GUEST BLOG - Georgia Strait Alliance receives grants for programs and capacity

By Cheryl Onciul - Fundraising Assistant

As one of the newest members of the Georgia Strait Alliance team, I am really excited to share some of the highlights of my 5 months as GSA’s Fundraising Assistant. In my work, I share GSA’s stories and plans, in the hope that like-minded Foundations and businesses will want to partner with us.

It was a busy spring, but well worth all the work as we have received news of exciting grants in recent weeks, notably from a couple of Canadian leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility, Mountain Equipment Co-op and Vancity.

MEC’s Vancouver store recently approved a $2000 grant through their Urban Sustainability Grant Program for the expansion of our Clean Marine BC (CMBC) - Marina Eco-rating Program. The grant will help GSA promote the program and inspire more facilities to join the program, focusing on boating facilities in the Lower Mainland. Our voluntary program encourages marinas and other boating facilities to adopt environmental best practices, making positive impacts on waste, energy consumption and transportation.

MEC also awarded a $20,000 Capacity Building grant which supports the investment in tools and training that will increase GSA’s capacity to better engage supporters and members. With these funds, we are engaging Groundwire to install, provide training and integrate the Salesforce database program into our organization. This database and engagement program is a key technical part of our overall strategic planning process but the bottom line is it will help us stay connected with you, keep you updated on the latest happenings, and help us to empower more concerned citizens like you to become engaged in the pursuit of our shared vision for the region – a healthy Georgia Strait!

We are also very excited to let you know that GSA is among 15 organizations selected to receive a 2011 enviroFund award from Vancity for our Connecting Communities to a Healthy Strait program. In January of this year, we launched our online map, and these funds will help us to ramp it up as a way to connect with you on issues of concern in the Strait, as well as bringing these issues to the attention of local decision makers. With Vancity’s support, we will also be able to continue growing the map, adding more useful information and improving its reliability. The project also includes the development of our “Georgia Strait Protection Principles”. The Principles will be created with your input and aim to support the incorporation of marine habitat protection and restoration issues and values into urban planning and development.

It has been an exciting few months for me here at Georgia Strait Alliance, and a rewarding time. I remember the day I first met GSA’s Executive Director, Christianne Wilhelmson and Board Member Frank Tester. It was my job interview, and I was asked “what do you think would be the easiest part of working with Georgia Strait Alliance?” My response was “convincing funders to support GSA’s work.” It turns out, I was right. There was little doubt in my mind that in joining the Georgia Strait Alliance as a contractor, I would be joining a winning team. GSA’s programs are really making a difference to the health of the Strait. The programs are based on science, involve the people who most stand to benefit from them - residents of the region, are cost-effective, achieve measurable results, are collaborative, stand on a firm foundation of past successes, and are responsive to the changing needs of communities and the environment. It has been a real pleasure to share some of GSA’s stories with a few funders over the past few months. I look forward to continuing to do so, and hopefully to sharing a story or two with you too!

The changing face of community

It’s a conversation that I’ve had more times than I can count, in particular with friends of my generation (babies of the mid to late 1960s). Usually it’s drenched in frustration and a certain sadness and it’s this: we talk about the feeling that what we lack in our lives is a sense of community, of feeling connected to others who share common values, and who are an important part of our day to day lives. However, thanks to some amazing experiences over the last few weeks, I’ve discovered that contrary to what I believed, I am part of some very powerful communities, and that what I thought I lacked, I have.

Less than two weeks ago, though it somehow seems like many months, I left Vancouver to join more than 50 other participants in the Social Change Institute at Hollyhock, a gathering of social change leaders from around the continent and world. Though I had seen the workshop’s agenda and had a sense of what was going to occur, as always seems to happen when I spend time at Hollyhock, the experience was completely different than what I imagined - and exactly what I needed.

It was an amazing 5 days – connecting with some of the most passionate, committed and breathtakingly creative people I’ve ever met. My brain was buzzing as I absorbed so much information, and spent time connecting with many of the participants. But it wasn’t until our last morning together that I realized what I had really come here to find. On that morning, a fellow participant rose to share a song, a beautiful operatic piece sung in French. As I listened to her stunning voice, I also listened to the words, and my heart burst. French is my first language, as it is for my mother, and was for her parents, and 12 other generations of my grandfather’s family who first arrived in Canada in 1691. As I heard my language being sung, I felt every cell resonate with those many generations, and I realized that indeed I was part of a community, one with a shared language and culture, one that has been passed down from family to family, and continues to be passed on through the French spoken with my nieces and nephew.

