Teams are where the magic happens at Our Living Waters! They are collaborative forums where OLW Network members convene to drive action on a shared water goal.
Teams are where change feels possible in the Network… but change takes time.
Here, we’ve designed a Green Infrastructure Community of Practice timeline to visualize how this Team’s story has evolved since 2016.
The success of the Living Cities Program calls for celebration! It’s a signal of how self-sufficient the Green Infrastructure Community of Practice (GICoP) has become.
It all started back in 2016 when this Team began. Green infrastructure (GI) was an Our Living Waters top priority, so several Network members got together to improve GI implementation across the country.
Consistent grants over the next six years from the OLW Strategic Collaboration Fund ensured that the GICoP could persist long-term and helped it transition into a successful, self-sufficient program. In the early days, OLW’s financial support helped implement GI pilot projects and advocate for municipal GI action plans with a Stormwater Scorecard. Green Communities Canada (GCC) and the Canadian Freshwater Alliance (now defunct) originally led the Team together, but GCC took on sole leadership in 2021. As always with collaborations, there have been ebbs and flows in activity along the way, but the bottom line is that consistent, long-term support led to innovative impacts.
The Living Cities Program, originally just a vision, is now a reality!
Take a look at the GICoP timeline below (we’ll keep it updated with other related stories on our GICoP Team page). It’s a great example of how member-led Teams can drive big changes in our Network. For more info on this Team, contact the GI director with GCC!
Spotlight on the Living Cities Program:
- Who? Green Communities Canada (GCC) administers the funding and provides coordination and central support services.
- What?
- The Living Cities Fund supports the creation of community-led, nature-based green infrastructure projects in cities and towns across Canada.
- The Framework for Living Cities guides GI practitioners to understand what has worked in other cities and what they can do for better success.
- The program can also advise municipalities on adoption of GI by creating customized Living Cities Policy Pathways.
