSS process. I laud their contribution (and not just because it'll keep my cats in kibbles and kitty litter for a few months), because the "convo about sustainability in the Comox Valley" doesn't end with the adoption of the CVSS. The CVSS sets targets. It tells us where we think we need to be in 2015 and 2050. Ultimately, it's up to us – the citizens and taxpayers in this place I love – to make choices for sustainability. This includes who we elect, the way we travel, where we buy, how we deal with garbage, what we eat, etc etc etc. Big choices. Little choices. All of them adding up ways to ensure that in 10, 20, and 40 years the Comox Valley still is a beautiful (in all senses of the word) place to call home. We're hoping that the #3x2x8 convos sustain thinking action to meet this goal.

Thanks Anya for sparking this. Yes, I do have other things to do than tend to CV2050, the #3x2x8 convos, and pulling my foot out of my mouth. But you've given me yet another opportunity to perhaps clarify something that wasn't clear, and to write about something I'm passionate about: a thriving, sustainability Comox Valley.

hpm

Vivian Dean talks to hanspetermeyer #3x2x8

Vivian Dean is a business and development consultant, and a member of the Board of the Comox Valley Land Trust in the Comox Valley. She talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or www.Facebook.com/CV2050.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Tom Dishlevoy talks to hanspetermeyer #3x2x8

Tom Dishlevoy is an architect with offices in the Town of Comox in the Comox Valley. He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Judy Walker talks about sustainability in the Comox Valley

Judy Walker is the Planner with the Village of Cumberland in the Comox Valley and a long-time Valley resident who also operates a vineyard on the Comox Peninsula. Judy talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Jackie Connelly and #3x2x8 - sustainability in the Comox Valley

Jackie Connelly is a photographer based in Vancouver, but with roots in the Comox Valley. Her practice is focused on food - from producer to table. You can see her work here, at www.jackieconnelly.com.

Jackie talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project.

For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Monday, November 2, 2009

RonaldSt-Pierre talks to hanspetermeyer #3x2x8

Chef Ronald St. Pierre is the Chef and owner of Locals Restaurant in Courtenay in the Comox Valley. He talks to hanspetermeyer as part of the #3x2x8 "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley" project. For more on the project, please visit www.CV2050.com or search Facebook for the CV2050 page.

Roberta Stevenson talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability in the Comox Valley

This is one in a series of conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley posted as part of the #3x2x8 project. For more on that project, go to CV2050/#3x2x8

We hope this inpsires you to do your own #3x2x8 video, audio, or text interviews. We welcome your posts. Check out our Facebook page, post your interviews, make comments. Please tag everything #3x2x8 or #CV2050 so others can follow the many voices on what a sustainable Comox Valley will look like!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Jack Minard talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability in the Comox Valley

Meaghan Cursons talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability in the Comox Valley spetermeyer

Paul Krismer talks to hanspetermeyer about sustainability in the Comox Valley

Monday, October 26, 2009

What's #3x2x8? .... more about #CV2050

There's a lot of stuff going on in the Comox Valley. Period.

It's a place with plenty of beauty, plenty of energy, and plenty of opportunities. But frankly, with so much going on it's hard to do it all.

I'm working on a project that's related to the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy (CVSS). My goal is to cut through some of the noise and vagueness around "sustainability." I want to make it real, tangible, and accessible. How am I going to do that? Good question. My answer: #3x2x8.

What's #3x2x8?
#3x2x8 is the product of some conversations between David Stapley, Meaghan Cursons, and me. We wanted a simple, straightforward way to stimulate and deepen the conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley. We also wanted something that would sustain and change over the coming months and years as all of us work towards making this place more resilient and thriving home. It looks like this.

3 = 3 questions
2 = 2 community leaders
8 = 8 pillars of sustainability

3 questions...

What part of the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy excites you?
What will be the challenges in implementing the Sustainability Strategy in the Comox Valley?
In what ways do you think your [pick one point of view]

community organization
business
local government
neighbourhood .... can work with [pick 1-3]
local government
neighbourhoods
businesses
community organization ... to help create a sustainable Comox Valley?