With that sense of cultural community so heightened in me, I looked around the room at the people I had spent 5 days with, and realized, that they too were my community. Though we each had different skills and areas of interest and backgrounds, we shared a need to use those talents to create change in the world. Feeling that connection to this group reminded of me of the greater whole I was a part of as each day I focused on the protection of our local ocean.

Since my re-entry into the “non-Hollyhock” world – always a shock – I see that my circles of community don’t stop at what I became aware of on Cortes Island. Through social media, I see that I am part of a broader and growing community – one where I am exchanging ideas with people near and far, often people I never would have met otherwise but who share many of my interests and curiosities. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of my online colleagues in person, and am now building wonderful friendships and partnerships that continue to grow.

And lucky for me, I see that I am part of a pretty special community through my work at Georgia Strait Alliance. At our AGM yesterday, I had the pleasure of gathering with staff, board, volunteers and members as we took time to honour this past year’s hard work, and the many accomplishments we achieved together. Heading out on a boat to cruise the waters of English Bay and Burrard Inlet gave us the time to savour that connection and our link to the waters we all love so much. Indeed, the GSA family is a powerful and growing community.

Community is different than what it was in my grandparent’s generation, where it meant the people who literally lived in your village or town - your family, members of your church and those with whom you worked. Today, the richness of community can still be found – in people with shared passions, in strangers who we never would have met but who become partners and collaborators in creating change through the magic of an online community, and in colleagues who are committed to make our little piece of the world – the Georgia Strait – better for all of us.

It’s been a heady few weeks for me, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s been wonderful to realize that what I thought I was missing, I actually have in abundance. Now that my eyes have been opened to the reality that I am a part of not one but many communities, I look forward to enriching that connection with them in the months and years to come. Community is about sharing and supporting, and knowing that there are so many with whom I can not only share my world with, but who generously will do the same for me, makes me feel more connected than ever before. Community may look different than in the past, but I believe it is more powerful than ever before.

The responsibility of power

There are a lot of reasons why I choose to bike to work. Primarily, I find it a fast and easy way for me to get around and get my exercise at the same time. But more importantly it gives me time to think, to plan for the day to come and process the day that was. It has served me well over the years but never more than this morning.

As I biked in on this sunny day, my mind tried to figure out what the Canadian electorate was trying to say last night. What to make of a night that elected the first ever Green MP, the first ever NDP Official Opposition – yet still elected a majority Conservative government? I know I’m not the only one trying to make sense of this, beyond what seems to me to be a very good argument for electoral reform.

While all this was going through my mind, so was the following phrase: with great power comes great responsibility. I’m not sure who first said this, but I think it’s something our new majority government should keep in mind.

Majority governments do bring stability to a country but they come at great risk if that same government uses its power to ignore the will of the majority who did not vote for them. Real leadership goes beyond partisanship and is about a vision for all Canadians.

As an advocate for sustainability and ocean health, I can say without a doubt that we have not seen leadership on environmental issues from the current federal government over the past 5 years. No comprehensive climate change action plan, no green energy plan or national transit plan, an erosion of environmental assessment regulation and continued failure to protect species at risk in this country, despite multiple federal court rulings chastising them.

What can we expect now?

The only answer is, time will tell. I am a pragmatist by nature, so I will spend the next four years focused on finding the best ways, and perhaps even some creative ways, to promote the sustainability of the Georgia Strait region. We must have the resolve to forge on because nothing is more important – for our communities and our economy – than clean air and clean water.

Some really good people – of all parties – were elected last night, and we must find ways to engage and work with them so they see the benefits of creating a green economy – and can help make it a reality. Naïve? Perhaps, but is there really another choice? The weaknesses of our political system cannot define our values, only our actions do – and last night many did vote for clean air and water. And in the end, in times of uncertainty when the choice is between despair or hope - I must choose hope. For my dreams of the future, I have no choice.

Making the hard small changes

I’m a people watcher. I admit it – I’m fascinated by people and as I make my way through the busy streets of Vancouver, or wherever I am, I people watch. I could just say I blame it on my father, who is an avid people watcher, but the truth is human behaviour fascinates me, and when you live in a big city, there’s a lot of behaviour to keep you busy!

