In September 2011, Metro Vancouver was honoured to host a distinguished and diverse delegation from around the world at the 2011 International Regions Benchmarking Consortium “Building Future Cities Today” conference. For three days, participants discussed and debated new ideas and leading-edge solutions to existing and emerging problems currently facing large metropolitan regions in three broad topic areas: water, waste and energy. Conference delegates - who travelled to the Metro Vancouver region from progressive cities as far away as Fukuoka, Japan and Helsinki, Finland - were invited to seek inspiration beyond the meeting room by exploring the Metro Vancouver region, and discovering how solutions are being developed and implemented locally.

Where to go from here? At Metro Vancouver, we look forward to strengthening the new relationships we have forged, and building on the successes achieved by IRBC members regions in enhancing sustainability in their regions. Thank you all very much for making Building Future Cities Today such a success.