2 community leaders...
I'm doing video interviews of 16 community leaders (2 leaders x 8 pillars) and posting them to YouTube and Facebook.

How did we make our choices of who to interview? A real challenge in a community as diverse as ours, with so many folks in leadership roles. We plunged in and took a first step, inviting folks who've taken a lead in being involved one of the 8 pillars of "sustainability" in our community. Generally they're members of the CVSS working groups.

See some gaps in our leadership roster? Great! Please take our #3x2x8 template and interview the folks you think were missed. Post them to Facebook or YouTube or VIMEO – and tag them: #CV2050 #3x2x8.

Why are we using the #3x2x8 strategy?
One reason is simplicity. Our 48 responses won't cover all aspects or viewpoints on what sustainability in the Comox Valley is, or what the Comox Valley might look like in the year 2050. But they will start a conversation. And that's where you come in.

Whenever you take this #3x2x8 template and work with it, play with, challenge it, whatever – whenever you do this you're helping us extend and deepen this conversation about sustainability and the Comox Valley.

Maybe you'll use it as a conversation starter at a party. Or maybe youll ask your friends or family members over lunch or dinner. See if one of them wants to do an interview. Take your digital camera, ask the 3 questions, make a little video of your interview with a neighbour – or your son, sister, best friend, boss, or the cute girl at the grocery store. Tag it. Post it.

If you're inclined to write, do a written interview and post it on our Facebook page, or on the "do the #3x2x8 interview" page on our blog here at www.CV2050.com

It's just the beginning...
Just the start of the conversation... and action on sustainability in the Comox Valley
#3x2x8 isn't the end of the conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley. But I'm hoping that it's a good way to get more people talking and playing with something that's important to me: making this beautiful place I call home an even better place in the decades to come.

hpm
October 26, 2009

Your opp to do the #3x2x8 interview...

3 questions for community leaders, citizens, taxpayers, neighbours, friends, family....
1. What part of the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy excites you?
2. What will be the challenges in implementing the Sustainability Strategy in the Comox Valley?
3. In what ways do you think your [pick one point of view]
a) community organizations
b) business
c) local government
d) neighbourhood
can work with [pick 1-3]
a) local government
b) neighbourhood
c) business
d) community organization
to help create a sustainable Comox Valley?

Please use the comment form to add to our #3x2x8 conversation about #CV2050.
It's not about coming up with "the right answer."
It's about contributing to a conversation about the kinds of changes that you, me, everybody in the Comox Valley is going to be going through as we move towards a more sustainable, more prosperous, more thrivable community.

Please #tag with #CV2050!

Tags are a great way for everyone online to keep track of events and activities. Because we want CV2050 activities and events (real-space/real-time, as well as virtual/online) to be widely accessible and to live and influence beyond real-time/real-space, we're asking everyone who is posting online (Twitter, blogs, Flickr, YouTube, VIMEO, Facebook, etc etc) to "tag" their posts with #CV2050. Adding the tag helps others to follow what's going on before, during, and after whatever any or all of us do around the intention of stimulating and deepening the "sustainability conversation" in the Comox Valley.

Thanks!

ps. for more info on how #hashtags work...http://www.techforluddites.com/2009/02/the-twitter-hash-tag-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it.html

Saturday, October 17, 2009

#CV2050 Google map – Yours to annotate!

Yes, I know I said it'd be a cool thing if someone created a #CV2050 Google map that all of us who care about the Comox Valley could annotate. But it's so easy, and I'd rather be doing this than packing for my trip to Vancouver tomorrow... so here it is! A #CV2050 Google map. Ready for annotations!

To be fair, I googled "comox valley google maps" and found a great map already annotated for volunteer groups. A good place to start. Volunteer organizations are the heart of our communities. If we're going to have a resilient, thriving community in the Comox Valley in 2050, we'll probably owe some of that reality to the folks working and playing and enriching life through the organizations on this map. Thanks to whoever put together the original volunteer map!

But a thriving, sustainable community is more than volunteer organizations...
We also want to know things that only you can share. What's your favourite place, and why? What are the critical salmon streams? Where's a good place for a picnic? What's your favourite place to walk or cycle or spend time with friends?