What catches my eye? It runs the gamut really. Sometimes it’s the difference in people’s face, from the woman whose eyes sparkles as she heads to work, to the man whose face is at rest, but the lines in his face reflect a life lived hard. It’s the clothes people wear and the way people communicate, or don’t as the case may be. I wonder, as I watch the teens walking down the street, each with their eyes on their phones texting away, why the company of the person they are with isn’t as good as the person they are texting. And I watch people making choices.

Stairs or escalator? Jaywalk or wait for the light to change? Burger and fries, or soup and salad?

And as I pass the countless coffee shops in the city, I see people making another choice, one I’m at a loss to understand. As I look at the line ups, and see people picking up their coffee orders, I see that the vast majority of customers are making the choice to use a disposable cup versus a reusable one.

With almost every coffee shop selling travel mugs and with these reusable choices part of promotional giveaways ad nauseum, why is it so many of us still are making a choice that puts more garbage in our landfills and waste in our oceans?

The easy answer is convenience, of course, but it’s an answer that leaves me hollow. With awareness about our environment growing, and the knowledge that we all need to make small and big changes, shouldn’t we be able to make the simple change of keeping a travel mug with us?

There’s no doubt that change is hard. We all have busy lives, and with mornings where we barely get out of the house dressed and fed, remembering to bring a travel mug with us seems like just one more thing to do. But for all the environmental pressures our planet faces, we have to start with the small changes because they do add up and make a difference.

Reducing our footprint isn’t just about recycling, it’s about not producing the waste in the first place. So, keep a travel mug in your briefcase or purse. Carry a small reusable bag so you don’t get caught needing a plastic bag when you make an unplanned purchase. Choose products with little or no packaging. Make a small change, and join others in tackling the big problems, so that one day soon, what was once inconvenient becomes the way things are always done.

Here are some more ideas on how to be a better Steward of the Strait.

Community values must be heard

It’s true - the voice of a community is a powerful and inspiring thing.

I spent several days this week with members of the Powell River community, having been invited to speak at an event hosted by the Powell River Water Watch group. It was a truly wonderful experience in so many ways. Meeting such passionate people who care so deeply about where they live was quite inspiring. Even more so was seeing how these same people are willing to act on those passions to ensure that their community makes the right decisions for its future.

What was behind the invitation to speak was a proposed plan to treat Powell River’s sewage by partnering with the Catalyst pulp mill. Essentially, a proposal for ‘co-treatment’ would see the mill treat the community’s wastewater rather than it having to build an upgraded municipal system to manage its waste.

There are many questions and concerns around this proposal, but even more alarming is how this one option is being put forward without first including the residents in a discussion on how else wastewater can be managed. Wastewater planning is community planning. Deciding on a path without first considering how this decision fits into the overall community plan is foolhardy, as is making this decision without meaningful consultation.

The other danger of this ‘one track mind’ decision is that it ignores the growing opportunities that come with wastewater treatment. Management strategies that treat sewage as a resource that can benefit a community by turning waste into a renewable source of energy, nutrients and water, not just something to be rid of, are the way of the future. This attitude is already growing in a number of communities in BC – including Metro Vancouver, the Capital Regional District of Victoria, the Regional District of Nanaimo, and smaller communities such as Oliver.

The meeting on Tuesday night was a packed house, with over 150 residents in attendance. The questions asked were thoughtful and in the end the message was clear: we want to be involved in this decision that will affect us for years to come. I don’t know if the three city councillors who attended the meeting will act on what they heard, but they would be wise to, at the very least, involve their community more in decision making.

I have been actively involved in wastewater consultation processes in Metro Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria, and can speak to how when both sides enter into consultations with the intent of it being something beneficial, it can truly make any decision or plan better. I can say this was absolutely the case in Metro Vancouver, where over 2 years the Advisory Committee I sat on (along with 8 other committed individuals) worked with senior staff to create a better Liquid Waste Management Plan for the region.

The experience, knowledge and values that exist within Powell River, and so many other communities in BC, can only make any community planning process better. Ignoring community values is something leaders do at their peril, and to exclude them from planning processes will only result in decisions that sacrifice sustainable communities for short term expediency. We will be a better region and province when we stop viewing consultations and transparency as a road block to progress but rather the strongest path to healthy communities.

---