News and Events
Uncharted Waters is an interdisciplinary conference that aims to bridge the gap between academia and activism, connecting youth to those already dedicated to working towards the necessary solutions for a water soft path future. WSP Community Water Coordinator Susanne Porter-Bopp will be delivering a workshop on the history of water management in Canada and how we can move toward the soft path at this unique 3-day student-led conference on water issues in Montreal, March 26th-28th, 2010. Register for the conference here.
A review of "Making the Most of the Water We Have" can be found in the Environmental Forum 2010 January/February issue.
WSP co-hosted a workshop for students, growers and young professionals on agriculture and water in the South Okanagan Valley September 11th-13th, 2009.
In partnership with FCM’s Green Municipal Fund, Friends of the Earth Canada and the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance are offering workshops in 2009–2010 to equip municipal water practitioners with the practical tools they need to develop effective water conservation plans in their communities. Contact WSP Outreach Coordinator at hendriks.elizabeth@gmail.com for details.
The Water Sustainabilty Project recently released a Soft Path Strategy for the City of Abbotsford and District of Mission in August 2009. This is the first report from the field on our soft path pilot project programme which aims to develop leading examples of urban water management in Canada and to use lessons learned to explore how best to address the laws and institutions to enable widespread adoption.
Project Objectives
- » Examine emerging national water issues, including a survey of best practices in soft path and demand-side management in Canada and abroad;
- » Develop innovative governance options that embed sustainable water management in all levels of government, including "watershed governance" as an alternative to current centralized, hierarchical and sectoral governance approaches;
- » Advance water law reforms and policy decision-making tools that promote sustainable water management, long-term integrative planning, and institutional change that enables ecologically based water allocations;
- » Create a national network of experts and others interested in the new paradigm of sustainable water management to contribute to and use these models as practical tools for policy and institutional change;
- » Increase public awareness around the importance, and limits, of water in Canada, thereby ensuring that WSP objectives are met as part of a larger cultural change.