We don't want to create a gold rush mentality about special private places, but we do want to give some texture and cultural depth (that means things like attaching family and community stories to places) to geographic locations. Sometimes it's just enough to put a heart as an annotation (♥ or <3 works).

Show us the love you feel for this place.

Tell us what you're concerned about.

Tell us a story about how you'd like to see some change (maybe you want to see a brownfield site – that's land use talk for: industrial lands – rehabilitated, or a vacant lot turned into a park or playground or maybe a community centre or even a commercial centre; go for it!).

Sustainability comes in many flavours. #CV2050 is about stimulating a rich, colourful banquet of voices in conversation about what the Comox Valley is going to look like in 2050, and how it's going to get there.

Want to play? ;-)

hpm

View #CV2050 in a larger map

What exactly is this thing, #CV2050?

It all started with a little chat in the garden...
Right now #CV2050 is the brainchild of three people – David Stapley, Meaghan Cursons, and Hans Peter Meyer. We sat down one evening in the summer of 2009 to mull over things like "sustainability,"

the "Comox Valley" (the place we've been calling home for quite a few years).

David is newly involved with the 2009 Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy on a professional basis. Meaghan and Hans are long-time participants and observers of "things sustainability" in the Comox Valley and elsewhere. Meaghan's made a huge impact in this region through her long-time involvement in IslandMusicFest, among many, many other things. Hans – that's me – I used to work with the Communities Institute of BC, and I've been writing about "sustainability" stuff since the mid-90s. David has been doing "community development" work with youth, non-profit/NGOs, and local government for about 15 years in the region. We've got some history, lots of personal investment in our communities, and lots of passion about this place.

Needless to say, our little chat quickly grew past the CVSS process to wondering: OK, so we get a sustainability strategy. Then what?

Our dream... an animated conversation that leads to action!
Did I say we're a pretty passionate trio? Did I already mention that we love the Comox Valley?

We know that we're not alone here. So, although we like (very, very much) that local government is sponsoring the CVSS, we also think that this is not enough. We think that the "sustainability conversation" needs to get way past what's happening through CVSS. We're not armchair sustainabilitistas. We want to see "stuff happen" in real-time/real-space, not just policy/planning space.

Our dream with CV2050 is that it picks up and stimulates the local sustainability conversation. This needs to be more than a policy-related, local government strategic planning convo. Whatever "sustainability" means to anyone of us here in the Comox Valley, it does mean change. It does mean action. At many levels. Talking about it is a step towards making positive change happen more quickly.

So here's the idea: leverage available resources for max impact...

We're just 3 independent citizens. We'll use whatever resources we've got to stimulate the convo. Thanks to the CVSS process, there's a little bit of cash to pay for sparking the first efforts: the 3x2x8 project (I'll be posting on that soon...). The bulk of our resources right now, however, are our volunteer time and or passion about this place.

What we can do with our resources is catch and support the buzz about the sustainability convo here in the Comox Valley. We hope that others – people like you, and others who care about life in the Comox Valley – will find ways to pick it up, make it real in your real-time convos with family, friends, co-workers, etc. Our focus is on using "social media" – videos on YouTube and VIMEO, Facebook, Twitter posts, and this blog, for example. We know this has its limits. Some will say that it's only young people who use this stuff. Well, I'm not "young" any more. My mother's using some of these tools. And more and more of us over 50 and over 70 are learning how to do the "social media thing."

What we do know is that using social media is a very efficient way for new ideas and new conversations to circulate. They are also very effective ways for a lot of people to jump into and out of the convo. We encourage you to follow our postings. Comment on them. Use them as a template.

Want to play?
Pick up a camera or a recorder or keyboard. Create your own posts (and please, please, please tag everything #CV2050 – this helps keep track of the convo on the internet).

One of the projects we don't have time for right now is an annotated Google Map of the Comox Valley. If I have time I'll create a "CV2050" map and post a link here. I'm hoping someone (or a bunch of someones) does the Google Maps thing and starts to annotate the "special places" of this landscape. [Note: I could't wait folks. The CV2050 Google map, ready for annotating is here!]

So that's it. CV2050. 3 passionate citizens of the Comox Valley, wanting to stimulate and deepen the conversation about sustainability in our community and region.

Want to play?

hpm