Resilient Cities (Vancouver, Oct): Gaining Ground on Realities that Threaten to Grind You Down

by hans peter meyer

I’ve got a bit of territory to cover in this post. It’s all to do with climate change (or, what most folks understand as “global warming”), but it’s geographically spread around.
First, there’s this tcktcktck thing. The ticking of the clock. Telling us the days are counting down to the Copenhagen UN Summit on climate change in December. Lotsa attention on that right now. Especially as the time is tcktcktck running out on our current carbon-atmospheric balance. That’s about all I’m going to say on this, except that it sets a global context for what follows: people around the world are feeling major URGENCY about doing things – anythings – to reduce carbon emissions.
Second, there’s the BC government’s paradoxical HST thing that puts taxes back onto things like bicycles, but keeps them off gas and oil… The budget is still fresh, but most of the people I respect are scratching their heads…
The third item is a local by-election. Yep. One of our guys on the City Coucil farm club got elected to the “big leagues.” From the 1-5 decision-making table, he’s now in a… much bigger room. Far less power. That’s his worry (and kudos to him; he moves up to higher pay, gets to pass GO, collect a big raise… For us taxpayers… we get to pick a new guy or gal to sit on the bench. I only know of one contender, Doug Hillian. A long time member of the social planning circle I used to play with, someone I respect. I’m curious if Courtenay’s old timer’s network is going to dig up anyone with Doug’s smarts. Playoffs in November… (and it’s all related to climate change because, as one of my erstwhile mentors once said – and how I love to quote her – “Local government is the Hell’s Kitchen of sustainability”) Good luck Doug! I’m in your corner.
The fourth item is the treasure. And a pleasure. Yes, it’s about climate change stuff. And yes, it happens in Premier Greenjean’s home town. The place where he cut his political teeth as mayor, and which owes a little of its current “Vancouverism” cachet to things that happened or were allowed to continue under his regime. I’m talking about the upcoming October “Reslient Cities” conference, part of the multi-year Gaining Ground Summit series (www.gaininggroundsummit.com).
I’m a skeptic about conferences. So I was more than a little surprised at my virginal response to the 2008 Gaining Ground Summit in Victoria: I felt the rapture.
Well, not “the” rapture. But a sense of something cool happening. This wasn’t an ego-strokig, career-building confab. I was in the midst of hundreds of people serious (but not toooo serious) about the amazing things happening in their neighbourhoods, cities, and states/provinces. Wow. Seriously: Wow. Cool things. No irony.
I’m sure that a conference has never inspired me. But I was inspired by GG08. It was my “road to Damascus.” I left feeling – grateful, actually, to be doing the work I was doing: research and writing about things like land use, climate change, how we grow and change our communities. My boss was there. I sought him out. I told him that I was happy. I almost got on my knees, to tell him he could keep the money; I was content just to be in that place, to feel like I was doing something that mattered. I did come to my senses. I kept the money. And, I wrote about that conference. Maybe you can tell that some of the glow of those 3 heady days in May ’68 …er, ’08 persists….
….Which is why I got excited when “the” GG visionary asked if I’d lend my bit of mojo to this year’s event in the home of Vancouverism. He’s an interesting guy, this guy, Gene Miller. He came to the west coast from NYC in the early 70s and founded Monday Mag in Victoria. He got involved in a real estate trade publication. He got invovled in real estate development. Now, he’s a bit of an eminence gris vis-a-vis “green values” approaches to land development on Vancouver Island. An alt-cult guy who’s smart and understated. He knows how to get cool stuff happening. Muy cool. A fun guy to hang with.
Which is also cool, because much of what the GG Summits deal with isn’t “fun.” It’s incredibly sobering. When GG08 started with the requisite show & tell about climate change… I wanted to leave the room. I find global warming chilling. I’ve got 4 kids. I ask myself: What kind of a world am I leaving for them? What kind of lives will they and their kids experience? Lots of less-than-fun thoughts.
GG08 wasn’t a fun-fest. But what came after the soberiety test was inspiring: real-world, on-the-ground examples of how great stuff is happening in towns and cities to address climate change. Often, it’s happening in really wierd/creative ways. People are making things happen that combine enviro stuff with social and economic stuff. A green roof inner-city school is using the space to garden: they teaches kids about growing food, provide them and their families with cheap, healthy food, and save money by insulating the building (and they cool the adjacent city blocks). Or the project in one declining mid-western where they’re training ex-con’s in landscape/ garden skills: turning vacant inner-city blocks into sources of fresh, local food. (Take note Mark Holland, viz your thoughts on ag urbanism.)
That’s a taste of what GG08 was for me: practical initiatives that are helping to make communities better places to live, AND addressing some of the challenges of climate change.
So we’ve got this tcktcktck clock thing happening. Personally, I’m a fan of analog. I’ve got a bit of a tick-tock collection, thanks to a muy cool once-upon-a-time compañera. But when the ticking starts… man, I leave the room. Same with the climate change stuff: when someone winds that clock, makes it scary-serious, I’m likely to find something else to engage in. Which is why I absolutely love what happens at GG. And I think this year’s GG Resilient Cities ’09 (that’s #GGRC09 for all you social media taggers – take note!) is going to be an antidote, both to the tcktcktck pressure, and to the wishy-washy policies and budgets that don’t lead us. I love Vancovuer. And I’m one with the Vancouverism-ites. #GGRC09 is going to inspire lots of us to do things in our small towns and big cities that’ll make a huge difference – not just to big picture climate change stuff, but to the way we experience quality of life in our neighourhoods.
That’s what’s got me all evangelical. For example, I’m flipping through my last issue of FastCompany (trendo-cool neuvo-business mag) and come across a way-cool section on alt-transportation! Very nice. But it gets even better when I see that one of their pin-up girls (Janette Sadik-Khan – yowzah! I tweeted about her) for alt-trans is coming to #GGRC09! And then I hear that one of the coolest presenters from GG08 (Sadhu Johnston – yowzah yowzah!!) just got hired by the City of Vancouverism! My mind boggles….
OK. I’m a bit of a GG evangelist. I admit it. Yes, I had my “road to Damascus” moment last year in Vic. But this is no Paulist hardcore “thou-shalt-not” message. And, as I said, GG may not be a fun-fest, but it is a positive vibration, at a time when we needs us plenty of pos vibes. Plenty. Good vibrations (for the ’60s crew). Positive vibrations (for the 420 crew). It’s all good. It’s all stuff to cool the climate change reality. And to make our “human settlements,” as my friend Tim likes to call these things we inhabit, more liveable, more sustainable – and, as my pal south of the border (that’s you Sheri H – and yes, I do sometimes pay attention to what you’re spouting about!) calls “thrivable.” To thrive. Not just sustain, or survive. But to actually enjoy our live here on planet earth. My friend MC has a few words about this. Coolest. Yes.
So, thanks to Gene and the crew (especially the Tall Ones who aren’t the cocktail crowd type, but are persisting anyway – good on you!). #GGRC09 rocks, with may tags: #sustainability #QualityOfLife #thrivability #fun #tcktcktck Check ‘em out. Google. Twitter. Facebook. Don’t just sit there. The solution is in your willingness and readiness to engage others in creating new ways of engaging, having the convo about how you want to live. That’s what inspired me about GG08.
See you in Oct. #GGRC09. ¡Hasta entonces muchachos!
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originally published in September 2009 at www.development-issues.com

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